From craft beer to cranberry bitters, pickled scapes to truffled mayo — if it’s a fancy foodstuff, it’s probably being made in Brooklyn. Now hopping on the borough’s artisanal bandwagon are small-batch distillers, who are producing local whiskey, rum and other spirits all along the East River.
It’s a rapidly growing industry with around a dozen distillers setting up shop in Kings County over the past two years — thanks to the efforts of then governor Eliot Spitzer, who lifted certain restrictions on manufacturing alcohol in 2007, and is continuing with current Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has allotted millions to promote state-produced spirits.
One of the biggest clusters of distilleries is in Red Hook, a gentrifying neighborhood that still retains industrial zones allowing for light manufacturing. It’s where Van Brunt Stillhouse owner Daric Schlesselman and his wife and business partner, Sarah Ludington, both live and work.
“We moved to Red Hook 10 years ago, and when we decided to start the business, we wanted to have it near to where we live,” said Schlesselman, whose distillery produces whiskey, rum and grappa. “And secondly, we wanted to be part of the larger community.”
That community includes fellow distillers Cacao Prieto (rum and liqueur) and Jack From Brooklyn (a hibiscus liqueur called Sorel), along with Sixpoint Brewery.
It didn’t hurt that when Schlesselman signed the lease on the 6,000-square-foot Bay Street space in summer 2011, “there was a lull in commercial real estate,” he said. “I was able to backload my lease with a rate of $12 per foot.” That’s a bargain, considering that rents for industrial space in Red Hook have skyrocketed.
“The average is now $15 to $20 per foot for industrial space in Red Hook,” said Christopher Havens, commercial director of Aptsandlofts.com. “And for the kind of space distillers need — small-industrial, ground-floor — it’s really hard to find. I’ve never seen the market this tight.”
In nearby Gowanus, prices for such spaces are even greater: “I’ve seen it go as high as $22 per foot,” said Havens.
For that reason, many distillers have chosen to head farther south, to Sunset Park — like the young team behind Industry Standard vodka. They decided to locate in Industry City — part of the gigantic Bush Terminal industrial park that stretches along the waterfront between 39th and 53rd Streets.
“We were looking at a number of spaces — in Gowanus, Bushwick, Greenpoint — expensive spaces in ugly warehouse buildings with no windows,” recalled Peter Simon, head of sales and outreach of the company, which includes distiller Dave Kyrejko and machinist Zachary Bruner. “Then we went to take a look at Industry City, with its huge windows, beautiful views and the express subway stop at 36th Street and we were like, ‘Wow, where do we sign?’ ”
The company started with 6,000 square feet at around $7.50 to $9 a foot in September of 2011 and recently doubled their amount of space. “There are huge advantages to being [in Industry City],” said Simon. “The new management offers a variety of different spaces. There are lots of young, innovative businesses here. I see a long-term future in this building . . . I just could never imagine leaving Brooklyn.”
Brad Estabrooke, the founder and owner of Breuckelen Distilling, now in its fourth year of making whiskey and gin, also set up shop in Sunset Park. Back in 2009, when Estabrooke first toured the 2,250-square-foot space — in an industrial area wedged between the BQE and the Gowanus Canal — he knew it was perfect. “The space was beautiful, amazing light, with the high [16-foot] ceilings we needed for a distillery,” he said. “It was also the cheapest space I had seen, so it was an easy choice.”
Estabrooke signed the lease in August of that year — and just renewed it for another five years at $14.50 a foot. “I chose to do this in Brooklyn because I like all the independent, craft businesses that are here,” he said. “And I want to be someplace where people support urban producers.”
Yet the size of the space did become an issue. “It takes many years and a lot of space to age whiskey,” explained Estabrooke, who will produce about 2,000 cases this year. “I needed 1,000 square feet [for storage], and I didn’t want to pay more than $15,000 a month.”
He searched for two years — and even considered storing it upstate — before finding affordable warehouse space in East New York.
“Upstate, the product would have been out of reach,” Estabrooke said. “This way I can keep everything in Brooklyn.”