by JENNIFER BIUNDO
With a recent proliferation of farmers markets and organic food vendors, the foodie movement is beginning to spread from Austin into Hays County. Now, it’s even going bottoms up.
Brothers Don and Paul Michels, along with investor Frank Proscia, are preparing to break ground on Powderfinger Spirits, a distillery slated for Dacy Lane on Kyle’s east side. They plan to produce small-batch, hand-crafted whiskey, rum and vodka that they say will owe more to the philosophy of slow foods than to the bathtub gin days of yore.
The brothers hope to use as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible in their spirits, playing into the concept of “terroir,” a French term signifying the unique attributes that geography and climate impart on food.
“When you actually look at the whiskey industry, there’s probably about 300 bourbon brands on the market, but 90 percent are made at nine distilleries owned by three companies,” Don Michels said. “It’s a false diversity.”
Don Michels, 37, studied chemical engineering and worked for internet start-up companies in New York City before opting out to build the distillery. His brother Paul Michels, 35, is the principal of the Katherine Anne Porter School in Wimberley.
Though whiskey is their first love, that spirit requires at least two years to age, and frequently spends half a decade or more in the cask. To get products on the shelf, the brothers plan to start out making vodka, which can be sold almost immediately after bottling.
Property owner Jim Foulkrod is constructing the 2,300-square-foot building on Dacy Lane that the brothers will lease. They hope to start construction on May 1 and begin production in July, with the first bottles hitting the market this fall.
Texas blue laws restricted their choice of real estate in the hunt for the perfect site, prohibiting them from opening a distillery within 300 feet of a school or church.
“Try to find something that’s not 300 feet from a church in Texas,” Michels said with a laugh.
A similar project in Dripping Springs, Jester King Brewery, is already starting to enjoy success just weeks after their grand opening. Brothers Michael Steffing and Jeffrey Stuffing are producing hand-crafted beers using largely organic and locally sourced ingredients.
