A spirited endeavor

The distillery opened its tasting room doors April 23, and faced its first major test on April 25 as Beerfest at the Ballpark drew an extra 3,300 people to the adjacent Cooley Law School Stadium. Many of the attendees decided to check out the new tasting room while they were in the area.

“It was trial by fire to say the least,” said Rick Wyble, president of American Fifth Spirits.

The ballpark neighborhood seems like a natural fit for the distillery, joining the newly opened Beer Grotto on the eastern edges of downtown. The location wasn’t its first option, however. American Fifth Spirits seriously considered two other locations, one in East Lansing and another in Lansing’s Eastside near Mac’s Bar, before settling on its current home. Wyble happened to be driving by and saw the building was for sale.

“I saw the for sale sign and I made a call,” said Wyble, whose background is in beer, wine and liquor distribution.

The building, built in 1920, was most recently a pawn shop, but before that it was used as a warehouse and was originally a car dealership. (Coincidentally, 1920 was the year that Prohibition was instituted.)

The building’s exposed ceiling beams and brick walls betray its industrial past, while the distillery’s art deco design elements evoke the spirit of the roaring ‘20s. A large, white, geometric fixture hangs over the bar, with angular lamps suspended underneath. As for the bar itself, its elegant curves gleam with a copper glow from hundreds of inset pennies.

This tribute to 1920s elegance is more than just a design preference.

“A lot of craft distilleries are taking a speakeasy approach,” said Wyble. “We tried to take a classier angle. We wanted a style that people associate with the finer things.”

The only spirit available at the bar is the distillery’s Hue Vodka, which is distilled at East Lansing’s Red Cedar Spirits.

The distillery is waiting for final federal approval to begin making spirits in the distilling room adjacent to the tasting room.

American Fifth will continue distilling its vodka at Red Cedar Spirits — it doesn’t have the proper equipment to get the vodka up to government-mandated alcohol levels — but will begin to distill its Capital Gin and Fat Five unaged whiskey (sometimes called white whiskey or moonshine) as soon as it receives federal approval.

But the tasting room gets a lot of mileage out of its vodka. Its menu features 28 cocktails with imaginative names like Strawberry Basalmic Fizz, Root of All Ginger and Holy Hue That’s Hot.

“It’s a culinary approach to cocktails,” explained Wyble.

“We cover everything from sweet to savory,” added Mike Bird.

An outgoing personality who can often be seen chatting with patrons at the bar, Bird’s business card states that he is in charge of “marketing and tomfoolery” at the distillery.

The quirky names are more than just amusement, it’s an intentional ploy by Bird to force customers to slow down. Avoiding or twisting traditional cocktail names, he explains, forces patrons to stop and read the descriptions. He wants patrons to take time to appreciate the complex flavors.

“I like to say, ‘Tasted, not wasted,’” said Bird.

The distillery plans to revamp the cocktail menu on the fifth of each month, with the first changeover set for June 5. Popular drinks will stay on the menu, while less popular drinks will be removed to make room for new offerings.

“It’s like the Premier League,” joked Bird, referring to the English soccer league that relegates poorlyperforming teams to lower leagues.

Bird and Wyble plan to take suggestions from their team of bartenders.

“It gives our staff a chance to be creative,” said Wyble.

There’s also an educational part to the tasting room’s ever-changing menu. Wyble compares the current state of craft spirits to the early craft beer movement, when few people knew what an IPA was and yellow, fizzy beers dominated the landscape.

Bird encourages patrons to go home and experiment on their own, even challenging them to improve on the tasting room’s recipes.

“That interaction has been the most pleasant thing about our tasting room,” said Bird. “We’ve been handing out recipes left and right.”

Many of the cocktails use infused vodkas, or “inHUEsions” in American Fifth parlance. Current offerings include Hue infused with tea, cinnamon, coffee, ginger, habanero, lemon, orange, root beer, and yuzu.

“(Other flavored vodkas) take advantage of perfumes and oils,” explained Bird. “We use fresh fruit and botanicals. Ours will taste fuller.”

“We will never make a cotton candy vodka,” joked Wyble.

American Fifth is also dedicated to sourcing as much as it can from local farms. The distillery uses wheat from Williamston to make Hue, and plans to get corn and barley from the same farm when it begins distilling whiskey. Juniper for gin and other botanicals come from a farm in Bath.

“It’s amazing all the stuff you can get from Michigan,” said Bird.

“The response from the farming community has been incredible,” said Wyble. “They are eager to participate.”

Despite the extensive cocktail menu, Bird believes Hue stands on its own as a quality vodka.

“We think the best way to drink it is on the rocks,” he said.