A DRINK WITH PAT & BETH DOWNING

By Maia Merrill Gosselin
One sip of American whiskey. That’s all it took to convert Pat Downing and plant the seed for a dream, a dream that would eventually grow into a reality and become the GlenPharmer Distillery in Franklin. Of course, it didn’t happen overnight, dreams rarely do. Back when Pat had that pivotal sip in 2007, he and his wife Beth were both fully immersed in their careers as pharmacists. The two had met in college, first as lab partners before becoming life partners. They eventually moved to Franklin and took over Pat’s father’s pharmacy. But the idea and the dream to one day own their own craft distillery persisted over a decade until an old textile mill presented an opportunity and the vision of what could be became clear. A lease was signed, licenses were acquired, master distillers hired, and in 2020 the GlenPharmer Distillery was born.

The name is a clever play on words: “Glen” for the Mine Brook Glen where the mill is located and “Pharmer” a homonym twist on the Farmer Distillery License they must have in Massachusetts to distill spirits. Over the last four years, the Downings have built a one-stop destination that includes the grain-to-glass distillery, a full-service restaurant and tasting room, and a 7,000 square-foot upstairs event space. There is even a covered bridge on the property. A true slice of New England! But it’s the portfolio of spirits that is their pride and joy. There are nine current releases, eight of which are in distribution. The range includes Bog cranberry infused vodka, Bean vanilla infused vodka, Doli pineapple infused vodka, Brookdale Gin, Dark Tide Rum, and American Straight Bourbon (only available on-site), among others. And then of course, there is the American Single Malt whiskey, still resting in barrels, waiting until it’s reached the four-year mark until it can be released and Pat can have his full-circle moment. I caught up with the two busy proprietors recently to discuss this remarkable adventure they’re on. Their success is commendable, their enthusiasm and passion are infectious. Theirs is a real-life example of “if you build it, they will come”.

MAIA GOSSELIN In a few short years you’ve gone from signing a lease to operating a distillery, a full-service restaurant, and a busy event venue…talk about a whirlwind! What has this experience been like for the two of you?
PAT DOWNING Having started all of this at the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve learned to just take everything one step at a time and to be flexible with our plans. That said, sometimes it’s hard to believe we have been working on this for over 6 years and open to the public for nearly 5 years. There is always something interesting happening so time just flies by. Part of why this has been manageable for us is because we are very fortunate to have a great team who believe in our vision, the customer experience we are trying to create, and our products. That is invaluable!
BETH DOWNING We also feel very lucky because we both really love all aspects of the business – so it truly doesn’t feel like work, and we work together well so that helps too!

MAIA You are a “grain to glass” distillery. What is your philosophy behind this approach? Why was it important to you?
PAT It’s about authenticity. When you start a distillery, and assuming you would like to make whiskeys, you have a decision to make early on in the process: Are you going to buy your whiskeys so that you can have it immediately available upon opening to the public or are you going to distill your whiskeys from grain, which means you’ll have to wait at least 2 years while they age in barrels? While the business economics want to push you toward the former option, we resisted, and chose the latter. We just felt it was truer to our brand.

MAIA Pat is a proud graduate of Moonshine University in Kentucky! Talk a little about MU and what this experience was like. Where else did you acquire your spirit acumen?
PAT Moonshine University was a great opportunity to immerse myself in all things “distillery” without any distractions. You are surrounded by industry veterans from all aspects of the business — production, operations, ingredients, marketing, distribution, and of course tasting! As pharmacists by training, Beth and I both understood the chemistry of distillation, MU helped me appreciate the art of it and make connections that allowed me to commercialize it into a business.
BETH In addition, Pat and I also have our WSET Level II certification in Spirits (Wine & Spirits Education Trust). This is particularly helpful in working with our distillers during product development and helping with decisions related to barreling and blending. Of course, it also helps that we enjoy drinking alcohol! It may seem obvious, but it really is necessary and if you’re paying attention, you can learn a lot! It’s definitely not the worst part of the job!

MAIA What is it about American whiskey that appeals to you?
PAT There is a tremendous amount of activity and creativity happening among American distilleries producing whiskeys. All of this is producing a wide variety of expressions with some impressive flavor profiles. Bourbon is a great example. While there are regulatory guidelines that must be adhered to, there is still plenty of room to use skill and creativity to create unique flavors and complexity.

MAIA The American Single Malt designation was initially approved in 2022, although it has yet to be formally recognized by the TTB. Can you talk a little about the importance of this designation and what GlenPharmer has in store?
PAT American Single Malt is the next big thing for American distilleries. While there are some American distilleries that have been producing single malt whiskey for many years, the global popularity of this whiskey is causing more and more American distilleries to distill in this category. The official designation of American Single Malt by the TTB has been a long time in coming and it’s very important. In addition to creating an official class of spirit under which American distilleries can collectively grow, it provides regulatory guidance on the production of this whiskey which will ultimately lead to the types of expressions that consumers will get to experience. For us at GlenPharmer, we knew that we wanted to produce Single Malt Whiskey from the very beginning. In fact, it’s our only whiskey expression that we have yet to release. High quality Single Malt Whiskeys tend to be barrel aged for longer periods of time and we are doing just that. Hopefully when the TTB announces, we’ll be ready!

MAIA How has the local reception been to GlenPharmer and how has the Massachusetts distilling community responded to your arrival?
BETH The local and regional reception has been fantastic! We are so grateful and never take it for granted. Our entire team works very hard to make our local community proud that we are here doing what we do.

MAIA What inspires you with your spirits program and product development?
PAT We have always tried to approach product development from the perspective of what we think consumers will enjoy drinking. While we have been humbled by the awards our portfolio of spirits has received, we don’t develop our spirits to win awards. We develop our spirits to put smiles on faces and to contribute to the social engagement that often comes when drinking alcohol and eating food.
BETH At the distillery we operate our tasting room as a fully functional restaurant with an executive chef and an amazing culinary team. However, by law, we cannot serve beer or wine. While that makes sense, since we are in fact a distillery, it also means that our portfolio of spirits needs to support an elevated cocktail program.

Our most popular spirit, BEAN (our vodka infused with espresso and vanilla) was created by our distillers in an effort to help make it easier for our bartenders and mixologists to make an espresso martini. We tasted it in development and just knew that we had to bottle it. It’s a similar story with several of our other products. Our cranberry infused vodka (BOG), ghost pepper infused vodka (BHUT), and our newest product, pineapple infused vodka (DOLI), were all developed by trying to create something that was delicious, and that people would truly enjoy drinking.

MAIA What are some fun or interesting trends you’re currently seeing?
PAT On the production side, our distillers have been experimenting with “slow proofing” of our spirits with some great results! It is painfully slow, just as the name suggests, but we have done enough testing to know that it’s worth it!
BETH On the cocktail side, we continue to see a resurgence of the cocktail culture. Fueled by guests of all ages, there is growing interest in elevated cocktail programs. We introduced smoked cocktails when we first opened over four years ago and they are definitely the most popular items in our program.

MAIA Craft distilling has certainly grown over the past twenty years although the industry is certainly seeing some challenges these days. What is your take on the current state of craft distilling, both in Massachusetts and nationally?
PAT I think craft distilling is where craft brewing was 15-20 years ago. As overall consumption of beer declines and spirits consumption grows, I think you will continue to see more entrants to the craft distilling space. That said, it’s a tough business and new distilleries need to quickly figure out their business model in order to survive. In today’s competitive market, you can’t just be good at one thing, you have to be able to pull many pieces together in a cohesive manner that is also financially viable, knowing that consumers will be the ultimate judge.

MAIA Talk about some of the spirit-specific events you do…dinners, tastings, classes?
PAT We offer tours and tastings which tend to be very popular. During the 90-minute tour, we tell our brand story, explain our distillation process, discuss barrel aging, and host a guided tasting of our spirits portfolio. We try to keep the tours to small groups so that they can be more interactive.
BETH We also know that many people are not able to visit the distillery in person, so we offer tastings every week at various liquor stores throughout the state. We post a schedule of tastings each week on our social media feeds. We also offer spirit and cocktail themed dinners at various restaurants and bars throughout the state. These are always fun as we help create cocktail pairings to complement a special dining menu while we talk about many of the things we discuss during our distillery tours.

MAIA Who is your clientele? What are your patrons looking for?
BETH Fortunately, we have been pleased to see that our clientele spans a pretty broad spectrum. The idea that whiskeys are just enjoyed by old men isn’t accurate . . . women and young adults are equally into spirits and cocktails. One consistent observation we have seen is the interest in all things experiential. Whether it’s cocktail creation, food pairings, tours and tastings or just the rustic, industrial vibe of the distillery, our customers want to engage in an authentic way. And let’s face it, whether you’re on a tight budget or have additional spending resources, everyone is looking for value. We try to provide that in every spirit and service we offer.

MAIA What’s up next for the Downings and GlenPharmer?
PAT We are always looking to improve on what we are currently offering and that will never stop but our primary focus now is to grow our distribution and consumer access to our portfolio. We get requests on a daily basis from customers who want to know where they can buy our products in other parts of the country.

MAIA You are both phasing out your “day jobs” in pharmaceuticals. What are you looking forward to most about this new chapter?
BETH We thought we might like to travel and as it turns out that travel will likely be tied to growing our distribution. While we both thought we would have more free time, that is not the case so far. But we remain hopeful!

MAIA And finally, if you can pick just one…what’s your favorite cocktail or spirit to enjoy at the end of your day?
BETH BHUT & soda with a slice of fresh cucumber (By the way, fun fact… The plant name for a ghost pepper is Bhut Jolokia. Bhut literally means ghost!)
PAT GPD Bourbon Whiskey. Neat.