Made in Milwaukee: Central Standard partners with The DeLong Co. to make distilling more sustainable

By Ashley Smart

Feb 26, 2024 2:46 am

Pat McQuillan, co-owner of Central Standard, in the company’s distillery along Clybourn Street.

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Central Standard Craft Distillery The DeLong Co.Dylan Vaca Pat McQuillan

Central Standard Craft Distillery 2330 W. Clybourn St., Milwaukee INDUSTRY: Spirits manufacturing EMPLOYEES: 46 thecentralstandard.com Sustainability isn’t just a trend for Milwaukee-based Central Standard Craft Distillery, it’s essential to what the company stands for. All Central Standard spirits are made through small-batch, quality-controlled distillation processes, with local ingredients. To enhance its distillation process even more,

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Central Standard Craft Distillery 2330 W. Clybourn St., Milwaukee INDUSTRY: Spirits manufacturing EMPLOYEES: 46 thecentralstandard.com Sustainability isn’t just a trend for Milwaukee-based Central Standard Craft Distillery, it’s essential to what the company stands for. All Central Standard spirits are made through small-batch, quality-controlled distillation processes, with local ingredients. To enhance its distillation process even more, Central Standard is partnering with Clinton-based The DeLong Co. Inc. to source sustainable, local grains. Last May, The DeLong Co. received a $40 million USDA grant to develop its Grown Climate Smart program, which aims to track greenhouse gas reductions resulting from growers implementing climate-smart practices. The program incentivizes sustainable practices such as cover crops, reduced- or no-till farming, nutrient management plans, and windbreak establishment and renovation. Central Standard signed on to partner with the Grown Climate Smart brand last fall. Through the program, one of DeLong’s 170 enrolled growers is providing Central Standard with sustainably sourced grains. The Grown Climate Smart brand is currently working with growers in 11 states. “For us, it’s always been important to be as local as possible and sustainable at the same time,” said Pat McQuillan, co-owner of Central Standard. “Our challenge over the years has been finding people who can repeatedly get us what we need.” McQuillan said taking advantage of the Grown Climate Smart program means if for some reason a grower can’t get the distillery the grains it needs, there will always be another verified grower waiting in the wings. This guaranteed supply of grains will help Central Standard as it continues to increase its manufacturing capacity. Now in its 10th year of business, Central Standard has grown into the largest craft distillery in the state, selling thousands of cases of product a year. McQuillan is supported by co-founder Evan Hughes and chief commercial officer Jim Kanter. “We’ve been growing between 100% to 150% on a year-over-year basis over the last several years,” said McQuillan.

Central Standard sources its grains from a verified grower in East Troy. Corn, rye or barley – or a combination of the three grains – are made into a mash, cooked at a high temperature and then cooled. The mixture is then placed into fermentation tanks for an extended period of time and later bottled. Central Standard products that were manufactured through the support of the Grown Climate Smart program are marked with a sticker so consumers can easily identify them. Since the start of the partnership last September, Central Standard has been receiving between 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of sustainably sourced grains each month. “The first part of our program is solely enrolling growers, but the second part is working with businesses like Central Standard that have products out there that consumers can purchase with their moral compass,” said Dylan Vaca, brand and marketing manager for DeLong’s Grown Climate Smart brand. “Over the last several years, sustainability has risen in prominence. Consumers care about it.” Once Central Standard uses the sustainably sourced grains, the distillery tries to keep the reuse process going by ensuring the grains are passed on for use as feed or to be spread on parcels of farmland. McQuillan said there isn’t a secret sauce to Central Standard’s distilling process, only a deep-rooted desire to work with the highest-quality ingredients possible. Using the grains sourced through the Grown Climate Smart program makes a noticeable difference in that process, he explained. “The quality is there, you can definitely tell,” said McQuillan. “When we do our distilling, the yields are better, the product smells better as it’s fermenting, and you can tell as it’s being bottled.” n