Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh with Billy Strings and Bear
November 11, 2025
As you may recall, we got married this May (on five fives) and the hotel Monaco was our base of operations. We have a special place in our hearts for Pittsburgh and for the Monaco. Our most recent visit did not disappoint.
I mean not only were we in town to see Billy Strings play two great shows. We also chatted with Billy Strings himself and his dog Bear in the elevator. He is a sweet guy and his dog is awesome. The encounter made us miss our own goldendoodle, Maybelline, even more.
Since the band was in town and there was at least one wedding full of fraternity type people in the house, there were no suites to be had at reservation time. That is, unless Rob Malinger is pulling strings for you. Always have Rob pull strings. He is all powerful! We were put in 318 this time.
Which like most Monaco suites features lots of room, a cool bathroom, and a birdcage (of the sort that apparently flummoxes Madou).
Sydney wrote us a nice note and had an amenity placed in our room. Thanks Sydney.
The shower in 318 has its own internal bathtub.
Getting in and out of the hotel was “fucktangular” this visit. When we arrived it was rush hour and raining. And there were idiots from Tennessee with very huge jeep wagoneers (but no actual moxy) trying to lead us into the left. After waiting 8 lights we just went around them and taught them how to turn left on red. LOL. Then on Saturday morning we had to refactor our breakfast plans when the car took over two hours to get from the parking lot to the valet stand (due to a veterans day parade). It really was not awful but it was also not convenient. Only in Pittsburgh.
We headed straight to dinner when we arrived so we could get to the show. The mushroom thing at the Commoner is great. The show was very good indeed. So fun to be with our Billy Strings expert Betty.
We had some coffee at De Fer before the commoner was open.
And we went to the Mattress Factory for a dose of contemporary art.
And Randyland of course…
Then it was back to Billy after a very early dinner at Ritual House. Betty was in true outstanding leadership mode for this one. We secured some special bands and entered in the first 100 to hang with the true Billy fans. One fella had seen 333 shows! The people were really welcoming and friendly. And yeah, they knew all the songs and everyone around us. It was great. We owe Betty a big one now.
After each show we had a night cap in the Commoner and met some fellow Billy enthusiasts. Great bar.
On Sunday we made our leisurely way to Gepetto for breakfast, the headed out through Maggie’s Farm Distillery.
Five showerheads and special dispensation for the Monaco. Pittsburgh just gets better and better.
Vitae Spirits in Charlottesville, VA
March 24, 2017
A quick stop in at Vitae Spirits was a great end to a day of intellectual pursuit at UVa. Vitae is a new distillery, but their outstanding product belies their young age.
Tasting three products: two rums and a gin
Hard to describe how good the rum is (with no aging at all), especially the oustanding Golden Rum product. Proprietor and founder Ian Glomski is a microbiologist by training and his scientific background really shines through. (Kind of reminds me of Becky Harris from Catoctin Creek since she was a chemist before turning to distilling.)
The remarkable Golden Rum is distilled with grilled sugar cane and molasses. Charcoaled american oak chips give it some interesting characteristics (and its color). Post production sugaring with molassas (fairly standard with many rums) happens when the spirit is brought down to 80 proof from its run up over 150.
The Platinum Rum is also very very good. Some readers may recall from WAY back that the first spirit NPS had under its belt was rum. This one stands up to the range.
The Modern Gin? We’ll just skip talking about that.
The Vitae still is also very interesting—a hybrid pot still/column still attached in-line.
The hybrid still
Though we have never seen a still quite like this before, NPS is told that many craft distillers use hybrids like this.
Pot
Column
The whole shebang
Of course yeast and mash make all the difference in the world. Here is where the microbes do their thing to make beer for the still. The beer only comes in around 4% when it is run. That is low by rum standards, but whatever Ian is doing is really working well.
We also tried some experimental Anisette which is still in experimentation stage. This product is very interesting. Ian is working out a post production infusion plan now (testing regular lemon versus meyers lemon). Thanks for the palate clearing yogurt from your personal stash Ian!
Strong design
The best way to finish a distillery visit is to run out and try the product in the wild. Toward that end, we made a quick visit to the Alley Light where we sampled a drink called Castro’s Ashes
1.5 oz Vitea Golden Rum
.75 oz Cynar
.75 oz sassafras vermouth (maybe ransom?)
4 drops BBQ bitters
stir down. Serve up in a coupe. Flame orange peel and balance on the edge.
Castro’s Ashes from Alley Light
NPS is bullish on Vitae Spirits. Check them out before they get big!
Rhum Agricole in Grenada: River’s Rum
March 11, 2017
The River Antoine rum distillery in Grenada is well worth a visit. Driving up from St George’s takes about 90 minutes, but the drive is a great way to see more of the island. As in all travel Grenada, get a driver!
Rivers farms about 400 acres of sugar cane which provides 85% of the mash they need. The rest comes from elsewhere in the Carribean.
Cane
The cane is mashed with a water wheel operational since the 1800s.
Gears for the cane conveyor also use water power.
Cane detritus
The mash evaporates from a 4% concentration of sugar in several stages into a 15% concentration. It is then put into a vat to ferment into beer (with natural yeast fron the air). The beer comes in around 15% before heading into the pot stills.
Beer vat
Pot still one
Fired by wood.
The still runs off a proof of about 150 (75% alcohol). The coil is water cooled from the river.
Loading the still cooker
Storage of unmixed product in 500 gallon tanks below.
This used to be a bonded tank measured with a stick.
The computer (batch notes)
By all means visit the distillery when you are on Grenada.
For more about Grenada, see this entry on Laluna.
Catoctin Creek Distillery: Purcellville, VA
January 3, 2016
Less than two handfulls of miles from the apothecary shed itself is a home grown distillery called Catoctin Creek. Since 2009, Catoctin Creek has been distilling Rye into various award-winning products. We’re partial to the Watershed Gin ourselves.
Catoctin Creek in the old Case building
Baker Bob set up a long talked about distillery tour on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The tour was fantastic, carried out by Scott Harris himself. Excellent.
In between leading questions, Scott taught us some things.
Scott talked us through the process to make Rye, Gin (in run 2), and Brandy.
Step one: Cook the Rye (soon to be more local)
Step two is brewing a rye beer to about 10%.
Step three: transfer beer to still and a 6 hour run.
Gin takes a second distillation plus an infusion.
The bottling machine which caused a pizza party insurrection.
Shipment for Australia
Yeah
Catoctin Creek Tasting Room
Pouring flights
Custom flight: Gin and Two Ryes
The Catoctin product set is certainly made with love. I remain a big fan of the Watershed Gin. The Roundstone Rye is rough and thin at 80 proof. The 92 proof has more body (and less water) and is a better product. I guess around here we’re used to a sweeter mash bill with some corn and wheat and a higher proof. The Catoctin Creek mash is 100% rye.
What does Sammy think of the Brandy?
Aftermath
All told, the afternoon was very well spent with a gracious and committed host doing excellent work. Keep it up Catoctin Creek. We’re damn proud to have you here just over the river.
The fellers say, “Thanks Scott and Becky!”
Back home again with some new stuff to add to the bar.
Watershed Gin always in stock here
Leopold Bros Distillery
November 12, 2015
Those of you who read NPS regularly know that in our studied opinion, Leopold Bros makes the best gin in the world (the small batch gin). We always have some on hand at the home bar. Part of the secret behind the gin is separate distillation of the aromatics which are then combined with the base alcohol. It’s magical stuff which has come to be known as the Leopold process.
So we already loved Leopold’s by default, but then we visited. Now we can’t say enough good things about the distillery, its products, and most importantly its people. Wow, what an operation!
Leopold Bros Distillery
We were given a tour by Alec Ropes, one of the seven Leopold Brothers employees. Yes, they work hard and they work passionately at Leopold’s! Alec was just great, spending three hours with us in intense conversation. We were geeking out on alcohol production, and boy was it fun.
The genius behind Leopold Bros distilling-wise is Todd Leopold, one of the two brothers. Todd is a practicing intellectual with a master craftsman sensibility backed by many years of experience and vast quantities of absorbed knowledge. We were incredibly pleased to get to spend a few minutes chatting with Todd even while a vodka run was heading into the tails.
Todd Leopold and his new old still
Todd and his brother Scott have built a distilling factory that is not only ultra-modern, it’s also environmentally sustainable. For example, a closed loop water system keeps water lossage (a huge deal for most alcohol production) way down. Natural light suffuses the floor, and a ceiling fan keeps the yeast aromas circulating with fresh air from the garden outside.
There are three types of still on line at Leopolds now.
German stills
Alembic stills
The new three layer still
Todd explained the new still’s operation to us. The four chambers all have different jobs to do during a twenty minute run, and the mash moves its way down the column between runs. The resulting process suffuces the water with as much flavor as the alcohol. (Looks like the new still goes along with the malting floor, the malt kiln, and the sherry barrels in the rickhouse. Hmm, what could they be up to?)
Tower still for vodka production
Special steam punk magic thingy
We paused for some pictures with Todd. What a great guy! Knowledgeable, funny, smart as a whip, and kind. Todd had some hilarious stories about the Denver health department people, physical phase transitions, and alcohol as a decontamination solution.
Antti flew in from Helsinki
Of course all distilling starts with beer (which is how Leopolds got its start in Ann Arbor years ago). Several different mashes are in use now at the distillery. I was surprised how viscous the rye mash is. Slippery goopy.
Open mash tanks made of cypress and pine
Eventually, alcohol is blended (Leopold Bros makes 22 products currently with some awesome new ones coming on line any month now) and put into barrels. There is lots of “three char” white American oak in the house.
Floor rick
Rickhouse with 2 or 3 barrel ricks
Alec with the product line
Of course we had to do some sampling. I already own 7 Leopold Bros products in my supply and was happy to add two more: Cherry Liqueur (to sub in for Heering) and a Digestif called something crazy due to American labeling laws. The Digestif is in the Benedictine/Chartruese range.
A mysterious new building at Leopold Bros
Anyway, thanks to Todd and Alec taking time out of their busy jobs to show around a couple of newby geeks. We loved it!
Absolutely stellar time with alec @leopoldbros. Incredible passion. pic.twitter.com/UKpnDulD7l
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 12, 2015
By the time we took off for dinner, the sun had set
When we arrived at the fantastic Colt and Grey for dinner, the first thing we did was call for some Leopold Bros cocktails.
Still glowing from @LeopoldBros! Now a corpse reviver #2 @ColtandGray with the best gin ever. pic.twitter.com/t7VilUSAc8
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 12, 2015
Negroni with double @LeopoldBros product. Real dactylopis coccus. pic.twitter.com/bvYoWw9HTk
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 12, 2015
Here’s to passion, science, craftsmanship, and kindness. Leopold Bros you have my loyalty all sown up for this lifetime!
Make yourself a cocktail with Leopold’s Gin today:
Blue Moon
Corpse Reviver #2
Cardinal Spirits: A New Bloomington Distillery
April 16, 2015
Cardinal Spirits is so new that their grass has not come in yet. We were honored to get an evening tour led by a mysterious partner.
The grass is still straw at Cardinal Spirits
Cardinal is using both wine and barley beer as mash for vodka and gin distillery. Currently, the vodka is available and the gin is almost ready for release (still in the titration stage with aromatics). There is some brandy and some whiskey recently barreled as well.
Where the mash is born.
Cardinal Spirits still is about 6 stories in 4 connected sections
Distillers notes
Aromatics added here for the gin process
The mysterious partner gave a great tour
How new is the brandy and whiskey?
One rick
This new!
New indeed. Born last week.
You are in Indiana!
The experiment is still underway when it comes to gin.
Gin testing bench
Bottler
Needless to say, the tour was fantastic. So much fun to see Cardinal Spirits booting up!
Now it’s time to taste the gin.
RSS - Posts