'Powered by the sun': Eco-minded Tattersall Distilling repurposes former Shopko in River Falls

When Jon Kreidler and Dan Oskey launched Tattersall Distilling in Minneapolis, their focus was craft cocktails. They’ve built their business on flavor-forward spirits and the cocktails people crave. Yet as the business grew they bumped into limits within Minnesota’s liquor laws.

That prompted them to look just over the border into Wisconsin, where they’ve transformed a former Shopko building into a 75,000-square-foot facility in River Falls. Opened in December 2021, the River Falls destination distillery features solar power, ballroom space for up to 400, a private barrel room, outdoor amphitheater, tasting area and retail space, plus a full-service restaurant and bar with seating for 120 inside and 200 outdoors.

Tattersall mills grains on site in River Falls and produces more than two dozen spirits, ranging from gin, whiskey, bourbon, spiced rum and apple brandy to Aquavit, Orange Crema, Cranberry made with Wisconsin cranberries, Fernet and Amaro. Look for Bloody Mary mix and barrel-aged soy sauce in the near future.

In June, Tattersall launched four new canned cocktails: Blueberry Collins, Watermelon Bootlegger, Easy Street and Key Lime Gin and Tonic. Milwaukee area locales that will be carrying the canned cocktails in the coming weeks include Woodman’s in Kenosha, Oak Creek, Waukesha and Menomonee Falls,  Albrecht's Sentry in Delafield, Metcalfe’s Sentry in Wauwatosa, and Daniel’s Foods Sentry in Walworth.

While the majority of production will now be in River Falls, Tattersall continues to operate its Minnesota facility and cocktail room.

Kreidler, the co-founder, talked with us about the distillery’s expansion and why they’re thinking about sustainability with every sip.

Related: High-end canned cocktails are growing in popularity — and Wisconsin is making more of them

Related: Great Lakes Distillery founder will debut Junipre, first in a line of nonalcoholic spirits

Getting started

Dan and I have been friends since second grade, over 30 years now. We took different paths. Dan went more the industry path and worked for bars on the coast and came back to Minnesota, revamped a bunch of bars, had a soft drink and bitters company.

My path was finance. … I was tired of working for other companies. I wanted to work for myself. Liquor laws were changing across the country. … I started visiting distilleries and saw it was a viable business. I put a business plan together and ran it by Dan. We opened the distillery in Minneapolis in July 2015 …

We’ve built it into a huge portfolio. We wanted to make certain drinks and so we needed to make certain spirits to make that drink, because in Minnesota you can only serve what you produce. … We had a lot of success with that and just continued to expand. We expanded that operation four times over the next five years, eventually we had about 40,000 square feet at the distillery.

Growing pains

The problem we were coming against was in Minnesota there were production caps for a micro-distillery. We lobbied for about four years to get that changed. Then we looked at building a bigger distillery outside Minnesota, which is why we looked at River Falls.

We bought the property, a former Shopko, in April 2021, opened for business in December.

Signature spirits

The gin. When Dan and I were putting the business together we spent about six to eight months working on the gin. It has 22 different botanicals.

Fan favorites

Our gin is citrus forward, a beautiful gin that makes an amazing gin and tonic and a great martini. The liqueur side, the Orange Crema. Think Cointreau but brighter. … It is one of our No. 1 sellers across the country.

Our big one here is our rye whiskey. That is what we produce the most of, a 100% rye, aged about three years, all Minnesota grains, all the coopers are from Minnesota or Wisconsin, all aged on site.

When we have them in stock our bourbons are amazing, all 100 proof, four years plus. We have the rye bourbon in stock right now, the wheated we will be pulling a big batch next month. As soon as we bottle them they tend to be gone.

Sustainability and sips

Our first of its kind water reclamation system recycles production water to use in future batches. We’re working toward reclaiming 30% of all water in our whiskey production process. It’s not just about what goes into the bottle, how our barrels are made is important too. As a member of the White Oak Initiative, we’re committed to the long-term sustainability of American white oaks and the forests they need to thrive.

Kernza, we distilled it about three or four years ago. It is sitting in barrels. We work with the Land Institute in Kansas and University of Minnesota. I would imagine we have the oldest Kernza whiskey in the country. … I’m looking forward to that.

We don’t know when we will release it yet. We want to make sure when we put it out it is ready and blows people away. Our farmer in Cambridge (Minnesota) is growing Kernza for us. You have to get certified to grow it, you have to get the license. Super expensive. The price was like $9 a pound versus 13 cents a pound for rye. It is not quite commercial yet.

Climate and cocktails

We covered the entire roof in solar panels. It is the largest solar array on a distillery in the country. … Our whole story is about being self-sufficient and sustainable. To have our spirits powered by the sun is pretty cool.

Hydroponic and grown in-house

We use a vertical hydroponic system for herbs. A company out of Madison makes the system. One of our neighbors is Kairos Ag. I fell in love with what they do. I asked them to supply all our greens. He didn’t have space. We started talking, and he is now doing it all in-house for us. We get a deal on the greens and he gets a deal on the space.

Water and waste

Water is going to become the big story over the coming years. There is no question in my mind. Distilleries and breweries produce a ton of wastewater. It is a really big deal for us in River Falls.

We are sitting on the Prairie du Chien aquifer. We’re pulling from wells below us, the water is amazing. In River Falls we are also sitting on the Kinnickinnic River, a Class 1 trout stream. You need really cold water to keep the trout alive. We use glycol for chilling, a closed system. … We don't have to heat the water for our next run for our mash and cook. Then the big piece … our process water is all getting basically reused, we're not dumping anything. The company that has helped us develop that equipment, they work with Breckenridge Distillery in Colorado. … It is an ever increasing issue. We are trying to stay ahead of the curve.

Need to know for tours and tastings

Saturdays are public tours. You can come to the market at any time and taste anything you want before you buy. There is a bar there specifically for tastings. Private tours can be set up with a phone call. You can always come in and try things. We also built into the facility a self-guided tour.

Blend and barrel your own whiskey

You have these four to choose from, and you mix any mixture of the four into a barrel we sell you. Then you have a whiskey we age in six months. You can throw cherries or honey in it. You can't distill at home. Home distillation is only legal in New Zealand. This blending and barreling is the next best thing.

RELATED: Here are 17 Wisconsin breweries and distilleries that opened, added new locations or moved in 2021

Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tattersall Distilling reuses River Falls Shopko, adds canned cocktails