In 1985, Stephen McCarthy set out to turn Oregon fruit into brandy that would rival the best French bottles. His friends thought he was crazy. After all, it takes nearly nine tons of Bartlett pears to yield only 100 gallons of brandy. But McCarthy ignored the naysayers, bought a German still, installed it in a small warehouse in Northwest Portland, and began distilling pure eau de vie—first with pears from his family orchards, and later with cherries, plums, and apples from all over Oregon.
Today, the brandies from McCarthy’s company, Clear Creek Distillery, are considered the finest quality in America. “The single most important thing in making a good fruit brandy is using perfectly ripe fruit,” McCarthy acknowledges. “Then we do as little to it as possible.”
courtesy of Stephen McCarthy Bottles are tied over tiny pear buds. When the pear matures, the bottle is removed from the tree. The rest of the pears destined for the distillery are picked very green and ripened in controlled conditions so that they can be mashed at the peak point of ripeness.
The mashed, fermented fruit is pumped into the copper pot still, where it’s heated by a water bath to evaporate the high-proof alcohol.
Bottles with pears in them are hand-scrubbed to rid them of any debris from the pear tree. Then they’re filled and sealed.
The eaux de vie (from left, plum, pear, apple, and cherry) wear eye-catching labels from a Portland design team. McCarthy also makes framboise, grappa, and marc, and he has just begun producing small batches of single-malt Oregon whiskey.
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