PHOTOS BY OLAF STARORYPINSKI
DISTILLERIES ARE VALORIZED FOR THEIR ABILITY TO MANAGE, well, the distillation. It’s a complicated process and it’s what separates them from other alcohol producers. The chemical process of evaporating, recooling, and collecting the spirits, and then blending and aging them, is awfully intricate, requiring many creative and technical decisions along the way.
But before any of that happens, distillers need to make or buy an alcohol to distill. This sugary, boozy broth—called the “mash” or “distiller’s beer”—is the base from which any spirit will eventually come.
And making that mash is a step that can range from a mere footnote to being completely vital, depending on the distiller and the final product.
FROM BEER AT HOME TO A WHISKEY BUSINESS
For Kris Kwant at Triple Sun Spirits in Emmaus, the mashing process is deeply seeded into the identity of his company and his flagship product: Triple Sun Pennsylvania Straight Bourbon.
Many distilleries purchase large quantities of whiskey from suppliers and then age and blend those whiskies in barrels according to their preferences. This allows for a much more stable and consistent product (as well as an easier one, since they are effectively outsourcing the fermentation and initial distillation). There’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach, of course, but for Kwant, the ability to select, ferment, and showcase grains is part of what makes whiskey-making his passion. It also allows for a constant tweaking of processes; each batch is a little better, the process more refined.
“We’ve made some adjustments to our grist, mash temperatures, and water-to-grain ratios, just to name a few. I think we’ll continue to adjust as we go,” Kwant explains. “Although I admire the spirits made by my peers, I’m naturally biased toward my own creations and their underlying approach.”
A homebrewer by background and chemist by career, Kwant treats fermentation as the central part of how he makes spirits.
“Homebrewing allowed me to experiment on a smaller scale and gain valuable insights into the fermentation process that would have been hard to acquire without an apprenticeship or specialized training,” he says. Fermentation is key to both processes, but Kwant brings a brewer’s eye and training to his craft that informs the resulting spirit.
“While I didn’t start out with the intention of owning a distillery, my background in homebrewing and pharmaceutical manufacturing provided me with useful skills that aligned perfectly with how I run my distillery.”
This focus on fermentation is one that is gaining momentum in the traditionally slow-changing world of whiskey, according to Lew Bryson, former editor of Malt Advocate and author of Tasting Whiskey.
“There are a small but growing number of craft distillers, and even a couple big legacy distillers, who are taking direction from the brewing side of alcohol beverages,” Bryson says. “There are so many different levers to pull when you create flavor and aroma in whiskey, and it baffles me that so many distillers limit their choices to a handful of inputs.”
“Kris is doing a lot on the pre-distillation side,” he adds, “and that has an effect on what the whiskey will taste like at every subsequent step, right on into the bottle and the glass.”
It’s true: Kwant is building a different mash for each spirit he distills, which is an unusual move. And although those choices impact all of Kwant’s spirits at some level, they are showcased in the most dramatic way in his Pennsylvania Straight Bourbon, a limited release that comes out every fall.
THE CHOICES THAT DEFINE A BOURBON
Bourbon, by law, must be made from at least 51 percent corn, and then has some other grains (malted barley and either rye or wheat, generally), and it must be aged in a virgin charred oak barrels. Triple Sun uses 80 percent corn, 10 percent barley, and 10 percent rye.
Corn, the major stock of so much American whiskey, tends to give bourbon that sweet backbone that’s so well complemented by the vanilla notes from the oak of the barrel. “For our grain bills, I based our approach on tweaks to bourbon recipes from brands I personally enjoyed and what has traditionally ‘worked,’” Kwant says. He says that using a high corn content typically makes for a sweeter, smoother and less “grainy” bourbon. It emphasizes flavors of caramel, vanilla, and honey. “I also chose sweet mashing because it better fit that profile, producing a cleaner, slightly sweeter and richer character.”
Kwant uses a “sweet mash” process, which means the acidity is lower than the “sour mash” process one might remember from the label of Jack Daniel’s. This can make the mash a bit more temperamental, because it is more vulnerable to unwanted yeasts and bacteria. In order to produce a more stable, reliable product, Triple Sun compensates by using more yeast and pitching, or preparing, a new batch of yeast for every mash, unlike distilleries that can reuse yeast.
“Using larger yeast pitches and opting not to reuse yeast from batch to batch does come with added costs,” Kwant admits. “However, these choices ensure healthier, cleaner fermentations with less surprises, like off-flavors and inconsistent yields.”
Triple Sun ferments at higher temperatures than many other distilleries, which helps to shorten the fermentation time, he says. Additionally, the distillery uses “open” fermentations, meaning the containers are not airtight, so that resulting CO2 can escape. All of these decisions are about getting the specific aromas and flavors, as well as having efficient processes. “Clean” mash fermentations that don’t have off-putting smells and flavors are both more appetizing for the consumer and require less treatment to fix. Since the way distilleries usually clean up those off flavors are the expensive steps of additional distilling and aging, clean ferments are both good spirits and good business for Triple Sun.
One of the major considerations in being a “grain-to-glass” distillery, of course, is finding the right grains to use. Kwant works with a number of suppliers to source heirloom grains—which means those that existed before scientific plant growing exploded in the mid-20th century—that work with his corn base.
One local supplier is Zilka & Co., a 100-year-old supplier to bakeries that branched out into the beverage industry a few years ago. Zilka carries malted barley from Muntons, another century-old company in the UK, that makes up the 10 percent in Triple Sun’s bourbon.
“It’s one of the best regions in the world for growing that malt,” says Zilka’s Joe Afif of the UK malthouse, which has won multiple honors for its sustainability efforts. “Consistency-wise, it’s pretty stellar.”
Zilka works with PA malthouses like CNC and Allegheny Mountain Malt from the western part of the state, in addition to brands like Muntons. By leveraging their existing infrastructure from the baking side, Zilka can service smaller producers like Triple Sun by delivering the smaller amounts of grain they need without extra fees that typically accompany smaller-volume purchases
“It helps the smaller guys become profitable and stay profitable,” Afif says. “That’s why we got into it: to help our local companies.”
IT’S ALL IN THE GRAIN
Grain selection gives the whiskey its identity.
“The difference really lies in the flavor and intensity of the ingredients,” Kwant explains, pointing out the differences in some of his favorite spirit grains. “Corn-based fermentables have a milder flavor profile. In contrast, grains like Simpsons Maris Otter or Weyermann’s Roggenmalz [the 10 percent rye in the Triple Sun bourbon] bring much richer flavors and more complex sugars, contributing significantly more by weight compared to their less-robust counterparts.”
Of course, this decision has tradeoffs, as well. One of those is that consistency from batch to batch can be a challenge.
“Dealing with an agrarian supply chain can be challenging at times, especially with fluctuating availability, prices, and consistency of raw materials,” says Kwant.
But the pandemic left its own unique impact. While large spirits and beverage brands boomed with retail sales during the shutdown, smaller brands were locked out of the boom in large chain stores. Those who were reliant on a smaller scale of supply chain—like Triple Sun—were doubly impacted.
Additionally, the long aging process for bourbon and the relative inability of small producers to “blend out” variation from batch to batch adds uncertainty as well, making it difficult sometimes to predict the final product.
“I believe we have some flexibility when it comes to the corn-based fermentables we use from batch to batch,” Kwant says. “However, we’re much more consistent with the varieties of barley and rye in our grist because they provide the specific character and complexity we’re after. While many other factors—such as yeast selection, fermentation profile, distillation, and aging techniques—contribute to the final bourbon in the bottle, it all begins with the grist and mash, and knowing where you can be flexible can make all the difference.”
And then there’s the reason Kwant—and any distiller—does this at all.
“In the end, it’s the customer that defines what ‘works,’” Kwant acknowledges, “so we will continue to focus on the consumer’s ever-evolving palate.
Luckily, for Triple Sun, their daily innovations drive their evolution. If the best way to predict the future is to create it, then Kwant’s whiskeys may just be charting a path to the next decade of spirits.
Triple Sun makes a lot of other products, including some custom-label items. We asked Kris Kwant to tell us some of his favorite ways to drink his spirits.
PREMIUM VODKA (distilled six times from corn, double charcoal filtered, gluten-free): Mix with our housemade Bloody Mary and serve in a hollowed-out Allentown Farmers Market pickle, with a dusting of Old Bay.
ESPRESSO VODKA (vodka, cane sugar, brewed espresso): People in our Newtown location love it in our Espresso Martini with a touch of creme de cacao and vanilla; it’s the perfect balance of coffee, chocolate, and a bit of booze.
UNAGED CORN WHISKEY (100 percent corn): “Moonshine” Lemonade is the perfect cocktail to quench your thirst. Balanced and easy drinking, this is a great cocktail for dipping a toe into whiskey. We offer flavor shots of cherry, strawberry, coconut, or mango for a unique twist.
SPICED RUM (Clove, cardamom, orange zest, Madagascar vanilla, star anise, nutmeg and four types of peppercorn macerated in our bourbon-barrel-aged rum): This is great in our “Dirty Dr Pepper” which combines rum with Dr Pepper and black cherry purée and a dollop of whipped cream. “It’s just soooo good,” he says.
AMERICAN GIN (distilled seven times and vapor-infused with 18 botanicals): Makes an amazing Blackberry Mint Bees Knees, combining our super smooth citrus and herbal-forward gin with simple syrup made from local Funny Farm Apiaries honey, fresh mint, and a touch of blackberry purée.
Of course, our STRAIGHT BOURBON has gotten a lot of attention simply served neat or with a chunky ice cube, but I personally love it with Funny Farm’s honey simple syrup, black walnut bitters, and a cedar-wood-smoked glass that’s rimmed with a Microplaned orange zest and topped with a Luxardo cherry.
