Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | April 17, 2023 | wbjournal.com PHOTOS | COURTESY OF GLENPHARMER DISTILLERY Hard liquor As the cra beer market becomes oversaturated, a wave of distilleries are opening across Central Mass. BY KEVIN KOCZWARA WBJ Staff Writer T he next phase in the cra al- cohol movement has arrived in Central Massachusetts. In 2022, market share revenue for spirits like tequila, gin, and rum grew for the 13th consecutive year and leap-frogged beer in the U.S. for the first time, according to the trade association Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. at same year, the beer industry lost 2% of its total volume sales while spirits increased total volume sales for the 25th year in a row, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis Ltd. As breweries have become ubiqui- tous, the next unexplored market is local distilleries. And open they have. In the past three years, four distilleries have opened in Central Massachusetts to go along with Tree House Brewing Co., one of the largest breweries in the area, opening its own distillery since first announcing it in 2021. "In 2018, we saw potential in the cra spirit industry," said Justin Pelletier, chief operating officer and quality control manager for Nashoba Valley Spirits in Bolton. "We saw over the last 20 years how the cra beer industry has grown, and we had a pretty good sense as to what the wine industry was, but we saw a pretty big opportunity in the cra spirits industry." Reviving a tradition None of this should be a surprise. New England was once a hotbed of distilling, which is an alcoholic beverage GlenPharmer is a grain-to-glass dis- tillery located in a renovated historic mill building in Franklin. The distillery has a full-service tasting room and restaurant. distilled from grains, fruits, or other fer- mentable ingredients. Distillation is the process of separating a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and conden- sation, usually inside a still. e result is a beverage stronger than beer and wine. Distilled spirits include brandy, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, vodka, and various flavored liqueurs. Rum was once the preferred drink of New England colonists. In the 18th Century, New England became a hub of distilleries producing the alcoholic beverage. Every year, colonists drank it by the gallon – roughly five gallons a year – from the more than 200 distilleries in the region, according to the history website tell New England. But aer the Revolutionary War, the introduction of whiskey, westward expansion, and influxes of immigrants from beer-drink- ing regions, distilling of rum lost its luster. Along with it went the distilleries. Bourbon and other American whiskeys took rum's place. When Prohibition hit in the 20th Century, rum all but disappeared. Local and cra spirits didn't come into play until aer the turn of the century when cra beer was taking off. e first farmer distillery license was handed out in 2003 to Nashoba Valley Spirits, which is part of Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton, but it didn't gain mass appeal at first. Bully Boy Distillers claims to be the first distiller to open since prohibition in Boston, and it opened in 2010. In Central Massachu- setts, the trend has taken a bit longer, but now it's here. Since 2020, not only did Tree House open a distillery, but they've also cropped up with Deep Roots Distillery USA in Sturbridge, GlenPharmer Distillery in Franklin, Beaver Pond Distillery in Petersham, and Spicy Water Distillery in Millbury. But first came Nashoba Valley Spirits. Nashoba Valley Winery opened in 1976 as part of Jack Partridge's vision to create something new out of the past. He purchased the land in Bolton in 1983 and built the original wine shop and replant- ed the orchard. In 1995, Rich and Cindy Pelletier purchased the winery and orchard from him and began to build out their own legacy. By the turn of the cen- tury, an idea grew to build a distillery as a way to use all the extra harvested fruit. "e first few spirits that we made were all actually apple-based," said Justin Pelletier. "We did an apple brandy, we did a vodka, and we did a gin." For Nashoba Valley, making spirits was another way to use the products it grew. e owners didn't want to waste anything they harvested on the orchard. On top of making cider and wine, the facility grew into a wholesale alcoholic beverage company that also brews beer. "We don't import any neutral grain spirit; we don't import any washes or anything like that," Pelletier said. "It's all done right here onsite, start to finish." When Pelletier and his family saw an opportunity, others took notice too. The newest distilleries Keith Devarenne retired from his job working in corrections and was looking for something to do during the COVID pandemic. While watching TV, an idea to open a distillery sprouted. He started digging around, looking to see the plau- sibility and potential for a second career. Pat and Beth Downing met at Purdue University and sold Pat's family pharmacy in Lee before starting their own family business with GlenPharmer. GlenPharmer's name plays on the history of medicine and pharmacists creating and selling liquor like gin, which originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists.

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