When the State of Florida changed the laws a few years ago to allow craft breweries to hop into the distilling game — with far fewer hoops to jump through and much lower fees to pay — you would've thought we'd see proliferations of craft brewery-distillery combos.
However, fast forward to 2024, and the only current brewery-distillery combo we have in the Tallahassee-area is Ology Brewing / Ology Distilling. (And, as we all know, they're dang good at both, too)
Well, as of this week, you can can add another one to the conversation: Halpatter Brewing in Lake City, which sits roughly 90 miles from Tallahassee and is a brewery we've long considered part of the "Tallahassee-area." Not only have they been making great, award-winning beer for years (see "THE Watermelon Gose"), but they're owned by a couple of great guys on our local beer scene named Chris Candler and Jonny Frazier.
And after two years of planning Halpatter Distilling & Spirits was officially launched Tuesday night in Lake City with a special ticketed sneak preview event, which we attended to sample their first batches and learn more about this new distilling operation in our area.
Grand Opening on Saturday
The Grand Opening will be on Saturday, July 20, all day long with their full arsenal of cocktails on display.
We spoke with Chris on Tuesday as Halpatter closed its doors for the private tasting — which had a Prohibition theme with 1920s signs and imagery — and he was overjoyed to have this new brand finally launched and more products to offer in their tasting room than ever before.
"We initially started thinking about adding a distillery operation back in August of 2022, but the concept was different and we ended up scrapping the plan," Chris said as he sipped on a 'Suwanee Sunset' cocktail made with Halpatter's Allapattah Vodka, Passionfruit, Blood Orange, Orgeat, Aromatic Bitters and Grenadine.
"Back in February of this year, the idea came back up, but this time we would be adding distilled products to our existing tap rooms. We're so excited to finally add this to our offerings."
The original plan was to open a "speakeasy" on the back side of the brewery with a separate entrance, but Halpatter ultimately decided that incorporating cocktails into their tasting room was a better plan. That way, anyone visiting can decide from a beer or a cocktail — or both — all from the main bar upstairs or outside bar downstairs, rather than having to go to a separate spot within the same building.
However, they do plan to incorporate part of that original idea into their future plans.
"For Phase 1 of the project, cocktails made with Halpatter Distilling and Spirits (HDS) products will be available across the existing Halpatter Brewing bar in the upstairs tap room only. Craft Cocktails will be permitted throughout the building, including the deck and beer garden. That way, patrons will be allowed to order a beer, food, or cocktails and then be able to enjoy live music outside or any of our various other venues and spaces," Candler said.
"Phase 2 of the plan will be to add a designated 'Speakeasy' space on the first floor of the existing building. While cocktails will still be available property-wide, the 'Speakeasy' will be a separate venue with a different vibe than the remainder of the building. Plans are not fully conceptualized at this time but, the Speakeasy will likely have its own entrance and outdoor seating area, but will also be accessible from the inside of the brewery, too," Candler said.
Three types of spirits
As of their launch, Halpatter will have three types of HDS spirits (with 4 variations of one of them) available for cocktails during their Grand Opening. They're currently producing Allapattah Vodka, Jean Lafitte’s Rum Island Rum, and four flavors of Hell’s Bay Sippin’ Shine (Apple Pie Alamode, Blackberry Cobbler, Peach, and Watermelon).
And in the near future, they intend to add Hell’s Bay American Whiskey and Lancaster Gin, which is American style gin. Of course, just like most of their beers, each of the brand names has a locally inspired story. (Allapattah is just a backwards version of Halpatter; Hell's Bay is named after Lake City's neighboring area in Baker County, which was once known as the moonshine capital of the world; and Rum Island is named for a local spring in Columbia County).
And as time goes on, Chris said they will start developing small batch offerings as well.
House-crafted cocktails
"The first stages of operations will include a limited menu of about 15 house-crafted cocktails served in the primary Halpatter tasting room. Some popular staples like our Swamp Mule (which is our version of the Moscow Mule)…and then some unique to our place. Some of the favorites to this point include the Swamp Mule, the Suwannee Sunset, the Wild Lavender Martini (vodka, honey, lemon juice, and lavender bitters), and our Moonshine Sangrias (Watermelon Basil, Blackberry, and Peach)," Candler said.
"We’ll also have a Stormy Mojito and a Bloody Mary with our own house-made mix," he added. "Bottles and jars of each of our brands (and eventually small batch offerings) will be available as well. The distro picture for HDS remains a little fuzzy at the moment, but we already have interest so I would say it is probably likely in the future."
So how much different are the two processes - brewing and distilling? Well, if you already know one of them, the other isn't hard to pick up, Candler said.
After all, traditionally, producing distilled spirits just involves an extra final step in the production process. The process of mashing and fermentation is essentially the same as in beer making and some of our existing equipment could be used. The difference comes when the resulting beer is distilled and transformed into a spirit, he added.
Bottles to go soon
You will be able to buy bottles to-go from the tasting room very soon — Halpatter is just waiting on the labels to come in. And you can count us among some of the first in line to take some home.
Not only was the vodka incredibly smooth when we tried it Tuesday, but the rum was equally delicious, too. However, the winner for us Tuesday evening was the Sippin' Shine, which is homemade moonshine that is rendered at a lower ABV (although it's still 50 proof!) so that it's designed to be smooth enough to drink straight or over ice.
We sampled all four - the watermelon, the apple pie, the blackberry and the peach - and each one seemed to be more amazing than the next. They've truly got a hit on their hands with those, and we were happy to hear that they plan to make even more flavors soon.
So there you have it - join us in welcoming a new distillery to the 850! And soon, Halpatter plans to expand even more and open a satellite location in Quincy (More on that in the months to come!)
And don't forget, Thomasville's 1861 Distillery is also in our area — and they've even dabbled in beer a bit, too - and soon The Walls Distillery will be opening in Downtown Tallahassee in the new SoMo Walls complex.
Looks like we might just have to start thinking about launching the Tallahassee Spirits Society next!
If you go
What: It’s the end of prohibition at Halpatter Brewery with Grand Opening for Halpatter Distilling & Spirits
When : 5-11 p.m. Saturday, July 20
Where: 264 NE Hernando Ave,, Lake City
Details: halpatterbrewing.com
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Nearby Halpatter Brewing launches distillery with a grand opening on Saturday
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