FEW Spirits, Evanston

I just read this article about FEW Spirits, a new distillery in Evanston. Right now they have gin and white whiskey. I look forward to trying these.

Back in February, Sula wrote a nice piece about them in the Reader . . .

Omnivorous: Dry No More

at the Chicago Reader, Mike Sula wrote:Hletko is one of at least four local startup distilleries in the midst of navigating the onerous and costly bureaucratic process of getting licensed at the federal, state, and municipal levels. Among them, he's closest to getting bottles on the shelves, but he actually had to get Evanston law changed in order to do it.

"Evanston is a town where unless something is specifically permitted, it is not permitted," says Hletko, a 40-year-old patent attorney with an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering. He did have the support, he says, of city politicians and bureaucrats, and managed to get zoning laws changed so he could apply to open in a 3,200-square-foot onetime chop shop down an alley off Chicago Avenue, hard by the Purple Line tracks. He also had to get the law changed to allow for distiller's licenses, and then apply for one. He got that on Valentine's Day, but before any of that happened he had to apply for a federal distiller's license, which meant he first had to have a property for his distillery.

Definitely eager to try their stuff.

=R=

It's pretty rare that I drink anything distilled (I prefer to stop with fermented), but I met Paul at the WaSC homebrew tasting, and he seemed like a great guy. He brought a bottle of his gin, which, to this uneducated palate, seemed very good.

It was interesting, I tend to prefer traditional aromatics in my gins, and this one had a healthy dose of juniper, but there was also a citrusy component. I believe he said he used some cascade hops in the gin, though truth be told I was not entirely in my right mind that evening.

Hey Guys -
I enjoyed the WaSC meetup - and the comments are spot on - there's certainly juniper notes, especially on the front, but some pretty aggressive citrus with a lemony-pepper finish with a pretty decent level of spice - not overpowering but certainly present.

We continue to navigate the distribution landscape, but should be distributed soon, and any LTH-ers are always welcome to stop by the distillery for a visit and a taste!

Cheers!

FewSpirits wrote:Hey Guys -
I enjoyed the WaSC meetup - and the comments are spot on - there's certainly juniper notes, especially on the front, but some pretty aggressive citrus with a lemony-pepper finish with a pretty decent level of spice - not overpowering but certainly present.

We continue to navigate the distribution landscape, but should be distributed soon, and any LTH-ers are always welcome to stop by the distillery for a visit and a taste!

Cheers!

Do you prefer we make an appointment to stop by or do you have regular hours?

Darren72 wrote:Do you prefer we make an appointment to stop by or do you have regular hours?

+1. There is no hours listed on the website.

Re regular hours - we're getting there. you can email us (paul at fewspirits.com) to let me know you are coming, but we'll be announcing our regular hours (to be Thursday 5:30-7:30 and Saturday 1-4) soon.

And, yes, there is a bit of cascade hop in the gin - we grow the hops ourselves, and we get a hint of the bitterness and grapefruity to accent the other citrus.

Cheers!

FewSpirits wrote:And, yes, there is a bit of cascade hop in the gin - we grow the hops ourselves, and we get a hint of the bitterness and grapefruity to accent the other citrus.

I'm looking forward to trying it. I've noticed my favorite gins tend to have grapefruit notes, but too much is not a good thing. Leopold Bros. use Pomelo to great grapefruity results, but by comparison Tanqueray 10's grapefruit-heavy expression isn't nearly as interesting or appealing. It gets in the way of the juniper.

Count me a fan of the FEW gin. I love the peppery finish. I'm going to be spending a lot less time in Evanston, and a tour of the FEW distillery is on my list of things to do before I leave. There may be a conflict with the ELG, but a small group of us are going to be touring FEW (918 Chicago Ave.) tomorrow at noon if anyone else wants to join. PM me, and I'll update Paul with the number of people. Edzo's lunch may follow.

Really nice time at a place that cares about what they're doing. Thanks to the others who were there for making it a fun experience.

Nothing like a little distillery tasting midday on a Friday...

Love what they're doing--this is liquor geek heaven!

Very excited to play around with my new bottles tomorrow night. I have a whiskey cocktail in mind that I'm particularly excited about. Not to mention pairing the gin with some highly anticipated persimmon syrup

Looking forward to attending a bottling party in the near future.

I had a wonderful time visiting FEW. As I mentioned to JLenart, boudreaulicious & co., I rarely learn anything new on distillery tours anymore about how spirits are made and sold, which was not the case here. I learned new things about barrels, aging, scaling and distribution. Also, I really appreciated Paul's candor. I look forward to FEW's new products hitting the shelves.

I also highly recommend the one-two punch of a FEW tour followed by Edzo's. Possibly my best day in Evanston ever.

Not to be outdone, but....


Few Spirits

Many thanks to the fine gentlemen at Few. I was very happy with a preview taste of their rye and can't wait for their first bottling, hopefully from my barrel.

happy_stomach wrote:I really appreciated Paul's candor

There's no bullshit here. This is how Paul Hletko describes his product. Hard to argue with that. Paul told us about his whole product from obtaining hops (he grows them himself), to distilling his alcohol (done twice, not caring about the proof of his first go).

The fun first began when trying to locate Few Spirits. Tucked away in an alley, you wouldn't find it unless you knew about it.










Once you enter, you're greeted with a brief history of Evanston's dry era




Once everyone arrived, we were able to start our tour














Once our tour was finished, we were able to sample the product (my favorite part).






As a special treat, we were even able to sample FEW's Rye, not yet bottled.






Every bottle is numbered and signed off on


In addition to that, we were able to put our own stamp on those barrels












Once those barrels are cracked, Paul will call you up to let you know it's being bottled if you so desire.

What a fun tour - and great spirits! I don't think any of us walked out without purchasing both products - JLenart even proclaimed, "I think I just found my new gin!"



Because FEW only consists of four people, they regularly hold "bottling parties" - you help bottle and label, and Paul provides the booze + pizza.




To be a part of this, follow FEW Spirits on Facebook.

Wonderful pictures incite, I really like your photography.

mbh wrote:Wonderful pictures incite, I really like your photography.

I agree -- beautiful shots that really make me want to visit FEW more than I already did.

=R=

Quick bump - we were there Friday night ... they're occasionally doing FEW Fridays. A band (in this case, the Rollling Clones), a food truck (Husky Hog BBQ), and a party in the alley. Cocktails, made with various FEW products, were $8 or $10 each, but we saw others bringing in their own beers, which didn't seem to be a problem. I called ahead of time, and asked if tickets or an entry fee were involved. "No, just show up," I was told. A great time. Few Spirits' Facebook page is how I found out about it.


The Rolling Clones

Congratulations to FEW Spirits. Whiskey Advocate awarded their rye Craft Whiskey of the Year.

Whiskey Advocate wrote:Although it’s young, the whiskey is well-made and clean in character, not funky and flawed, which still counts for a lot these days. As I said in my review (an 89 score), “Straightforward rye crisps out of the glass in no-nonsense style; dry grain, sweet grass, and light but insistent anise almost wholly drown out the barrel character.” It’s backed up on the palate, where you’ll get more rye, some tarragon and dry mint spice, and then some oak in the warming finish.

That light barrel character is hardly surprising in a young rye, and we’re not going to see much but young whiskey out of craft distillers for a while yet. So high marks to Few Spirits for making a very good young rye, one I’ve been using as a benchmark ever since I tasted it.

If y'all ever make in to Sepia restaurant, have Griffin make a Few Barrel Aged gin Martinez. It's a wonderful spin on the classic cocktail.