Month: April 2020

Ogden’s Own Distillery: Bringing History to Life in Utah

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5 women posing for a beverage

By Nan McCreary

Ogden, Utah, is a small city with a big, colorful past. From the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, Ogden transformed from a lawless frontier town to a rough and tumble railroad hub, to a center for bootleggers and speakeasies during Prohibition. The infamous 25th street, called “Two-Bit 25th” because any form of debauchery could be had for two bits, was a hotbed of gambling, prostitution, opium dens and bootleg booze.

  Today, Ogden is rich with heritage, live music, arts and outdoor activities, and, contrary to its notorious past, is home to a heavy population of Mormons. In 2009, despite a sizable culture that bans alcohol, two entrepreneurs decided to open a distillery — only the second in the state — and capitalize on Ogden’s unique history.

  “Our first product, Underground Herbal Spirit, was named for the tunnels off main street that were used to move contraband during the late 1800s and early 1900s,” co-owner and CEO Steve Conlin told Beverage Master Magazine. “Ogden was a notorious, wild place back then. With the railroads, it was the crossroads of the west. We pay homage to that with our logo, a circle with a cross, and a small dot ‘on the map’ that represents this era.”

  According to Conlin, Underground Herbal Spirit was highly inspired by the success of Jägermeister. Yet, with a mixture of 33 herbs, spices and flavors, it also reflects the odd assortment of characters that traveled through Ogden in the early days. “I love the idea that you could have all the herbs from around the world coming through Ogden and making a concoction,” Conlin said.

  Underground Herbal Spirit includes a mellow blend of cassia, angostura, anise, cardamom, gentian, yarrow, wormwood, mate, guarana, ginseng, molasses, orange oil, lemon oil, spearmint, pure cane sugar, agave and plum. While the drink is technically a liqueur, it has less than the required 2.5% sugar content by weight, which allows the herbs and spices to come through for a sweet, complex flavor experience.

  Ogden’s Own enjoyed immediate success with its Underground Herbal Spirit. Not only did it win a Double-Gold Medal in a San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2010, it was also selected as the Best Liqueur in the Americas at the Spirits of the Americas Competition in 2012. The beverage was extremely popular with consumers, too. 

  “People ask me why I would start a liquor business in Utah,” Conlin said, “and the answer is because I had distribution. Utah is a control state, where liquor is sold only in state stores, so I had access to the market right off the bat. At the time, as long as you had a good solid product, the state stores were happy to sell it for you. We deliver our products to the warehouse, and they place it in all [44] of their stores.”

  Ogden’s Own followed Underground Herbal’s success with a 2012 release of Five Wives Vodka. The beverage, made from Utah mountain spring water, is a 100% distilled corn-spirit and gluten-free. The spring, hidden in beautiful Ogden Canyon, is inaccessible by vehicle, so the water is hiked out five gallons at a time.

  Five Wives Vodka got off to a rather inauspicious beginning: the bars in neighboring Idaho wanted it, but the state refused, saying the name was offensive to women. Ogden’s Own, seeing a public relations opportunity to gain “notoriety for being bad in Idaho,” took the story to outlets such as NPR and NBC’s Today Show. As a result, Ogden’s Own captured the attention of a high-powered Washington D.C. attorney who wanted to use their case to clear up some constitutional issues involving interstate sales. “The attorney wrote an eight-page letter to the state of Idaho,” Conlin said, “and within 30 minutes, they called me and invited me to send the product.”

  Conlin claimed their intention was never to poke fun at women or Mormons. “We liked the alliteration, like ‘Five Guys Burgers,’ and the idea that anyone could interpret the name with their own baggage, whatever that was,” he said. “Five Wives could be a group of girlfriends or a knitting circle for all we know. Plus, we found a fun image to use for the label.”

  Today, Five Wives is a Utah favorite and was voted by Salt Lake City Weekly as the “Best New Spirit” in Utah for 2012. It has won silver medals in the San Francisco and Denver International Spirit competitions as well as the Spirits of the Americas competition.

  After Five Wives, Ogden’s Own launched its Porter series of hand-crafted flavored whiskeys: Porter’s Fire, Porter’s Peach, Porter’s Apple, Porter’s Huckleberry and Porter’s Small Batch Rye. 

  “We wanted to expand,” Conlin said. “Fireball had just come out, so we decided to create a local cinnamon-flavored whiskey. Our Fire is not as hot as Fireball; it’s more natural cinnamon with a cinnamon roll finish with vanilla. We like to take a lot of things that are popular and give them our own little twist in a way that we think makes them more palatable. A lot of people who don’t like whiskey like ours.”

  The Porter series is named for Orrin Porter Rockwell, a notorious gunslinger and wanted man. It is said that Rockwell killed more outlaws than Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Tom Horn, and Bat Masterson combined, earning him the menacing title, the “Destroying Angel.” Paradoxically, he was also a devout church member and bodyguard of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and Brigham Young, a Mormon prophet.

  “There’s this weird mentality in Utah where the Mormons all partook of alcohol before Prohibition, but then they laid down the law and banned it,” Conlin told Beverage Master Magazine. “We like to poke fun at this paradox without being vicious.”

  The Porter labels carry the menacing face of Porter Rockwell, similar to that on a wanted poster from the mid-1800s. According to Ogden’s Own website, Porter’s Fire “combines the smoothness of Canadian whiskey with the most divine ingredients to deliver you one hell of a well-balanced flavor. Sweet, but not sugary, berry and spicy, but not too hot, Porter’s Fire captures the passion of its namesake and the carefree spirit of the old west.”

In 2017, Ogden’s Own began producing Madam Pattrini Gin, made from juniper, bergamot, coriander, cardamom, Nigerian ginger and Sicilian lemon. It’s a small run of fewer than 1000 bottles at a time, with all bottles numbered by batch. In 2019, the gin was selected as the Best Compound Gin in the United States at the World Gin Awards in London.

  What makes this gin especially unique is the namesake: Madam Pattrini was actually B. Morris Young, the son of Brigham Young, who performed in drag as an opera singer in northern and central Utah venues from 1895 to the 1900s.

  “Our goal is to bring historical figures back to life, back into the consciousness of Utah,” Conlin said. “It’s funny, but a photo of Madam Pattrini was recently found hidden in the church archives.”

While Ogden’s Own staff has fun bringing the ghosts of the past to life, they take their distilling seriously. All products are corn-based and gluten-free.

  “Our philosophy is to produce quality spirits at a reasonable price,” Conlin said. “Lots of people overprice their products just because they’re ‘craft.’ It serves us best to keep our price low.”

This philosophy has certainly paid off. Ogden’s own has grown from producing 600 cases in 2009 to 20,000 in 2019. According to Conlin, “The market is the 21 to 35-year-old drinker who is spending money on a craft product — a unique product — and has a sense of humor and wants something they can talk about when they go to events.”

Currently, Ogden’s Own has eight employees: four in sales and four in production. Overseeing production is co-founder Tim Smith, who started the Ogden’s Own ball rolling when he took his home-made hooch to Conlin’s mortgage company for advice on marketing. After “bootstrapping” their way from what was basically a small garage to a 6,400 square-foot facility, the partners now have distribution in states including Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Nevada, Michigan and parts of Southern California. 

  “It’s been a step-by-step process,” Conlin said.  “You have to have a distributor if the state doesn’t do it for you. You have to knock on a lot of doors. I call it shaking hands and kissing babies. We’re out politicking, meeting people, telling them about our product, doing the ‘Costco taste test,’ one by one.”

While the people at Ogden’s Own have worked their way up to become a significant presence in Utah, they now have their sights on nationwide recognition. The distillery recently raised $2 million from fans, partially via an online crowdfunding campaign, which is enabling them to move into a new 32,000 square-foot facility in April. Their new home will house a full bar, a massive production area, new offices, and an amphitheater for live music events.

  “We are ramping up considerably,” Conlin told Beverage Master Magazine.  “A year from now, we will be a much different company. Our fans have enabled us to take a whole new approach to growing. As we do, we plan to be very transparent and honest and ensure that our expenditures make sense. It’s up to us to parlay this into nationwide success.”

  As Ogden’s Own Distillery moves into the future, we will no doubt be hearing more from them, along with the ghosts who once roamed 25th street.

For more information on Ogden’s Own Distillery, visit https://www.ogdensown.com/

Cider Saviours: How the Next Generation of Craft Cider-Makers is Saving Family-Run Farms

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women holding 2 apples in front of their eyes

By: Briana Tomkinson

The agriculture industry is in a period of intense change. Globalized markets are driving com-modity prices down, making it hard for smaller farms to compete. Many mid-sized operations are being snapped up by large conglomerates.

  Additionally, many of the men and women running small and mid-sized North American farms are starting to look forward to retirement. According to Statistics Canada, the average age of the Canadian farmer is 55. Yet, often their children aren’t interested in taking over the family business.

The apple business is no exception. Yet, as many independent growers are discovering, changing consumer tastes are opening up new opportunities for niche producers. For apple orchardists, pivoting from selling apples to launching a craft cider brand can be a lifeline for struggling family-run orchards.

  According to Anelyse Weiler, a college professor of sociology at Okanagan College in Kelowna, British Columbia, and a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Toronto, moving into craft cider production opens up new revenue streams and buffers producers from economic volatility in the fresh fruit commodity market—and can be an effective way to entice grown children to consider returning to the family business.

  “Apple farmers face a slew of challenges in their industry, like the toll of the physical labour on their bodies, the increasing consolidation of apple production companies into huge conglom-erates, and the effects of climate change on their crops,” she said. “Moving into cider produc-tion can help farmers maintain their rural lifestyle instead of getting out of it altogether.”

  As part of her dissertation work, Weiler spoke to 100 people working in the Pacific Northwest craft cider industry about the challenges they face. She found most young cider producers she spoke with grew up in the agriculture industry and saw the struggles their parents faced.

  “For a lot of young people who had grown up on farms, they could observe not only the eco-nomic volatility but the emotional stress put on their parents’ generation and, frankly, the phys-ical cost of being a full-time farmer,” Weiler said. “For some of them, there was no romanticism that went into this idea of farming. They went into it with eyes wide open, and in many cases, wanted to maintain some sort of connection to agriculture, but on their own terms.”

  Weiler said mid-sized farms are finding it more difficult than ever to eke out a profit. Yet smaller farms have more opportunities to sell their products directly to consumers through farmer’s markets, farm tourism, local distribution to restaurants and via online marketing. Sales volume may be lower, but customers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for high-quality “arti-sanal” products.

  “A lot of producers face this ultimatum: get big, get out or get niche,” Weiler said. “And craft cider industries are one way for people to get niche.”

  Many young orchardists in the cider business truly value the interactive service components that go into direct marketing and sales, Weiler said. They also enjoy the chance to connect with customers in a direct way that isn’t always possible when just selling fruits to the commodity market.

  “I think it draws on this emerging craft livelihood movement where young people are interested in the creativity, in the sense of being able to put their unique signature on something in ways that farming for the fresh fruit market doesn’t always allow,” she said. 

  Weiler noted that the high cost of farmland in Canada makes it hard for young people without family ties to enter the orchard business. Young people who want to get into orcharding on their own have to get creative, she said. Some have created micro-cideries using windfall fruit or harvesting from abandoned orchards, for example—even using their own labour to pick the fruit.

Cider by the Numbers

  In Canada, cider sales are booming. In 2018, Statistics Canada reported that Canadians quaffed 181 million litres of ciders, coolers or similar beverages per person—the equivalent of 21.5 bottles for every person over the legal drinking age.

  According to research by Euromonitor, the craft beer craze has sparked interest in other small-batch, artisanal food and beverage products, including cider. The amount of cider sold in Canada more than doubled between 2013 and 2018, from 29 million litres to 63 million. Euromoni-tor projects sales could jump to almost 93 million litres by 2022.

  Sales growth in this category over the past 10 years has outpaced wine, spirits and beer in Canada. Cider and cooler beverage sales had an annual average increase of 6.4% over this period, compared to 4.2% growth in wine sales, and 2.8% for spirits and 1% for beer. Sales of imported cider grew faster than Canadian-produced brands, increasing at an annual average rate of 10.2% versus 5.5%.

  Ontario is the largest apple-growing region in Canada, with over 16,000 acres of trees. Accord-ing to the Ontario Craft Cider Association, cider is now the fastest-growing category of alcohol-ic beverages in Canada. Reporting from the government-run Liquor Control Board of Ontario shows that between 2012 and 2019, sales of Ontario craft ciders soared from $1 million to $16.3 million.

  According to Statistics Canada, ciders and coolers represented 4.2% of total alcohol sales in Canada in 2018, with the largest market share in New Brunswick (6.8%) and the lowest in Nu-navut (0.9%).

Key Dates for Canadian Cider Festivals (as of the date of publishing):

•    B.C. Cider Festival (http://bcciderfest.ca/): May 24, 2020: This year’s event will feature over 30 cideries from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The festival is connected with B.C. Cider Week, May 23-31, which includes tasting events and tap takeovers throughout the province.

• Toronto Cider Festival (https://www.torontociderfestival.com/): August 28-29, 2020: Fea-tures live music, artisan market, food, an outdoor fire pit, and of course, a cider showcase and tasting events.

Collaboration is Key in Canadian Craft Beer

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blood brotherhood beer

By: Alyssa Andres

With the number of breweries in Canada growing to over 900 this year, craft brewers need to find new ways to set themselves apart from the competition. A series of rotating taps isn’t enough to draw the crowds to the tasting rooms anymore. There are over 300 craft breweries doing that in the province of Ontario alone. Many Canadian breweries are choosing to team up with other brewers, local businesses and people in the community as a way of creating something newsworthy, both in their beers and in their tasting rooms. It’s no longer an “every man for themselves” mentality in the brewing industry. Collaboration is a key component for some of Canada’s most exciting and successful breweries. It allows them to experiment with new techniques and approaches. It also sparks interest in new products while building a sense of community and assisting other local businesses.

  In downtown Toronto, Canada, craft brewers have to battle to be the latest and greatest in the food and beverage scene. The foodie culture is strong in the city, but Torontonians tend to lose interest quickly, so the battle to stay hip is hard.

  Blood Brothers Brewing has managed to stay at the top of the wave since opening its doors in 2015. Owners and actual brothers, Dustin and Brayden Jones, combine innovative brewing ideas and methodical techniques with beautiful design and packaging, making Blood Brothers Brewing stand out amongst the hordes of other Toronto craft breweries. However, that’s not all they’re doing to keep people’s attention. For the brewery’s newest releases, they’ve teamed up with four other Ontario craft breweries to create “The Blood Brotherhood.” The brewery released four beers on February 22nd, each a different collaboration with a smaller microbrewery in the area; Barncat Artisan Ales, Badlands Brewing Company, Short Finger Brewing Company and Rouge River Brewing Company. The limited-edition series sparked massive interest from the brewery’s online following after only a week of promotion. The Blood Brotherhood Imperial Stout with chocolate, coconut and banana, a collaboration with Barncat Artisan Ales in Cambridge, Ontario, sold out all 200 bottles within an hour of release.

  For microbreweries like Barncat, pairing with a reputable brewery like Blood Brothers gives them exposure and instant credibility in an otherwise volatile market. It’s easy for many new craft beer releases to fall under the radar, but a limited release collaboration creates something one of a kind, and people tend to take notice. At the same time, collaborating allows brewmasters to work with other brewers, sharing new ideas, learning new techniques and utilizing different facilities to make unique products they might not otherwise create.

  Powell Brewery in Vancouver, British Columbia, used this mentality when brewing its Ode to Wallflower Pale Ale. Powell has teamed with East Vancouver distillery, Odd Society Spirits, to create a Citra pale ale aged in Odd Society gin barrels. This limited edition 6.2% ABV beer has incredible personality. It is crisp and botanical, with a slight oak quality and smooth finish. A collaboration like this helps both businesses gather attention and create a hyper-local product that speaks to its location.

  Many craft brewers in the Niagara Peninsula are collaborating with local winemakers to create innovative beers that reflect the region. Exchange Brewery in the heart of Historic Downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake, uses grapes from popular local winery, Pearl Morisette, to create their Grand Cru Ale. The ale is brewed with a hint of spice and aged for one year on pressed grape skins. The result is a dry, fruity ale with a deep colour and smooth body. Nearby, in the Twenty Mile Bench VQA appellation, Bench Brewing Company is also using local wine barrels and grapes to brew their beers. Not only that, but they’re also using a plethora of fruits grown in the surrounding farming region. The result is a roster of beers that showcases the land from where it comes. These collaborations help to support the community and local farmers.

  Collaboration is not only happening in the breweries but the tasting rooms as well. Many Canadian craft breweries are choosing to partner with local businesses to enhance the front of house experience and create something authentically local. At A-Frame Brewing Company in Squamish, British Columbia, owner Jeff Oldenborger works alongside local businesses to create a one of a kind haven for people in the community. Local food trucks serve guests regularly outside the brewery, and snacks are for sale from local vendors such as Spray Creek Ranch Pepperoni and Kaylin & Hobbs Pickles. Oldenborger has even partnered with Trae Designs, a local toymaker that creates sustainable and innovative wooden toys, to create “Okanagan Lake,” a play area for children to enjoy while visiting the space. Combined with regular events and live music, the space is a hub for ongoing collaborations within the community, and a popular retreat for locals.

  On Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, on the eastern coast of Canada, a similar collaboration is happening between local craft brewery, Big Spruce, and Cabot Public House, a popular local pub. The restaurant has orchestrated a regular “Tap Takeover” with Big Spruce, where the pub pours only their beers for a night, offering locals the chance to try a larger selection of their products. The event draws quite a crowd.

  That’s not the only exciting collaboration for Big Spruce. Each year since 2017, the small east coast brewery partners with the Ocean Tracking Network to create a “colla-BEER-ation” that raises awareness surrounding issues that face the ocean’s ecosystem. The beer, Big Spruce’s “Tag! You’re It!” American-style IPA, doesn’t change, but each year the brewery chooses a new oceanic creature to be featured on the label. The 2019 label featured an Atlantic salmon and raised $5000 for marine conservation. This brought the total amount to $56,000 in donations since the project launched. This year’s featured species will be announced in May, and the donations will continue to help support ongoing initiatives to support the ocean ecosystems.

  On the opposite coast, another brewery choosing to collaborate to do good is Surrey, British Columbia’s Central City Brewing Company. Every April, their Red Racer line releases a special edition beer to raise money for autism research. This year the brewery released a Superfruit IPA. Two dollars from every six-pack and $0.25 from every pint sold at participating restaurants go to the cause. Since 2013, the company has raised $600,000 to help battle autism. Red Racer also collaborates with a slew of craft breweries all over Canada to create their “Across the Nation” collaboration pack, originally released to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. Now in its fourth year, the 12-pack features beers from 12 different Canadian craft breweries, one from each province and territory in the country. Beers range from traditional to entirely experimental, but they each pay tribute to a local monument from their hometown. This collaboration helps put smaller Canadian breweries on the map and builds camaraderie within the industry from coast-to-coast. 

  The ultimate example of craft beer collaboration in Canada is Collective Arts Brewing in Hamilton, Ontario. This grassroots brewery has made collaboration the core spirit of their company. They collaborate every step of the way, not only with other brewers, local businesses and charities, but also with artists and musicians from all over the world. The result is truly remarkable. Each of Collective Arts’ beers displays artwork from a different artist chosen from thousands of applications on a bi-annual basis. To date, over 600 artists have been featured on Collective Arts’ cans. Visitors of the brewery can see the entire collection in the tasting room. A recent three-way collaboration with Chicago brewery Marz Community Brewing Co. and Hamilton Donut shop Donut Monster resulted in the hugely successful “Beady Eyes Pale Ale.” The beer, brewed with blood orange, hibiscus and lactose sugar, to emanate one of Donut Monster’s signature treats, featured art from Hamilton artist Joel MacKenzie.

  Collective Arts’ cans showcase not only artists but also feature different bands and musicians. To take it one step further, the brewery has expanded this alliance and is hosting an event in Hamilton, Ontario, in June 2020. Liquid Art Fest will see over 50 brewers from all over the world pouring their most unique and rare beers. The event will feature live music as well as live mural artists, screen printing and food trucks. Collective Arts has transformed what it means to be a craft brewery and created a company that embodies creativity, community and collaboration.

Canadian craft brewers all over the country are coming up with new ways to join forces and make headlines. Collaboration in the craft beer industry creates the same buzz as a celebrity romance. It’s like a superstar duet featuring two of your favourite bands. Not only does it create a buzz on social media and allow a brewery to network outside of its direct audience, but it inspires innovative ideas and results. It brings communities together and helps local businesses. It encourages camaraderie within the industry and can even support charitable causes. There is no downside to collaboration, especially when the other result is just really good beer.