Craft distillery elevates cocktail culture in Stevens Point
Clip | 4m 47sVideo has Closed Captions
Brian Cummins traded in his job as a chemical engineer to distill Wisconsin spirits.
Brian Cummins left chemical engineering to establish Great Northern Distillery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Using ingredients sourced within 150 miles, the small-batch distillery produces 20,000 bottles annually. Great Northern features a vintage supper club atmosphere with elevated takes on classics like the Old Fashioned.
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Wisconsin Life is a local public television program presented by PBS Wisconsin
Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, Obrodovich Family Foundation, Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW...
Craft distillery elevates cocktail culture in Stevens Point
Clip | 4m 47sVideo has Closed Captions
Brian Cummins left chemical engineering to establish Great Northern Distillery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Using ingredients sourced within 150 miles, the small-batch distillery produces 20,000 bottles annually. Great Northern features a vintage supper club atmosphere with elevated takes on classics like the Old Fashioned.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Angela Fitzgerald: This river town has the nickname "City of Wonderful Water."
Now, there is a new distiller in Stevens Point turning that water into rum, whiskey, gin, and vodka.
- Brian Cummins: After touring, like, 30 craft distilleries across the country, I jumped in with both feet.
- Angela: Brian Cummins hasn't always been a distiller, but his chemistry background sure helps.
- I was a frustrated chemical engineer here in the local paper industry, not really seeing another 25 years in that business.
So to measure the strength of the alcohol, we use hydrometers.
I really believe distilling is just chemical engineering with good taste.
This is now at 46.12% alcohol.
- Angela: The distillery's location is just a short walk from central downtown for Brian and his sidekick, Remy.
- We built our new facility on a historic manufacturing site, the former Belke Lumber building.
- Angela: Constructing a new building is only part of the plan.
Building commmunity is a key component in every bottle.
- A handmade craft cocktail really starts with great ingredients.
Oh, that's really good.
- Angela: Those ingredients are harvested across Wisconsin.
- We source all of our ingredients from within 150 miles of our distillery.
It's important to me to celebrate local growers because they're my neighbors, they're my friends, they support us.
We wanna support them.
Knock, knock.
Here to pick up the order for Great Northern.
First and foremost, we started with a Polish-style potato vodka.
Hey, here in Stevens Point, central Wisconsin, we are right in the middle of potato fields.
Our grains are coming from up in northern Wisconsin.
A small hobby farm growing really great corn, wheat, and rye for us.
We make a Wisconsin brandy that we make from wine that we distill from our neighbor, Sunset Point Winery, here in downtown Stevens Point.
And then we make our ginseng whiskey because the best ginseng in the world is grown right here in central Wisconsin.
- Angela: Those Wisconsin ingredients are crafted in small batches in a still designed in Germany.
- Brian: It really is working sculpture.
It is handcrafted for us.
Having something made by hand of 100% pure copper is really important to our process.
We ferment very differently than a craft brewer does.
Very hot and very fast.
After just two days of fermentation, we go to our still, where we concentrate that alcohol.
We do have a couple of batches that are ready to be bottled.
Good.
- Angela: The liquor is bottled, labeled, and packaged all by hand.
- Brian: Small batch distilling is really handcrafting those spirits.
That also means that each of our bottles has a label on it that labels its batch and bottle number, hand labeled, to make sure that people know, "Hey, this is batch 34 of the whiskey."
We are making roughly 20,000 bottles a year of our spirits.
- Angela: Enter the tasting room and you will see Brian has an eye on the past and a vision for the future, with a vintage yet modern supper club vibe.
- The best part is when you step in from our small town Stevens Point and it really is a big city feel.
We can really put a lot of our energy and a lot of our goodwill right into that glass.
- Bartender: All right!
- We do have a signature drink.
I'd have to say that's our Wisconsin Old Fashioned.
[ice clinking] [liquid splashing] And then flame and orange peel over the top of it to make sure we get some nice orange flavor there.
One of our missions is to elevate the cocktail culture in central and northern Wisconsin.
- Angela: And in the process, pointing patrons to Brian's hometown.
- It really is gratifying to know that I'm helping to build the community of Stevens Point.
This place is my life.
I have dedicated everything to this.
Small business is not for the faint of heart.
I've put in basically every asset committed that I have to make this place a success.
I think I am living a dream.
This whole thing is kind of like breakfast.
The chicken's involved with the eggs, but the pig is committed.
I'm committed.
[laughing] [upbeat music]
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Wisconsin Life is a local public television program presented by PBS Wisconsin
Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, Obrodovich Family Foundation, Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW...