August 2025

Building

The small tasting room is progressing nicely. Derek hung the ceiling with old punched tin tiles, originally from the atrium of Beaverhead County High School. After cleaning them up and flattening a few, he clear coated them to preserve their condition. We are working with Nate Mooney to rough in electrical service, including for interior and exterior lights. Derek hung sheetrock and Katrina is in the process of mudding, taping, and sanding. Outside, Derek has installed the walk up window, applied the waterproofing membrane, and installed some of the siding.

Last month we shared a little about the early history of our building, focusing on John W. Morton, the grocer who built it. In looking at the digitized Montana newspapers, Katrina has found some great advertising from this early period (see this link for her collection). Next month, we’ll share about the building’s next era as a wholesale grocer: The Olmstead-Stevenson Company.

Business / Community

We’ve visited a few times with Jesse Scofield and Cory Birkenbuel to tour the building and talk about custom lighting in the tasting room. They both have great ideas on how to repurpose and reuse materials we have. We love Jesse’s vision and are eager to be working with him.

Derek has traveled a few times this month to collect various items we’ve purchased from auctions and from Craigslist posts. Stainless steel tables for the manufacturing space, a commercial coffee grinder, a three compartment sink, a barrel style chair – little by little, these and other things will be helpful in upcoming phases of our distillery. Purchasing used items helps us save money and save these things from landfills.

Distillery

Dillon is rich in plums this year – our tree is producing, as are many of our neighbors’. The wealth of delicious fruit has us researching plum brandy (known as slivovitz in central and southeastern Europe, and a type of rakia in the Balkins). When we’re up and running, we hope to produce an annual Community Brandy, using local produce donated when people have too much in their backyards. We’ll need to get a fruit press as well as experiment with different yeast strains to find the right fit for various fruits.

Honeyberry picking has provided enough fruit to make a few different shrubs, including a deliciously tart batch with rhubarb. More news next month on shrub availability, especially if you live in Montana.

With mornings starting to feel cooler, we’re looking forward to apple harvest and turning our attention to fall slushie flavors. We can’t wait to share them with you soon!

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