Website St. George Spirits Type of business Private | Founded 1982 | |
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Key people Jorg Rupf, Lance Winters, Dave Smith Products Vodka, Gin, Absinthe, Liqueur, Rum, Whiskey, Brandy Headquarters Alameda, California, United States Profiles | ||
A visit to st george spirits distillery
St. George Spirits is an artisanal distillery located in Alameda, California that produces a range of alcoholic beverages under the direction of Master Distiller Lance Winters. They are known for producing vodka, absinthe, whiskey, rum, gin, brandy, liqueurs, and a range of exotic spirits.
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Filling whiskey barrels at st george spirits
History
St. George Spirits was founded in 1982 by Jorg Rupf, a pioneer in what has become the craft distilling movement. Founded as an eau de vie distillery, St. George Spirits has steadily expanded their portfolio to include about a dozen spirits.
In 1996, Jorg Rupf hired Lance Winters, a brewer and former nuclear scientist. One year later, Jorg and Lance began distilling and aging their single malt whiskey, which was first released in 2000. In 2004, St. George Spirits moved into its current location, a 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) airplane hangar on the former Alameda naval air station.
In December 2007, the company produced the first commercially available American Absinthe, St. George Absinthe Verte, since the lifting of the 1912 ban on making the spirit. Since then, St. George has continued to experiment with a number of spirits. Some of them, such as California Agricole Rum, have entered regular production while other "flights of fancy" like their oyster, Dungeness crab, kombu seaweed, and Christmas tree spirits have remained experiments.
In 2010, Jorg Rupf retired from his 28-year career as master distiller of St. George Spirits. That same year, St. George sold their popular Hangar One Vodka line to Proximo Spirits so that they could focus their attention on new projects, including: agricole rum, gin, liqueurs, whiskey and Breaking & Entering Bourbon. In 2015 they released a new line of three vodkas, and in 2016 they brought out Bruto Americano, a California Amaro.
In 2013, Maverick Drinks began distributing St. George Spirits in the UK.
Products
Current Spirits
Discontinued spirits