A visit to Rhinehall~

A view of the still from behind the bar.

Through a new membership based service similar to Groupon tall friend and I visited Rhinehall, a new apple Brandy distillery in Chicago. It's located in the Fulton Market area, which used to be entirely warehouse buildings (and where my mother would drive through to avoid traffic), but it's now home to many different breweries and small businesses, such as Goose Island, Intelligensia coffee, and where I get all my cards printed, Dot Press.
Sometime last year when I was considering working with a sourcing company to manufacture skirts and dresses for me, I traveled to a building across the street from Rhinehall, which didn't exist yet and the space was just a garage. Rhinehall has transformed it to a combination bar/brewery. The owners are super friendly, and apparently this place is hopping on Thursdays. We happened to visit on a Thursday where things were much slower, so we really got a change to converse with the owners and try literally all of their cocktail offerings.

Pictured here are a couple of their offerings.

The menu seems to be influx and the recipes for each item literally change every time they make it. The Brandy is very smooth, made entirely from local Michigan apples that they keep in huge pallets in the back. Pretty cool place, I look forward to seeing what they come up with. So far their spirits have only been used in restaurants, but they are starting to sell bottles of it in stores. They haven't been able to keep up with the demand, which is a great sign!
Rhinehall's bar is open Thursdays from 5-9PM and Saturdays 2-7PM.
The cocktails are reasonably priced between $6-$8.

I always support small local businesses, although sometimes I might not think the products are up to snuff. The pricing on Rhinehall's liquors themselves are a little high (running at around $50 for the grappa) but it makes sense given their small batch production runs. The owners of Rhinehall are originally from the Chicago area and are using recipes passed down through their family. Their use of historical recipes with a modern spin is very enjoyable.