Written and photographed by CARRIE DOW
UNAPOLOGETIC
The couple behind Wisconsin’s Plank Road Distillery take big pride in the little things WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY CARRIE DOW
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arin Gelhar stands next to his 26-gallon still in his 1,250-sq. ft. almost 175-year-old building that holds maybe a couple dozen whiskey barrels in the basement. His Australian labradoodle Shatzi sits by the back door, warily eyeing the stranger talking to her papa. I could easily toss a tennis ball from one end of the room to the other, if Shatzi were interested. She’s not. Gelhar, however, is more than happy to explain why the distillery he runs with his wife Michele is so small.
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“When we travel,” he explained, “we always seek out the local, small, kitschy craft, whatever it is, brewery, winery, distillery. Doesn’t even have to be drinking. Wherever the locals hang out, we want to go experience that. We said we should open something like that.” The former mechanical engineer and his accountant spouse plotted and planned (and sampled and saved) for seven years before opening Plank Road Distillery. Choosing to wait until the youngest of their 113