There will soon be a new distillery on the city’s east side.
A multi-year expansion of its distillery, operations facilities, and a 14-acre site at 1165 Alum Creek Drive in Columbus, Ohio, has been announced by Middle West Spirits, a world-class distillery and award-winning maker of spirits.
With the addition, Middle West Spirits are now the biggest distillery in Ohio and one of the top 10 grain-to-glass whiskey and spirits producers in the whole United States. 80 new jobs will be generated by the growth over the following three years, and hiring will start right away.
In order to relocate and expand operations, the business bought the abandoned Alum Creek Campus in 2020 and finished the initial modifications.
The latest expansion plans include a cutting-edge 75,000-square-foot distillery, a grain recycling center, and a packaging and bottling plant, among other things. MA Design is serving as the project’s principal designer.
“We are excited about the Alum Creek development and the future of our company. The expansion of our operations allows us to hit capacities, aging goals and the volumes needed to continue to develop our brands and partnership programs,” said Ryan Lang, founder and chief executive officer for Middle West Spirits. “Our team has worked tirelessly over the last 15 years to bring us to this point, and we are excited to start the next chapter of Middle West.”
The Middle West Spirits project will also provide extra office space to support the expansion of the company’s headquarters and prepare the location for potential future development as a hotel.
Distilling will continue at the original Courtland location in the Short North, which also houses the business’s highly regarded Service Bar restaurant and retail Bottle Shop.
“Middle West is making an immense impact on the local community by creating jobs and revitalizing a key property on the east side of Columbus that hopefully brings further investment to that corridor,” said Andrew J. Ginther, mayor of Columbus.
Middle West Spirits make 15 of its own branded goods, including the well-known Double Cask Whiskey Collection, OYO vodkas, Vim & Petal, and Lux & Umbra gins, as well as MIDDLE WEST Bourbon, Rye, and Wheat Whiskey varieties. There’s more new stuff on the horizon that will be released later this year.
The first craft distillery in Ohio was established in 2008 when Middle West Spirits were formed in Columbus. The business was founded on the distilling traditions of four generations and extensive industry knowledge.
“Middle West Spirits is an Ohio-founded company that continues to expand brands globally with talent from the Columbus Region,” said J.P. Nauseef, JobsOhio president and chief executive officer. “This investment will revitalize buildings that will be home to new distillery operations, office space, and create 80 new jobs.”
In addition to producing the Middle West Spirits’ collection of whiskeys, vodkas, and gins, the company works with select partners to help them bring their signature spirits to market.
“From day one we have sought to develop the very best spirits we can from the agriculture that surrounds us. Most of that is for our family of brands. But through our distillery partnership program, we also support the development and growth of the partners we work with,” said Lang.
Middle West Spirits’ Strategic Partner team has collaborated with dozens of companies and celebrated brands such as Hotel Tango, Horse Soldier, and Old Line Spirits to develop unique products for their portfolios.
With facilities that feature state-of-the-art distillation machinery, bottling and labeling capabilities, test kitchens, and extensive barrel and finished product storage space, the distillery will be able to continue growing these partnerships.
