On the off-chance that an apocalypse happens, and you’re the only one left on the face of the planet, who are you going to rely on for food?
…ORRR, more importantly, who are you going to rely on for alcohol? The big-name corporations have fallen apart, Absolut is kaput, and don’t even think about picking up a bottle of Smirnoff at your local liquor store, because that’s like, totally not going to happen.
You’re forced to rely on the ancient (but now totally hip) concept of DIY, aka Do-It-Yourself, and that’s exactly what the folks at Industry City Distillery are doing up in Brooklyn.
ICD was founded by five guys who were looking for a challenge, something that had never been done before, something that combines science, engineering, and art. And what better “something” than a distillery made entirely from scratch? Built from the ground up, Industry City Distillery houses everything required to made vodka: the mixing system, fermentation line, stripping still, and fractional still (all machines required to make the actual product.) The 6,000 sq ft warehouse also contains not only the distillery itself, but also the bottling facility, research lab, machine shop, office, print shop, and kitchen. As you can tell, this is not your ordinary distillery. It’s the only one in the last century with all processing equipment built in Brooklyn.
And when they say they’re built entirely from scratch, they mean it: ICD has developed their own fermentation process using a strain of yeast found in European sugar beet fields. Fancy, non? This process takes place in these large glass apparatuses that the guys at ICD built (obviously) from scratch, which allows fermentation to continue constantly. Compare this to your run-of-the-mill distillery, which uses steel tanks and ferments in batches.
Even their distillation process is unique. Unlike other distilleries which use copper stills, ICD uses a fractional distillation column in order to provide greater control over the final product and optimize flavor. All of this is done in an eco-friendly way: the stripping still uses as much energy as a home coffee maker.
From the actual beet-sugar vodka to the bottle it’s packaged in, Industry City Distillery completely embodies the concept of DIY. Before the world ends, you should totally check them out! Log on to drinkicd.com to read more about the fermentation and distillation processes, purchase their product online, or see a map of retailers who carry ICD.
