The spirits move them Washington distillery looking to pop the cork in late winter
Spirits are high for a February-March opening of a Washington distillery.
“We’re moving along well,” said Jim Hough, co-owner of Mingo Creek Craft Distillers with his wife, Ellen. They have leased 68 W. Maiden St., a building previously occupied by Creative Visions and the original home of a monuments manufacturer.
Once operational, this will be the first legal distillery in Washington County since Prohibition (1920-1933). But “operational” is the operative word. The facility will not be open to customers for the first three or four months, while the Houghs produce and age their initial whiskey products.
“The grand opening will be closer to summer,” said Jim Hough (pronounced huff). “We’ll open with some brown spirits we’ve aged in small barrels.”
He hopes to be selling his products by the annual Whiskey Rebellion Festival the second weekend of July.
Hough said they have secured all of the equipment, the building permit and their license from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, but are awaiting their federal license.
“We’ve had contractors in the past few weeks, knocking down walls,” he said. “They’ve gotten to the original masonry. It’s really quaint. It’s going to look good.”
Those contractors are diligent workers, for the structure is a fortress, according to Hough. It was, after all, constructed for Simon White’s Sons, a company that dealt in heavy stone.
The monument-production process required Simon White to hoist that heavy stone up through a hole in the floor with a crane, and the Houghs will do the same with their barrels. Jim said workers uncovered that hole, which is large enough to accommodate distillery equipment, and the crane is still operational.
He said the name Mingo Creek Craft Distillers is a tribute to those who sparked the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791. About 400 people, mostly farmers from Washington County, protested the taxation of their whiskey, prompting President George Washington to send 13,000 militia troops to the area.
Those long-ago rebels referred to themselves as the Mingo Creek Society.
As a further tribute, the Houghs have branded their line of spirits “Liberty Pole” and commissioned a logo for it. He said Liberty Poles were used as symbols of support during the rebellion, and that one such pole is in the garden area behind the Bradford House.
Contacted last week, Hough admitted he and his spouse are excited about their endeavor. “It’s fun because this is really starting to come to fruition.”
Two spiffy shops that opened within close proximity in recent months are helping to energize the downtown business district.
Stone House Vintage Market, at 254 N. Main, is about paint, paint, paint. But not all about paint. Furniture restoration is a big part of the business Jennifer Hoffman and Sean Fox are running.
According to the market’s website, stonehousevintagemarket.com: “We love transforming found objects into decorative home accents. Call us junkers, pickers, collectors. We scour estate sales, flea markets, and even roadside piles to find neat old stuff.”
They paint what they call “reloved” furniture for customers and offer painting workshops and classes. Handcrafted jewelry, silk scarfs and purses are among other items sold there,
December hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, or by appointment. For more information, visit stonehousevintagemarket.com or facebook.com/stonehousevintagemarket. The phone is 724/205-9488.
Just around the corner, at 7 E. Walnut St., Amy Hess operates Kaleidoscope II, an art shop she says is “a store for spirituality and helping local artists and those in recovery.”
She was a longtime teacher in Pittsburgh Public Schools who wanted a change. She got it in May when she launched the successor similarly named Kaleidoscope II, which Cheryl Hopper operated before retiring.
“She had consignment and retail and my shop is based on local artists whose works are on consignment,” Hess said last week. “We also sell recovery resources, books that help with spirituality and self-esteem (and jewelry).”
Although she was accustomed to running a classroom, Hess had never been in charge of a business before. So she temporarily became a student under Hopper, who volunteered to help launch the new enterprise. She taught Hess about becoming licensed and setting up displays. Hopper now concentrates on her own artwork and is artist of the month at the store.
Kaleidoscope II’s holiday hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The shop is open the rest of the year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, visit kaleidoscope2recovery.com or call 724-470-9136.