Packed bars have a certain energy – people come in and don’t seem to want to ever leave; the band is loud but in a good way; the bar is slammed but the drinks are so good that people don’t seem to mind the wait; community is a real thing in a joyous way. That was what it was like when the Water Tower Distillery opened its doors for the first time on May 16.
“I had the Ypsi Sunrise. It was very delicious. It was sweet, but not overly sweet,” Will Liska, of Dexter, said at the grand opening. “It’s big, way bigger than I thought. I’m impressed by the size of the place more than anything.”
The brick storefront that Water Tower has set up shop in has an old fashioned but sturdy bar, in the classic fashion, along one side. Wood floors lead up a switchback staircase leading you up to two mezzanine levels – which stand across a gap looking down at the ground floor. Your footsteps clang lightly on the metal bridge connecting the two halves of the second floor, which almost seem to blend together with the ceiling’s open ductwork of the loft-like space.
Filling a local niche
Tired of corporate employment, Skott Schoonover was looking for something new and was bouncing around different options for his career change when he found himself recoiling at a beverage which just plain did not taste good. Wishing he could reliably find a drink that was worth the price of admission, Schooner and his wife Charleen Maune eventually realized that they could fill a niche in the craft distilling business in Washtenaw County – which eventually led to them opening the distillery.
Ypsilanti has long been filled with dive bars, students, live music, breweries and high-end cocktail bars. But Water Tower really is different in that the ten people working there (including all three owners) are distilling their own spirits.
“We plan on staying in downtown Ypsilanti for as long as possible. That was one of the big requirements, [when] we were looking for a space,” Schoonover said. “There’s warehouses we could have gotten in Saline, Ann Arbor or Canton, but we wanted our tax money and everything to stay in Ypsilanti, and to revitalize the city that we live in.”
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High quality spirits
With the water tower as their symbol, they have launched with seven spirits – one vodka, one rye, one bourbon, a standard gin and three flavored gins.
The area’s industrial heritage is evident just in the names. Of the gins, the most pink and floral one is named after Rosie the Riveter.
“We do have our classic … gin, which is our bartender’s friend with those classic flavors of juniper, lemon, pine. With the Rosie Gin, it’s going to be a lot softer – with your classic lemon and juniper notes, but not that harsh pine that you get with classic gins,” head distiller Ian Schackelford, who was until recently at the Ann Arbor Distilling Company, explained before the opening. “Our Willow Run gin is going to be a bit more spiced, in line with aviation’s force and fire.”
They also have 16 signature cocktails, including the usual Moscow Mule and gimlet affairs, and more signature drinks. The Demetrius Ypsilanti for example is a Rosie gin, lemon juice, hopped syrup and lemon wheel garnish affair, which is one of the cheapest at $11. Its lemonade taste is reminiscent of summer days when you were a kid and had spent all day drinking way too much lemonade, but you still wanted more.
The Ypsi Sunrise is a vodka-based drink. One patron described it as “a nice fruit punch with a nice overtone of vodka.”
Another cocktail worth trying, especially if you’re into hard ciders, is Far From the Orchard. It is made up of apple cider syrup, orange juice, lemon juice, apple slice and a orange wheel garnish mixed with whiskey. The apple flavor almost envelops the whiskey, whose flavor comes second – in the same way that a Reese’s has a distinctive layer of chocolate followed quickly by peanut butter.
You can also get four flights, at $14 or $16, which allows you to compare four different spirits. Single sampler pours run $6 to $8.
Water Tower is Ypsi’s first official distillery. Sure, the industry might be awash with brands of all sizes, but they are following a well trodden and established track of producing high quality spirits, and at only 10,000 bottles being planned for their opening year, they have a real shot of putting Ypsi on the map not in high-end spirits.
All of their spirits are distilled in house at their 23 North Washington Street location. But if they prove a success, they are planning on eventually moving their distilling operations into another facility, while keeping their downtown storefront as their official tasting room. After al, they have a 10-year lease.
For those of you who don’t drink, mocktails are also on the menu. They also don’t serve food, but are in discussions to partner with food trucks and are looking for trucks to partner with.
Stop by and say hello to the 40 pound puppy named Maisey, who Maune and Schoonover got when they acquired the building, who will be a regular at the distillery.
Schoonover says, “Pretty much when I’m around, she’s around.”
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
