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Red Brick Distillery: Urban Craft Whiskey Done the Hard Way
There is something really romantic about the world of wine and spirits. For thousands of years, fathers have toasted their sons, warriors celebrated victories, dear friends console one another – all with a drink. People drink to relax, drink to connect with someone, and drink for courage.
The whiskey distiller has a noble profession. He combines art with meticulous hard work, and it’s all in the name of creating a beverage worthy of life’s greatest moments.
Brian Forrest founded Red Brick Distillery in 2015. Shortly after, making whiskey and rum was the only thing he did. Red Brick is award-winning yet small. He works out of a warehouse in North Philadelphia, and according to him, he makes some of the best whiskey in the world. I tried it, and I have to say, it’s hard to argue with him.
Did you know: For a spirit to legally be called whiskey in the United States, it must be distilled from fermented grains at less than 95% alcohol per volume and bottled at no less than 45%.
How did Red Brick Distillery get started?
Red Brick grew out of my hobby. I was that guy at parties that would bring along whiskey for people to try out. Not just whiskey – I made rum and gin, which were a lot quicker to make. Whiskey was a challenge. I was making one barrel at a time. Along the way, friends were really supportive and encouraging, and I just decided to go for it. I made my share of mistakes in the beginning.
What were you doing before making whiskey?
I used to be a remodeler. I built kitchens and bathrooms. Construction has been my career for my entire adult life. I have an art background too, so I know how to weld. I’ve always been hands-on. I’ve always been confident that if I don’t know how to do something, I’ll figure it out along the way. I built my first still. You can buy them online now, but you could only find plans for one when I was getting started. By two or three attempts, I had a solid piece of equipment that I could rely on.
What did you make the still out of? Copper?
Copper and stainless steel. The draw to copper is that it’s really safe and amazing conductor. It’s a lot better than stainless in that sense. I try to use copper where I can, but I don’t really see much of a difference.
The Process for Making Whiskey: Yeast is added to grain and water and over time it converts sugar into alcohol. This is called the fermentation process. Afterward, the mash is placed in a still where the alcohol is separated from the water by heating the mash above 173° F, the temperature at which alcohol evaporates but less than 212° F, the temperature at which water evaporates. This is called the distillation process.
What’s cooking at Red Brick Distillery today?
Right now, I’m making rum. We’re running the still on the first time through. We’re collecting whatever comes off. I made an initial cut right in the beginning. I typically take a gallon off the top of the first run. It’s like the super heads. It eliminates all the dangerous stuff right out of the gate. We’ll do the same thing on the second run.
Were you affected by COVID?
COVID time was a really wild time for distillers. All of a sudden, hand sanitizer was 10x more valuable than spirits. Everyone needed it. It was good for us; it came at a time when we needed it. And it was fun. A lot of my friends came to help. One of my friends came by to buy a bottle of whiskey because he was upset that he got laid off, and he ended up working for me for about three months.
Are bars and restaurants big buyers?
Red Brick is high-end whiskey. We do well in farmer’s markets. It’s that bottle you take home for your bar at home. That’s our brand. Bars aren’t really our big thing. It’s time-consuming and not the biggest return.
Were there any challenges you weren’t expecting in growing Red Brick Distillery?
I can’t say that it was unexpected, but the biggest challenges are making the whiskey from scratch and focusing on local grains. It’s extremely rare, especially for my size. Many smaller companies and even not so smaller companies purchase whiskey from other companies and re-bottle it. Sometimes they’ll sit on it for a while so they can say they aged it. Then they just bring the proof down and bottle it. I think those guys capitalize on the image of the small craft guys, like Red Brick Distillery, without actually doing it all. It’s tough to compete with their margins, but doing it the right way is important to us.
Talk to me about your flagship products.
Our flagship is an American Single Malt. 100% malted barley; 90% grown in Pennsylvania. We sell two different varieties: 80 proof and cask strength. The 80 proof is vanilla and sweet caramel on the nose and malty center and finishes like chocolate-covered citrus. You pick up a little more cinnamon and cherry notes with our cask strength. The flavor really whacks you, and the finish is long-lasting. A good exercise to really get the flavor profile of a whiskey is to add water as you taste. The flavor starts to break apart, and it’s easier to identify them.
Did you know: Many distillers use virgin barrels to age their whiskey. This is a requirement for bourbon and some other types of whiskey. This is an expensive practice. Luckily, used whiskey barrels are valuable to breweries, wineries, and makers of other spirits who want to use the barrels to give their drink some extra flavor.
From the Woods is our oldest recipe at Red Brick Distillery. It utilizes the second use of the barrel. After we use a barrel for whiskey, we fill it with the From the Woods. It’s a whiskey made from birch beer that we make from scratch. We literally go out into the woods. My dad and my uncle go out with a tractor and a woodchipper. We use wildflower honey, demerara sugar, and black birch bark. We make a pretty sugary birch beer, and then we steep it like tea. Then we ferment the whole thing – wood chips and everything. It gets super dry, and then it goes into our whiskey barrel and sits for two years. It’s probably our most popular product. It won a gold medal on a national level from the American Distillers Association.
That’s got to feel good.
At the market, we give out samples to people walking by in Rittenhouse Square, and they’d say ‘oh, that’s pretty good,’ with no intention of buying it. Then they’d walk away still tasting it, and they would get four or five booths away, and they’d come back. It’s a common interaction.
That’s what gets me going. I’m not the right person to ask about pure business stuff. I’m an artist. What really gets me excited is when people are enjoying it and knowing that I make a great product. I would put my whiskey up against any other in the world. That’s what I do it for.
What came first: your entreprenurial spirit or Red Brick Distillery?
Definitely my entrepreneurial spirit, no question about it. It’s a strong drive to be self-employed. If it weren’t for Red Brick Distillery, I would definitely be doing something else for myself. Working for yourself is a lot of hard work, and it scares some people. But for me, there’s just no other way.
Check out more founders and CEOs in our Interview Series.
When it comes to financial sustainability, you’re going to want to know as much as possible. As the negative effects of climate change exacerbate, financial sectors are (finally) starting to shift their investments toward Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations.
Sustainable finance is the process of taking ESG considerations into account when making viable investments. That means putting money into companies that develop renewable energy, hire and promote employ members of marginalized communities, and infrastructure that will help protect humans in at-risk environments.
This is a very serious, very complicated issue that we are running out of time to meaningfully tackle. There is also the risk that many of these efforts are performative (see: greenwashing), we have to make sure we are keeping those in power accountable.
Once again, we bring in our favorite finance expert, Danetha Doe Chief Economist at Clever Real Estate and creator of Money & Mimosas. There is a lot to consider when financing sustainability – and she’s here to break it down in a digestible way.
Here are 5 questions you should ask when considering financing sustainability, as explained by Danetha Doe.
Are these investments profitable? Or is this just charity for rich folks to pat themselves on the back?
Imperial College of London’s business school ran a multi-country analysis comparing the returns from each country’s largest fossil fuel and renewable energy stocks over the last 10 years. They found that renewable energy stocks delivered higher returns for both 5 and 10-year time periods.
Some people such as Kara Swisher and Chamath Palihapitiya think the next trillionaire will be someone that cracks a major problem in green energy. And for better or for worse, Elon is the richest person in the world based primarily on Tesla’s value.
All this to say, the answer is YES. You can care about the planet and make money at the same time.
Will these investments actually help the environment in tangible ways? How soon?
Broadly, yes, these investments will help – and are helping – the environment in tangible ways. Investing in solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and electric vehicles while divesting from fossil fuels will help to reduce the pollution from power plants.
The timeline of course correcting the damage that has already been done depends on a lot of factors. addition to investments from individuals, we need governmental bodies, Wall Street, and other parts of the private sector to continue to get on board.
President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act includes environmental measures that will go a long way to support climate change efforts. The fashion industry, one of the biggest pollution culprits, has started to place a bigger emphasis on resale which will help to reduce waste. Wall Street has pumped out ESG funds that are more greenwashing than helpful, so we will need to hold them accountable.
As an individual, the way you choose to spend and invest your money will go a long way because it will force corporations to prioritize sustainability efforts.
Will taxing the wealthiest people their fair share help? Would something like a ban on private jets help?
The short answer is maybe. The corporate tax structure may need to be reviewed, but I’m a bigger fan of adding fees to resource use to cover the externalities and then redistributing those funds to climate change efforts. For example, Kourtney Kardashian exceeded her water allotment budget by 101,000 gallons in June. Instead of increasing her base income tax percentage, maybe there’s a fee of $1,000 for each gallon over the allotment budget. The $101,000,000 fee is then redistributed to technology companies solving the freshwater scarcity crisis.
Instead of banning private jets, you should have to pay a carbon fee for each ride. These fees might not stop the behavior, but they could finance the changes needed to get us to a greener future.
There are wealthy people who are actively trying to help with climate change efforts. Instead of penalizing all of them with a blanket tax, I suggest adding fees to resource use.
What kind of expenses will we be looking at if we fail to address climate change?
Deloitte’s report shows that inaction will cost the U.S. economy $14.5 trillion by 2070. Utility officials in Illinois estimate the warmer summers could cost locals an additional $11 billion over the next 30 years. By 2040, extreme heat in Arizona could add up to $110 to residents’ electric bills each year, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago predicts homeowner’s insurance premiums to rise due to climate change. In fact, some insurers have already stopped covering parts of California deemed too risky because of wildfires
Why me? Why do I have to make these changes? Should it just be the corporations since they’re the ones ruining the world?
This is an all-hands-on-deck scenario. Corporations should be held accountable, but they do respond to your spending and investing decisions. Greenwashing wouldn’t exist if corporations thought no one cared about the environment. At the very least, be selfish and think about the fact that the quality of the environment directly impacts you. The more you do your part, the greater chance you’ll have at being able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors without worrying about fire smoke ruining your lungs or extreme flooding wiping out your island vacation home.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Investing in ESG is critical – but we have to be selective where we divest and relentless in our pursuit to ensure accountability. Further things to consider when financing sustainability are:
- Are these ESGs contributing to organizations or projects that counteract environmental harms perpetuated by the company? Or are they arbitrary investments that let them greenwash their reputation/only investments that provide “accreditation” over genuine impact?
- Are ESGs investing in genuine solutions, or projects that perpetuate inequities and environmental harm?
- Are companies engaging with ESGs also changing their own practices? Probably not: “They found that the companies in the ESG portfolios had worse compliance record for both labor and environmental rules. They also found that companies added to ESG portfolios did not subsequently improve compliance with labor or environmental regulations.”
- Also – looking at ESG investments relative to a company’s other investments is imperative.
We send many thanks to Danetha Doe for her expertise in the financial field and her lovely disposition. Be sure to check out Money & Mimosas for other financial tips!
Big thank you to Molly Blondell for her perspective on sustainable finance as an expert in the field.
We can solve the climate crisis – we have a lot of work ahead of us. Get involved in your community, start in your neighborhood. Organize a clean-up, press your local officials to get serious about recycling programs, any little thing you can do helps.
Let’s get to work.
We live in distracting times. And with many of us operating remotely or in computer-dependent workplaces, it’s not hard to imagine why. But modern obstacles call for modern solutions. There are a number of apps on the market today to help you integrate a more efficient workflow.
What is a productivity app?
A mobile productivity app is a software program that allows smartphone, tablet, and wearable device users to perform essential day-to-day tasks.
Productivity apps are meant to increase the efficiency of their users. They can be useful for individuals and teams looking for transparent, collaborative methods of communication. A good productivity app can help you focus on work, track habits, manage time, and prioritize your obligations. Finding the best tool for your schedule and lifestyle is key.
What are the best productivity apps?
Here are 5 productivity apps to give you an extra push.
Proofhub
Proofhub helps teams organize and track their projects, facilitating a smoother collaborative process. What makes ProofHub one of the best project management apps, however, is that it has tools that help your team discuss visual materials.
Proofhub isn’t without its compromises. It doesn’t have budgeting, invoicing, or resources management tools. But you can integrate Proofhub with your accounting software if needed!
Pricing:
- Essential – $45/month. 40 projects, unlimited users, and 15GB storage.
- Ultimate Control – $89/month. Unlimited projects, unlimited users, and 100GB storage.
TickTick
TickTick is a cross-platform and collaborative to-do app that has a few neat features suited to the Getting Things Done (GTD) method of working and the Pomodoro Technique. TickTick offers two membership tiers: free and premium. Both tiers offer strategies for focusing to get hard work done without wasting time or procrastinating.
However, TickTick’s free account does carry some restrictions. For example, you can only make 9 lists, with 99 tasks per list, and 19 subtasks in any task. In terms of collaborating, free account holders can only invite one person per list.
TickTick’s Premium service allows you to add up to 5 reminders on each task, and share a task list with up to 29 members, making collaboration easier for your team. Additionally, you can upload 99 attachments every day.
Pricing:
- Free
- Premium: $2.99/month. $27.99/year ($2.33/m).
Trello
Trello is a great choice for fans of simplicity and those looking for the most user-friendly project management solutions. It’s easy to use and has almost no learning curve at all.
Trello’s free plan may actually suffice for smaller teams with lighter task management needs. This is especially true for individuals looking to manage their own workflow, rather than to oversee the work of others. However, the free plan does miss out on some helpful features, such as Trello’s priority support.
Pricing:
- Free: $0/month per user.
- Business Class: $12.50/month per user.
- Enterprise: $17.59/month per user.
Engross
Engross can be useful for those looking to improve their focus while working from home or manage a bustling life on the go. This app offers a clean, minimalist design that saves you the trouble of acclimating to a busier, more feature-laden app.
Engross includes a Pomodoro clock, a planner and calendar, and reminders alongside statistical analysis of how you use your time.
Pricing:
- Free: $0/month per user.
Evernote
Evernote has been regarded as the king of note-taking apps. But this has as much (if not more) to do with its tenured status as its effectiveness. It’s been around since 2004, which means it’s seen a lot of changes to the way we integrate technology into our task management.
The primary strength of Evernote is, of course, note-taking. Individual files are saved in Notes, which can then be organized into thematic Notebooks. Multiple Notebooks can be combined to create Notebook Stacks.
Evernote is known for its straightforward, intuitive interface. On both desktop and mobile, Evernote’s UI is clean and makes use of familiar icons to indicate the tool’s core functions.
Pricing:
- Free: $0/month per member.
- Personal Account: $8/month.
- Professional Account: $10/month per user.
- Endnote Teams Account: $15/month per user.
Trader Joe’s employees at a store in Hadley, Mass., have voted 45-31 to unionize, becoming the first location in the company to do so, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
The election marks yet another victory for working people and continues the promising trend of unionizing efforts across the country. The petition for the election was announced in June, with workers expressing a desire to have more say when it comes to compensation, benefits, and workplace safety.
“We would like to have a system that guarantees accountability from management,”
said Jamie Edwards, a Trader Joe’s Crewmember.
“A system that guarantees our benefits won’t be stripped away whenever they feel like it. But, overall, it’s about us having that power, and being able to make those decisions as a team.”
The election results achieve the first step towards that end.
Labor Movements
But for the workers in Hadley— a small town located about 100 miles west of Boston— the fight for a union began in May, when workers issued an open letter to company CEO Dan Bane. The letter cited concerns about pay, benefits, and safety.
The letter, dated May 14, was posted through the workers’ social media pages under the name “Trader Joe’s United.”
The 81 workers at the store — called crew members by the company — were eligible to vote in the election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.
The letter claims that two years ago, in March 2020, Bane sent a letter to the employees of Trader Joe’s. He asserted that unions were “falsely” claiming only they can protect the pay and benefits employees “currently enjoy”.
A Contract in the Works
In a statement to the press, a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said,
“We are prepared to immediately begin discussions with union representatives for the employees at this store to negotiate a contract. We are willing to use any current union contract for a multi-state grocery company with stores in the area, selected by the union representatives, as a template to negotiate a new structure for the employees in this store; including pay, retirement, healthcare, and working conditions such as scheduling and job flexibility.”
Trader Joe’s may be the latest company to see a successful attempt at unionizing, but their effort comes on the heels of several other labor victories around the country.
A Growing Wave of Labor Victories
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has seen a 58% increase in union representation filings over the past year alone, as well as a 16% increase in claims of unfair labor practices.
In December, a Starbucks in Buffalo became the first of its company-owned U.S. locations to form a union. Since then, at least 150 of the 9,000 company-run U.S. stores have voted to unionize, with 10 stores rejecting the union.
In January, engineers and other Google workers announced that they had formed a union—the Alphabet Workers Union— named after Google’s parent company, Alphabet. It represents about 800 Google employees.
April saw Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York vote to unionize, marking a first for the retail giant.
In May, video game workers at a division of game publisher Activision Blizzard voted to unionize, making them the first to create a labor union at a large U.S. videogame company.
What’s Next for Trader Joe’s Hadley Location?
The Hadley location employees are celebrating their organizing victory, but now comes the task of coming together for contract negotiations.
“Today, Trader Joe’s Hadley became the first unionized Trader Joe’s location, ever,”
the group said in a statement Thursday.
“We now begin the difficult work of sitting down at the negotiating table as equals with our employer, and securing a contract that will benefit and protect us, the crew, instead of the company’s bottom line,”
the statement continued.
The corporation has more than 530 locations across the U.S., with 10,000 employees and an estimated 2022 revenue of $13.3 billion.
Workers at two other Trader Joe’s locations have begun their own unionizing efforts as well. More Perfect Union reported Thursday that workers at a location in Minneapolis had filed for a union election, following the vote in Hadley. Workers at a Boulder, Colorado, store filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday.
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