The obvious progression when it comes to alcohol is to go from drinking it to making it. If you don’t know where to start, there’s a place here in Brisbane where you can learn without needing to fork out for a warehouse and all the special equipment needed to produce quality liquor. At least, that is if gin is what you’re drinking. Welcome to Brisbane Distillery Company and Australia’s only registered Gin School™.
At the Brisbane Distillery Company in West End, class is in session and we are pretty sure that this is one you’re not going to be falling asleep in. Inside the 260sqm grain-to-glass distillery and bar, you will find a dedicated classroom decorated with botanicals and set up with a number of miniature copper stills where you and your buddies will be distilling your own gin.
But before you can do that, you’re going to need to sit up and listen first because there is an art to choosing the right botanicals for you and a method to measuring them all out just right. It helps then that the crew at Brisbane Distillery will guide you through every step in the two-hour session.
From eyeing all the botanicals and choosing your favs—depending on the season, you could be pouring over 180-plus varieties—to measuring, balancing, and then distilling your own signature creation, a master gin distiller will be by your side. The penultimate step in the process is the taste test. Then when you’re happy with your unique gin, you get to pour yourself a bottle with a personalised label to take home.
Currently, classes are scheduled for Wednesdays and Sundays with two sessions each day.