The Spirits Enterprise swung by Ellers Farm to check out Dutch Barn Vodka and the Yorkshire distillery’s upcoming English whisky.
Ellers Farm Distillery is positioned in Stamford Bridge (the village, not the soccer stadium), a few 30-minute drive from York within the North of England. The state-of-the-art distillery was as soon as an outdated Dutch barn – therefore the identify of the vodka – and opened in 2022 after a multi-million-pound growth, billing itself as the most important within the area.
Whereas it produces gin, liqueurs and shortly an English single malt whisky, its vodka is probably the best-known due to the involvement of Ricky Gervais, who turned a co-owner in 2023.
Whereas Gervais wasn’t current for our go to, co-founder Chris Fraser confirmed us round as an alternative. He and the workforce had been getting ready (on the time of this go to) for Dutch Barn’s North America launch, placing the ultimate touches to the upcoming whisky launch and readying typically for upscaling and growth. Amongst all of it is a rigorously mapped sustainability plan – a dedication to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and attain internet zero by 2040.
Fraser tells us the distillery is hoping to rely solely on renewable power. The corporate might swap over and be a internet zero operation by the top of the yr, however getting previous Scope 3 presents the trickiest hurdle and one which’s usually out of the distillery’s management.
He defined: “All of our varied scope admissions, and we report all of them, we all know what we will do, and what’s going to get us to Scope 1 internet zero. Attending to full internet zero which entails Scope 3, that’s actually onerous since you depend on all the pieces from the bottle producer changing into a internet zero operator to replying to each enter, down all the best way to even selecting apples for our crop. It’s achievable, however it’s worthwhile to decide the correct companions – that takes a very long time.”
Dutch Barn Vodka
Fraser tells us the preliminary spark for his vodka got here simply over 10 years in the past when he made cider utilizing unpicked apples from a close-by orchard for an at-home distillation.
Fraser was coaching for Ironman (the long-distance triathlon), so making 350-litres of cider for one individual wasn’t the perfect wholesome ingesting possibility – he considerably sensibly selected vodka, lime and soda as an alternative. He started taking part in round with distilling in a little bit pot ‘nonetheless’ (which is on show within the customer’s centre), operating it by way of 5 occasions to assert it was ‘five-times distilled’, but it surely wasn’t actually vodka, as Dutch Barn’s now grasp distiller identified to him.
Fraser remembers: “I bear in mind the primary time Jamie [Baggott, Dutch Barn’s master distiller] got here round to my place, I stated, ‘oh yeah strive that’ and he took one sniff and he simply replied ‘nope…”
This, together with a way that issues might get a little bit harmful at dwelling, meant it was time to discover a greater house.
Ellers Farm has its personal orchard the place it grows apples for the vodka, the important thing to the Dutch Barn recipe, which we had been sadly unable to see on our go to because the British climate was doing its factor.
The orchard is at the moment in part one among progress and the plan is to have 20 acres across the distillery. “We’re making a biodiversity offset – type of like a little bit sanctuary space,” Fraser says.
Contained in the distillery, Fraser talked us by way of its apple spirit. Observing the fermenter, he stated the cider is given a kick of sugar first simply to get the fermentation course of going as a result of “you need the juice to begin rising virtually instantly as soon as it has been contained and combined collectively.
“Primarily in about 72 hours, we’re making an attempt to go from apple juice and into cider, popping out at a fairly excessive alcohol content material, at round 12% ABV.”
He notes the power and water conservation methods that the distillery has in place to make sure excessive effectivity: “I can’t bear in mind what the stat is, however we use like 98% of our processed water. There’s no runwater waste and behind the cider is primarily a large warmth exchanger.”
On apples, Fraser added: “We knew we might make a clear vodka with nothing in it however I don’t assume that brings something to a cocktail.”
“Whisky drinkers will drink their spirit neat, Tequila drinkers the identical now, however most vodka is drunk both with a mixer or a cocktail. The very best bar for a vodka cocktail is a superb Martini and that’s what we’re making an attempt to be – and in a extremely dry Vodka Martini as a result of the vodka is the true showcase of what you’re making an attempt to do.
“There may be some flavour there, and there may be deliberately a odor, as a result of when that turns up in a Martini, we would like it to be there.”
The vodka champions a clean flavour and crystal-clear look, achieved by distilling the heated apple spirit a minimum of 70 occasions by way of 70 distillation plates. The primary columns have all been aptly-named: the 8.5m-tall Magic Mike because the stripping column, a 2,500-litre pot nonetheless referred to as Granny Smith, Crystal (the de-meth column to cut back methanol ranges, additionally a Breaking Dangerous reference) after which two rectification columns.
Whereas the columns are cut up, the unique thought was to position all of them on high of one another, making it the tallest distilling column in Europe. The method is operating on a regular basis, 24/7, on one warmth supply, Fraser tells us, with the columns monitored each 20 minutes.
Whereas Granny Smith and Magic Mike maintain distillation, Crystal’s job is to cut back the spirit’s methanol degree to 1.5mg per 1,000 litres. Fraser says the distillery has comparatively excessive methanol ranges as a result of it makes its vodka from fruit and to take care of the potato and food-based spirit that it additionally has. Crystal acts as a reverse distillation, he explains, basically distilling the methanol, so the ethanol is a waste product from that.
For the remainder of the method, the spirit is taken out the again of the distillery for a carbon therapy, which Fraser calls “fairly distinctive” and which takes impurities out of the liquid. The filtration course of makes use of two kinds of carbon designed to make one among – if not the – purest vodka in the marketplace.
“We then let it settle, we faucet off after which filter it 21 occasions. Then we let it relaxation and sit for per week basically, to let all the pieces relax. That’s one thing our grasp distiller discovered simply by way of time: when you rush it and go straight to the bottle, you find yourself with a vodka that’s fairly scorching.”
As a hybrid vodka (Dutch Barn isn’t all apple), it additionally contains potato. For this, the workforce buys in a potato spirit and runs it by way of the metal, placing extra copper on it, cleansing it up after which mixing earlier than bottling.
“We have now potatoes in there as a result of our objective is to make the very best vodka on this planet,” Fraser asserts. “The potato is about bringing stability and a little bit mouthfeel.
“Apple provides you a extremely clear, crisp vodka. Potato vodka, usually with 100% potato, is admittedly creamy and tactile – and so simply by bringing a little bit little bit of that into the apples, we will create one thing actually particular. There’s only a few who do this. Once we designed Dutch Barn, we knew we’re going largely apple, however we thought ‘what would elevate it?’”
Flavours
Fraser additionally confirmed us an outsized vapour chamber, 10 occasions the scale of a daily one, the place it places in botanicals. The scale is to allow them to put large quantities of flavour into issues they put by way of. With Mediterranean Citrus for instance, the liquid is put within the chamber together with Mediterranean citruses (pomelo, lemon, lime and orange), and the contemporary fruits are cooked by way of to create an “unbelievable” citrus distillate.
On why pomelo is used moderately than grapefruit, Fraser says that “our distillers have at all times appreciated taking part in round with pomelo and it’s a nicer flavour in a spirit than grapefruit”.
“Pomelo is extra grapefruit than grapefruit”, he provides for additional emphasis….
Balinese Vanilla was the hardest for the workforce to pin down as a result of when doing vanilla vodka correctly, it’s not simply the costly a part of it (although it’s the costliest to supply), it’s onerous to get the precise vanilla to show up naturally.
Of the method, he explains: “An enormous quantity of Balinese vanilla pods go into the pot and we create an in a single day pot maceration – creating sturdy vanilla tea, if you’ll, and a extremely sturdy alcohol. We take the pods out and push that by way of the vapour chamber to present it a secondary hit of the vanilla – and that’s why it has such a pure vanilla flavour.”
He stresses that the method is difficult and it took many goes to get the flavour they wished: “You simply can’t get it [natural vanilla] in your spirit. If you put it by way of the nonetheless, the nonetheless will take it out, so getting it to undergo the method and really take the flavour that you really want. I imply, once we did a few occasions, you’ll get the true type of woodiness of the pods coming by way of, however the vanilla was left behind. We tried straight maceration, and yeah, with straight maceration… it might probably’t be clear.”
“You can’t have clear vanilla vodka when you’re going the pure route.”
Upcoming whisky
Whereas Dutch Barn Vodka was mentioned intimately, Fraser provided loads of perception into the distillery’s upcoming whisky, too. The brand new make spirit, quickly to be a single malt (November 2025 is the date, if all goes in accordance with plan), was resting in ex-Bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill distillery on our go to, with a number of Cognac barrels seen mendacity round in addition to the workforce have a watch on experimentation.
The brand new make spirit has a reputation – ‘The Bairn’ (that means youngster) – because it can not legally be referred to as a whisky till the top of the yr, when it comes of age (three years). It gained Gold at The World Whisky Masters 2023, so anticipation and expectation are each moderately excessive for the debut whisky to say the least, with 1,000 bottles to be made obtainable.
The distillery collaborates with T&R Theakston brewery in North Yorkshire to supply its wash, the beery liquid that comes after yeast is added to begin the fermentation.
“Theakston brings the beer basically able to be distilled right here. They make the alcohol there, they do the fermentation course of; Yorkshire-grown barley, Yorkshire malted barley, Yorkshire fermented barley, after which ship it over right here”, Fraser says of the method.
Many of the whisky was off-site being ready for the top of the yr. So current to us had been those not going to cask as they had been primary, on the high of the pile, and the opposite casks had been all privately-owned ones bought final yr as a founder’s launch.
The primary cask was laid down in August 2022.
Nonetheless time to purchase one? “You must purchase off one of many members and I’m positive they are going to all cost a really excessive worth”, Fraser stated, setting sincere expectations.
On the cask choice, he provides that “whisky is the place we will have a bit extra enjoyable as a result of you could have extra time”. Displaying us a white Port cask, he says “we’re making an attempt completely different finishes, simply messing round, making an attempt to see how they bring about the spirit completely different components.
“There’s a Cognac cask on the again. Apple brandy with our apple spirit. We’re making an attempt completely different Bourbon casks – testing these and most of our casks are Heaven Hill. We’re trialling completely different charrings after which clearly the mash for every is completely different. They convey a barely completely different attribute to the whisky. We’re simply taking part in round to see what works greatest, however we predict Heaven Hill is fairly good – the liquid we’re getting on the whisky is fairly phenomenal.”
Concerning capability, he says “we’re operating on the equal of most likely 20,900 litres of alcohol a yr. So we’re scaling up, so a lot of extra capability, however with out a lot funding that may do about 1.2 million bottles every year.
“With a little bit of funding and a few shift patterns, we will recover from 2 million bottles a yr, so we’re properly in need of that now.”
He’s hopeful within the long-term, although, that the quantity may be doubled or tripled with off-site growth.
It was then time to depart the technical stuff behind and head again to the customer’s centre – which is a courtyard throughout from the manufacturing website – to the tasting room.
And having tried all of them, and answering the all-important query of which was your favorite (‘I like all of them’ was our protected response), it was time to wrap the present up.
We would need to return for a revisit, although, as with the brand new whisky across the nook and upcoming developments on the location, the distillery appears to be solely simply getting began.
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