Temperature swings from polar vortex make for better whiskey
Frankfort distillery credits the state’s ‘crazy weather’
Brothers Phil and Dan Casey were thinking about opening a craft brewery a few years ago, but there was a potential drawback.
The market was saturated, so to speak.
So the Caseys decided to target an older drinking demographic with their craft spirits business in Frankfort. It’s a move Phil Casey said has paid off.
He attributed an increase in business, at least in part, to a decrease in the metabolism of aging liquor connoisseurs.
As craft beer lovers become older, Casey said, they’re discovering those beverages are causing larger midsections.
So naturally, Casey said, those customers are slowly opening their palates to alternative craft brews that may not have the same impact on their waistlines.
That said, the Casey brothers also are craft beer lovers. But they wondered how much of an impact they could make in that market after seeing the plethora of microbreweries that already had been established, both locally and nationwide.
But they found there were relatively few distilleries in the country, and even fewer in Illinois.
After a somewhat lengthy licensing process, Frankfort Spirits establishment became the 15th licensed distillery in the state in 2014.
Casey said there’s still only about 20 distilleries in Illinois but that number will likely grow in the coming years given the popularity of craft spirits.
He said the state’s climate offers opportunities to make unique and flavorful spirits, unlike in states with warmer climates, such as Florida.
“Illinois is a great place to age whiskey because of the crazy weather,” Casey said.
He said drastic temperature fluctuations such as the dramatic turnaround that followed the recent polar vortex help the spirits expand and contract inside the wooden barrels lined with charcoal, which helps make the spirits more flavorful and adds a deeper, richer color.
The barrels are stored in a barn in Frankfort where the bourbon, whiskey and other spirits are aged five to eight years or more.
The state’s agricultural prowess also factors into the beverages, as the distillers use Illinois sourced ingredients such as barley and corn.
Casey offers tours to the public every Sunday in the showroom in the CD & ME building owned by his business partners Dean Vaundry and Chuck Jabaay at 23320 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort.
“I’ve learned more here than at the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour,” said Thomas Ruzga, of Schererville, Ind., who visited Frankfort Spirits on a recent Sunday. “It’s really nice to have something close to home like this.”
Trish Yugo, also of Schererville, concurred.
“There are a ton of breweries in the area and not a lot of distilleries,” she said. “It’s definitely a hidden gem.”
During the tours, visitors can sample some of the beverages, such as Emil Stimple aged whiskey, Los Barbudos rum and Verdict vodka.
Visitors often comment the aged whiskey is very smooth.
“That’s why we call it the gateway drug,” Frankfort Spirits brand ambassador Jacquie Ohert told visitors.
Her presentation also addresses different ways to drink the spirits.
“There’s no right way or wrong way to drink a whiskey,” Ohert said. “Except the wrong way would be to drink it too fast. You don’t want to waste a good spirit.”
The name Emil Stimple was chosen based on what Casey’s business partners found while researching the history of the area.
Apparently, Stimple was a prominent whiskey distiller and German immigrant to the Frankfort area in the 1800s.
And though Casey is an attorney by trade, Verdict vodka’s name was chosen because the CD & ME building had once been the site of a Will County courthouse.
Casey also explains the distilling process to visitors on the tour, showing how the barley and corn is cooked into a meal. Yeast is then added which turns sugar into alcohol, which is then heated to make an alcohol vapor and then recaptured during distillation.
The distillery also produces limited editions of small-batch bourbon and whiskey that tend to sell out very quickly.
Casey said he still loves craft beer and often partners with local breweries such as 350 Brewing in Tinley Park to create concoctions, such as a bourbon barrel aged stout.
A major event at Frankfort Spirits will be on May 4, which is Derby Day, to celebrate the Kentucky Derby.
Casey said on that day they’ll release a limited double barrel Emil Stimple whiskey that’s been aged for eight years.
He said they’re also working on other spirits, such as a gin that’s about 90 percent complete, and a winter schnapps called Big Foot that he hopes will be ready for release next winter.