If you’re taking off on a leaf-peeping drive, head to the hills—the Berkshire Hills, that is, where Berkshire Mountain Distillers has a slew of spirits coming off the stills. Founder Chris Weld got the whole operation up and running in 2007, but he can trace his interest in the process back to the eighth grade when he attempted to make his own still for a science project on homesteading (before his mother found out it was a federal offense and directed his attentions elsewhere). After biochemistry and emergency medicine studies, plus a 20-year career as a physician’s assistant, Weld settled in the picturesque Berkshires on a forgotten apple farm.
He and his family revived fruit production and soon found themselves with an abundance of apples—and an on-site source of high-quality water from a historic, granite-based spring. Essentially, they had all the ingredients for apple brandy, and Weld set off into the spirits world. Eight years later, Berkshire Mountain Distillers has a full line of light and dark liquors, from bourbon to vodka. Below, Weld talks their home in the Berkshires, cold-weather gin drinking and what to look for coming round the Mountain.
The Berkshires landscape and mentality lend themselves to small-scale agricultural and entrepreneurial endeavors. Says Weld, “It’s been a great spot to start and nurture a small business,” thanks to the supportive community and availability of local liquor ingredients like rye, corn and botanicals. At the distillery, they’re putting their six acres to use growing hops, lemon verbena, angelica, licorice root and more for test batches and educational teachings; and once their hundred plus juniper trees reach maturation, they’ll be looking to add an all-local gin to their white spirit portfolio (currently boasting two gins and a vodka). On the cocktail side, their commercial greenhouse comes in handy with Roma tomatoes for Bloody Marys, lemongrass for their tonic and herbs like sage, rosemary and lavender for all manner of infusions.
Weld’s biochemistry background helped with the experimentation needed to develop his products, especially when it came to the flagship Greylock Gin, and his personal mission is to debunk the myth that gin consumption should be confined to the summer months. “I think it’s bizarre that gin has this association with summer, but people still drink vodka drinks in the winter. Why would you eschew a very flavorful product just because it’s winter?” For colder weather, he opts for a gin cocktail like the Negroni to keep the spirit in rotation. Besides Greylock, Berkshire Mountain also produces a series of hardier Ethereal gins, limited edition liquors each meant to replace the other.
On the darker side, Weld has a rum, bourbon, corn whiskey and soon, a rye in the Berkshire lineup, plus plenty of smaller projects to keep him busy, like a whiskey collaboration with Sam Adams. To get a true taste of what Berkshire has to offer, check out Berkshire Mountain’s new location in Sheffield, MA for tours and to sample distillery-only releases like a locally-sourced pear eau de vie. Rye production has just begun but is tasting well enough for Weld to contemplate a new-make release, so keep an eye on what’s going on up in the Berkshires, besides the changing foliage.
