About Us

Fine tuning comes from the distiller. He draws from his past distilling experience, the ingredients, and the goal to always produce a higher and higher quality spirit. Micro-distilleries attract people who really strive to make a better product and the quality shows itself in every bottle as it is released.

Our still with the 2 rectifying columns are made from approximately 6000 pounds of copper. Copper is superior to other metals for distilling because unwanted impurities will bind to the copper and are removed from the distillate. Our still is the perfect blend of a traditional pot still and world class technology which allows the distiller to have fine control over the distillation process. Our 16 plate still gives us the ability to control the reflux which allows the delicate aromatics, congeners, & flavor elements from the grain and yet removing the undersirable characteristics from the spirit.

Mechanics
Making a good mash is critical to produce great vodka. We begin by selecting the finest ingredients available. World class rye from Northern Michigan and glacial waters are a good start. We first mill our rye into the reaction tank. It is here that the starches are broken down into glucose or sugar. We use some malted grain and enzymes to break the starch down to simple sugar. Our 2400 liter reaction tank is continually stirred while we take care to control the ph and temperature. Once the starch conversion is completed the mash is cooled and transferred into one of three 2400 liter fermentation tanks where the yeast is added. These fermentation tanks are temperature controlled so the mash does not overheat. After 3 to 5 days of fermentation the yeast have converted all the sugar into alcohol and the by product carbon dioxide.

We will now transfer 1200 liters of the mash into the kettle of the still. It is here that we separate the alcohol from the mash. In later distillations we will concentrate and purify the alcohol. The advanced technology offered in our reflux still allows us to slow down the distillation process by increasing the reflux. Reflux is a method of heating the liquid so alcohol vapors are formed then condensed back into a liquid. Each time the alcohol evaporates then condenses it will leave impurities behind. With our 16 plate still it is estimated each drop of alcohol will evaporate and condense about 1,600 times. We collect this alcohol and repeat the process several times until we have alcohol that comes out of the still above 190 proof. The vapors also have to pass through a catalytic converter which is 700 pounds of corrugated copper. The copper will bind to unwanted trace elements such as sulfur removing them from the distillate.

It is this balance of eliminating imperfections while retaining the essence and flavor notes in the rye that defines our True North Vodka™. The alcohol is then gently filtered, diluted to 80 proof then hand bottled. The end result is truly exceptional sipping vodka that will delight the senses of the most discriminating connoisseurs.

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