The science, art, and challenges of distilling

I’ve been interested in the production of alcohol since I was in sixth grade and got into beekeeping and became interested in mead. Later I grew less interested in mead making once I realized that it’s literally just wine and grew interested in distilling, partly due to Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners although mostly because I think that stills look cool. Understanding distillation is important to the boozier side of American history like prohibition and important in modern America given that in 2022 there were about 2283 distilleries in the US alone according to the American Distilling Institute.

Distilling is a form of alcohol purification that allows ethanol (alcohol that can be safely consumed) and methanol (alcohol that leads to blindness and death) to be brought out of liquids. Distillation works by using heat to boil out the methanol for disposal and then turning up the heat to extract the ethanol. It’s used to make all types of liquors, which is the name for alcohol with higher ABVs (alcohol by volume) than beer or wine, which is only fermented and is not distilled. The process is essential in the production of liqueurs, which are sweet/flavorful, but less strong liquors. A place that produces liquor is called a distillery, and one that produces beer is a brewery. Brewing wine and beer is legal at home when done by those over the age of 21, but without the proper licenses and papers, distilling is very illegal, is potentially dangerous, and should not be done by anyone except for those who know what they are doing and have the certifications/documents.

Distillation for alcohol purification has existed at least since the medieval ages, although evidence exists that shows distillation to have been used in perfuming in the year 3500 B.C. for perfuming in modern-day Iraq according to PrestigeHaus.

I Interviewed Mr. Arkady Lapidus from Ellicott Distilling Co., and he gave me insights into the business, science, and art of distilling. The distillery opened in the midst of the pandemic on April 13, 2020, about one month after the quarantine/shutdown, which consisted of liquor being sold by pickup rather than the sit-down environment with light fare that the distillery is now known for.

Pictured above: Front windows of Ellicott Distilling Co.

When asked about the possibilities of expansion, he stated that he had no intentions to expand, and was content with the current state and location of the distillery given its proximity to everything in the community and the ease of transportation for all of the 8 employees.

In regards to the possibility of shifting to wholesale at any point, he explained that it wouldn’t really make sense to do so given the challenges of attaining the necessary permits/licenses and that he’s content with the current system of onsite sales with a heavy preference for quality over quantity. Currently, he produces around 1000 gallons a year or an average of 3 gallons of liquor a day.

He told me that he chose to get into distilling rather than brewing beer because he hates beer and also that distilling is a bit more forgiving in a sense. If you mess up a batch of beer, you have to throw it all out and start anew, whereas with liquor you can throw it in the still again and keep going rather than starting a whole new batch. On what got him interested in distilling, he told me that he was in the military stationed overseas he became interested in the production of liquor and decided to learn how to make it, so he taught himself, which was possible thanks to the internet and his technical background. However, he recommends taking at least a two-year course to anyone interested in the field.

I asked him about any ventures or products that he may have produced that didn’t work out, and what he learned from the experience. He explained that he wanted to make lightly flavored vodkas with hints of fruits and herbs, although he learned that people didn’t want to buy it because if they want flavor in a drink, they want a sweet and flavorful liqueur (which is liquor diluted with sugar water that’s more heavily flavored) rather than a vodka with very subtle flavors, which is what he was trying to make.

Some of the main logistical difficulties that come with owning a distillery are the costs of and amount of licenses and permits needed, the taxes on the distillery from both the federal and state levels, and the excise tax on its customers. A large portion of the laws and taxes were left over from prohibition, laws which are in my opinion unnecessary.

Pictured above: Arkady Lapidus from a Fox 45 interview

When asked about the hardest and easiest products to produce he explained that the hardest is definitely whiskey due to the precision needed for the ratio between the grain types and the necessary two-year aging process, although in the future he wants to switch to three-year agings for bourbon (which is a type of whiskey). When I asked him about the easiest the answer was instant: vodka. It’s just fermenting the potatoes, straining, distilling, and then diluting/bottling.

After asking him about what it would mean for the distillery if Ellicott City were to be hit with another flood. He paused for a moment and said that he didn’t know. Between the uncertainties as to what would happen to the structure of the distillery, the possibility of destruction to the barrels that have been aging for years, and the possible destruction to the stills. It’s a very real risk, and one that is difficult to insulate against. “I’m not sure what would happen with flood waters and the barrels” sets of barrels that have been aging for the past 1-2 years. Even if a flood were to destroy just the barrels and leave the equipment and building’s structure unscathed, that would still be a multi-year setback.

While discussing future possibilities, he mentioned the possibility of collaborating with nearby breweries and other distilleries “But that’s a long-term possibility, and there are lower hanging fruit.” He also mentioned that for October, he’d like to produce some absinthe and sell green fairies at the bar. Absinthe is a green licorice-flavored brandy (distilled wine) that’s made with wormwood, anise, and fennel. It had actually been banned for years due to its slight psychedelic effects; however, such effects only arise when using a certain strain of wormwood that contains thujone, which is illegal. Although thujone-free wormwood is perfectly legal in the US and can even be bought at some pharmacies and health stores. A green fairy is an absinthe cocktail that is made by dripping water onto a sugar cube that’s suspended over a glass of absinthe, which mixes cold sweet water into the naturally bitter drink, creating a sweet, floral, and licorice-flavored adult beverage.