Introducing... Moonshiner's Institute

Luke and Grace are no strangers to the spirit industry: in fact, that’s how they met. Luke – a keen home brewer and distiller who got into the hobby courtesy of his granddad who worked at Newcastle Brown Ale – was working at Sonnet 43 Brew House in County Durham when its owner caught him bringing in his home-made spirits for staff to enjoy.

Rather than giving him a telling off, the pair instead set up gin distillery Poetic Licence in Sunderland where Grace – in a fortuitous twist of fate – was working for its parent company Tavistock Hospitality as a marketing manager.

Luke went on to nab a position as head distiller at award-winning gin and vodka distillery Masons of Yorkshire but a yearning to do something a little different motivated him and Grace to branch out on their own, with a view on expanding beyond just gin and into the worlds of rum and whisky too.

“We always had aspirations to do things other than gin and get into the more experimental side of things,” says Grace. “That’s where both of our passions lie.”

“I wanted to do something that was a bit more fun. It got to the point where my job was almost something I could do in my sleep and I wanted to do something different.” adds Luke. “There are so many more variables in whisky and rum. There are a lot more steps to the process and every time you change one little thing, the outcome is totally different – you get totally different flavours.”

And so Moonshiner’s Institute was born and, in another lovely twist of fate, Luke and Grace managed to find a space on Blandford Street less than a mile away from where Luke’s granddad – the inspiration behind his brewing and distilling journey – used to work at the former Tyne Brewery on Corporation Street brewing up Newcastle Brown Ale.

“It’s so nice being so close to where Luke’s origin story of sorts began,” says Grace. “And you may have noticed that Moonshiner’s star logo is a bit of a nod to his granddad’s background at Newcastle Brown Ale!”

A former clothing warehouse, their Blandford Street home was pretty much a blank slate when they first located it and it’s been a labour of love transforming it into a space worthy of a gin, rum and whisky distillery.

“We’ve literally done everything ourselves – knocked down walls, built walls. It’s been an interesting process!” explains Luke.

“Getting it to look more aesthetically pleasing has been an uphill thing,” adds Grace. “But for that reason, I think we’re pretty attached to it now. We’ve put our heart and soul into it!”

It’s quite the transformation too. Painted black with an industrial-chic kind of vibe, it’s a compact and cosy space but the perfect size for distilling Moonshiner’s small batch rum, whisky and gin.

And as for all those lovely spirits? While most of the botanicals that go into their gins are sourced from further afield (thanks to the inclement North East weather not being particularly botanical-friendly), Luke and Grace are keen to keep things local where possible, especially when it comes to their whisky.

“There’s a grain that we can use that’s mostly grown and malted in Berwick-upon-Tweed that we could distil here,” explains Luke. “Then, from start to finish, we could make a single malt whisky that hasn’t travelled more than 100 miles!”

“The Bigg Market also got its name from a strain of barley sold there called bygg and our eventual goal is to find some of it and make whisky with it,” he continues. “Then it would be a proper Newcastle whisky. We could even sell it at the Bigg Market!”

But it’s not just Luke and Grace who will be concocting spirits at Moonshiner’s Institute. In fact, gin, rum and whisky enthusiasts can get hands on with their make-your-own academies. Motivated by wanting to lift what they call the “cloak and dagger veil” of the spirit industry, the academies will guide participants through the distilling process and hopefully give them a whole new appreciation for spirits.

With 18 one-litre stills, the academies can cater to groups both small and large and participants get to take home their gin, whisky or rum in a mini barrel to enjoy at home. Naturally, Luke and Grace will be on hand to help when it comes to things like selecting botanicals for flavouring gin and the like, but academy participants can get as experimental as they want. Experimenting and creativity is, after all, what Moonshiner’s Institute is all about.

“You can make something ridiculous is you want,” laughs Luke. “I’ve made some really terrible things, but you’ve got to try stuff out!”

“That’s how creativity happens, isn’t it?” Grace concludes.

Moonshiner’s Institute is located at Unit 4, 91-95 Blandford Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PZ. For more information visit www.moonshiners.co.uk.