Courtesy of Earl Giles
Earl Giles Distillery
So THIS is why long-time Beverage Director Jesse Held left Jester Concepts last year: it was to get serious.
Held and his business partner Jeff Erkkila formed Earl Giles in 2015, while both were still in the Jester employ, as a side-hustle focused on the production of non-alcoholic cocktail syrups, cordials, elixirs, and ginger beer. The hustle paid off. "We launched our ginger beer last year and sold out in two months. It suddenly became a matter of not having the right facilities to succeed," Held told me, "We've been vagabonds, cobbling production in places all around town, canning at Bau Haus, making elixirs at Provision Kitchen, we needed a bigger space."
And so it goes that later this year, Earl Giles Distillery will open on Quincy St. in Nordeast, in a revamped old warehouse just down the block from Able Brewing/Animales BBQ and across the street from Centro/Popol Vuh. What a great and happenin' street to be on! So in a go-big-or-go-home world, they're going big. The 16K+ square footage will bring it all under one roof: a distillery, all packaging and production, plus a few places to hang.
"What we're good at, what we've been doing our whole lives is working in restaurants. So we ruled out food trucks because we want everything that you are eating and drinking at Earl Giles to be something we made, from the cola to the cocktails to the pizzas." So they're including a chef-driven kitchen with a gigantic wood-fired oven that can hold 30-40 pizzas at a time (yes, they have chef ... no, they're not telling yet). "We'll do other things besides pizzas too, but we're aiming for a casual space that is counter service like a taproom. We'll have servers bringing your food and helping out, but it won't feel like a full-service restaurant." They are planning to be open 6 days a week, from roughly 3 p.m. to midnight, with a weekend brunch to be added at some point.
Also under the roof, a 165-seat cocktail lounge with cozy, semi-private lounges and views into the distillery. This will be a two-level situation with a mezzanine. The main floor will sprawl out to a patio and incorporate an indoor garden where all the botanicals and herbs will be grown for the food and drinks. And hello, there will be free parking for guests.
Besides upping the distribution of their ginger beer, they'll start distilling and selling spirits with the ultimate goal of national distribution. "Tattersall plowed the road and we're ready to give this a go."
So is that the new dream? Are young bartenders no longer just dreaming about opening their own pubs, but maybe their own liquor brands? "You know, I was a dishwasher at 14, then a barback, and a server, then a bartender, and I eventually got to design and run my own bar programs, and I guess this is just the next step. Did I ever think I would be doing this? No! But Brent [Fredrick, Jester owner] has given me so many opportunities to do cool things that led to this opportunity. I'm terrified, but so grateful. It's crazy that this is a pipe dream that's coming true."
I am here for industry vets taking their shot, love nothing more. And these two have proven already that they're up to the task. Construction should start in the spring, and with Shea Design's help, Earl Giles should be open for business in the last quarter of the year. Meanwhile, follow on their socials to keep in the know.
