Staff photo by Fritz Busch Black Frost Distilling, 201 1st North St., opened its cocktail lounge Aug. 27, 2022 in the former New Ulm Wholesale building.

NEW ULM — A whiskey distillery with a cocktail room, Black Frost Distilling opened its doors for business in August 2022 and continues to grow in the former New Ulm Wholesale building, 201 1st St. North.

The idea for the establishment began while Jace Marti, a 6th-generation brewmaster, and Nate Gieseke, a 6th-generation farmer, were standing in the middle of Gieseke’s barley field, admiring the lush green, two-row barley Gieseke grew on his family farm just north of New Ulm, a few weeks before harvest.

The men wanted to bring the concept of terrior, a French word used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop’s phenotype (environmental factors like soil, topography, climate and the people who make it all affect a characteristic flavor).

In September 2022, Sarah Lee of Mankato was hired as a full-time head distiller to create flavor profiles. Prior to that, she made beer, wine and cider on her own.

An environmental education major, she later worked at a Duluth brewery doing marketing support, event management and tending bar. Lee also worked at a Duluth distillery, tending bar, asking a lot about ingredients and spirits. She later made spirits before connecting with Jace Marti who was about to open Black Frost and went to work here.

She advises women interested in brewing and distilling to ask all the questions they can.

The scent of hundreds of oak aging barrels cut the air inside Black Frost Distillery. By law, bourbon has to be aged in new oak containers.

Above the distillery and cocktail room are about 850 53-gallon American White Oak barrels full of bourbon, rye, and American Single malt.

It takes two years for whiskey to be ready for sale. After distilling, it must age in barrels for flavor.

“We use all Minnesota-grown oak from Avon and Park Rapids suppliers. Our third supplier is based in Kentucky but uses Minnesota oak. The barrels have three different flavor profiles for us to make our products,” Marti said.

Gieseke’s goal is to grow all the distillery ingredients, corn, rye, wheat and barely, on his farm just north of New Ulm. Mother Nature plays a big part of it.

Marti said 2023 was a challenging year for growing distillery ingredients.

“We lost our winter wheat and rye last spring. It was bone dry when it was planted the previous fall. Most of it didn’t come up after seeding in the dust,” said Marti. “What did come up didn’t survive winter. We sourced our wheat and rye from a from a farm near Alexandria.”

This fall, winter wheat and rye grew after the area got some moisture.

“The question is, will it make it through winter, because it’s been so warm. If it breaks dormancy because the soil is so warm and we get a hard freeze again, it’ll be a big loss. This winter has been a little nerve-wracking,” he added. “Corn should be fine. Wheat and rye are non GMO crops and very different. You’re dependent on the winter.”

Marti sees Bock Fest on Saturday, March 2 as having potential for a lot of business this year, especially if it’s cold outside.

“If that happens, we’ll have more people coming to Black Frost earlier in the day. We open at 1 p.m.,” said Marti.

Another feature is the second annual Kentucky Derby Party on Saturday, May 4. Races will be live-streamed all day leading up to the greatest two minutes in sports.

Best dress and best hat contests will be held. Mint Juleps will be flowing. Live music will be featured under the tent next to the distillery.

Black Frost plans to release its own two-year aged bourbon on Black Friday, just after Thanksgiving 2024.

“We’ve already started the blending process. We’re doing things a little differently. We make all our blending components. We pick the blending components we like daily. The rest becomes re-blended bourbon,” Marti said.

“We just started distributing rum in the Twin Cities and central Minnesota with two distributors. We’re just getting started. Our main focus is whiskey and bourbon. We’ll be ramping up this year, planning to hire a sales and marketing person for the release,” he added.

Marti said a plus for the distillery is the fact that Pepperboy Wood-Fired Pizza recently re-opened across from Black Frost on Valley Street.

“It’s great for us to have them open. Their pizza is excellent,” Marti said.

He added that future added barrel storage space is looming in the future.

Black Frost cocktail lounge hours are 4-10 p.m. Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday and 1-11 p.m. Saturday.