January 2010

Criterion

In honor of Herbert, sadly now deceased, our first run in the still was Criterion Apple Brandy. On the eve of Robert's departure, we were able to get the still up and running so that...

First Run in the Still…Background

On an excursion to pick up grape pommace from a vineyard near Salem, we saw a rough wooden sign advertising apples for sale. The owner of the small orchard, tooling around on a souped...

Installing the Still

Robert, who had hosted the distillery workshop in Chicago, flew to Portland to help assemble our still. A second round with the plumber and his helpers, the electrician and his helpers, our landlord, as well...

The Still Arrives

A very momentous day, Friday, November 20. A huge truck full of distillery items, glass carboys, boxes of 375 mm, 750 mm bottles, limousin French oak barrels, and most importantly, the still. The unloading went...

More getting ready…..

Our plumber and his assistant, our electrician and his helpers, our landlord, (also the architect of the Green Warehouse and well versed in construction and carpentry), Sebastian, with his detailed knowledge of the floor plan...

Getting our Space Ready

We had an empty, newly painted space to populate according to detailed drawings of where each piece of equipment would go, which we had to submit to the various permitting and licensing agencies. (Of which...

Essential Ingredient: The Still

Sebastian attended a distillers' workshop in Chicago March 2009, organized by Kothe Distilling Technologies, a German-based manufacturer of artisan stills. When we decided to start our business, we wanted this type of pot still, which...

Stone Barn Brandyworks

Sebastian and I (Erika Degens) formed our business "Stone Barn Brandyworks" in August 2009. We had spent many an afternoon biking around southeast Portland, and inner northeast Portland, looking for a space which would work...

Stone Barn to participate in upcoming Distillery Row Craft Distillery Appreciation Classes!Portland’s Distillery Row is presenting a hands-on, tasting-oriented series of classes over a two day period in the winter of 2012. Participants will have...

Ouzo

How would the ancient Greeks have made their ouzo? Certainly not with lots of sugar. This spirit reinvents an ouzo from a pinot gris grappa that is redistilled with green Moroccan anise and...