BY.ARTISANS, West End’s chic new spirit maker, is much more than just a distillery
Artistry meets innovation at West End’s brand-new distillery, BY.ARTISANS, which is officially opening to the public today, Thursday November 28. Here, a one-of-a-kind still is not only crafting smooth spirits infused with Australian botanicals, but is also turning byproducts into everything from soaps and essential oils to dyes for the venue’s own range of apparel. That’s not all – BY.ARTISANS is also doubling as a cafe and bar, offering a range of elixirs to enjoy while soaking in the venue’s chic, spa-like surrounds. Take a peek inside …
Like many innovative ideas, the concept of BY.ARTISANS first germinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it wasn’t alcohol that co-founders Ginn Lai and Hisatake Kamori initially considered making. They sought a way to make the most out of eucalyptus waste being generated at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, with the aim of turning the excess into useful products like essential oils.
Though life returned to a semblance of normalcy before the idea could fully get off the ground, the idea of transforming waste and excess into something new continued to resonate with the duo. The idea evolved when they came across the vacant former Brisbane Distillery site on Jane Street in West End. Soon after, Alexander Lotersztain (founder of multi-disciplinary design studio Derlot) and distiller Alexander Bell (of Milton Rum Distillery) joined the venture and BY.ARTISANS took on a grander, more ambitious form.
“Instead of doing just essential oil botanicals, we thought it would be cool to create a distillery and a gin brand that boasted a little bit of the essence of that,” says Alexander Lotersztain. “The idea that I presented was to create a lifestyle brand more than just a distillery – a place that challenges all the preconceptions that you have about distilleries.”
BY.ARTISANS is unlike any distillery that has opened in Brisbane to date. A multi-hyphenate concept that boasts artistic expression at its core, and a desire to be a collaborative storyteller that celebrates heritage, artistry and community.
The team is officially lifting the lid on the project today – opening the doors to the venue, which is described as a refuge where guests can relax and escape the outside world for a spell.
Traditionally, distilleries are industrial-style spaces – often devoid of charm or overtly spartan in their aesthetic. Not so BY.ARTISANS, which Alexander has consciously designed to be a versatile space that was alluring to all comers. The light-filled venue not only features a distillery and bottling set-up, but also a cafe and bar area, a retail section and a blending table, with functionality to transform into a gallery-like events space, as well.
Alexander has furnished venue with a range of striking pieces – including Derlot’s Pipeline lounges and eco-Bolet pendant lights, Cassina Roly Poly chairs by Faye Toogood, vintage Philippe Starck linear pendants from Flos, and other bespoke elements crafted for the venue. A neutral-toned palette of steel, white tile and concrete is accented by greenery, including a botanical installation by Donna Stain.
“The challenge for me as a designer was to try to bring this spa-like feel during the day, but then the venue transforms into this beautiful, intimate and elegant bar space at night,” says Lotersztain. “The textures are related to the stainless steel distillery apparatus, but then there’s a lot of biophilic design principles that refer to the production of the gin. And then the white and cream surfaces, the texture and stone help create this really open, welcoming space that feels like a spa or a luxury store.”
Though BY.ARTISANS looks different to most spirit makers, the one-of-a-kind still sitting in the corner leaves little doubt as to the primary purpose of the venue. Designed and operated by master distiller Alex Bell, the continuous still is a technical marvel, equipped with a 12-plate column and functionality that allows the team to harness heat to not only mitigate, but utilise waste byproducts during the distilling process.
“We can actually recover all of our waste heat that we’ve generated from heating up the pot still, using that to pre-heat raw product that’s coming in,” the distiller informs us. “We’re recycling not only material, but also energy. What this still allows us to do is get pretty much 99-percent efficiency out of the number of litres of pure ethanol coming into the still and the litres of pure ethanol coming out, so we’re not having any wastage, whatsoever.”
The venue is launching with its signature gin at the fore – an elixir boasting a smooth complexity and a bouquet of botanical notes, dispensed into pristine white-silicone vessels that have been designed to embody a blank canvas.
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“The best way to describe it is a contemporary Australian gin,” Bell says. “It’s based upon a London Dry style, but with quintessential Australian elements. We’ve got lemon myrtle and cinnamon myrtle, and we’ve also got that eucalyptus leaf in there. It’s very much got that floral, herbaceous side.”
Moving forward, the team plans to expand the BY.ARTISANS range with all sorts of limited-edition spirits – from whisky and vermouth to cane and agave spirits – all made in collaboration with a different artist, designer or creative. The by-products of its distilling processes are being used to create an innovative range of items beyond booze, all available to purchase from the venue’s retail section.
“Alex is very passionate about sustainability, and part of our ethos as a company is obviously to be as sustainable as possible,” adds Lotersztain. “The still is so efficient that we can get so much out of it – not only in terms of the spirits but all the byproducts. All of that gets used. We use the essential oils for candles and the hydrosols as natural dyes.”
Currently, the retail space includes a curated selection of items from Japan and BY.ARTISANS’ own apparel, with more to come.
“The retail concept is highlighting our collaborators – designers, artists, creatives from the area and abroad,” says Lotersztain. “I wanted to create something that you’re not going to be able to buy online – this is really for the visitors that come here.”
On the bar front, BY.ARTISANS is funnelling its spirits into a tight range of lip-smacking libations, starting with the BY.G&T and three cocktails – The Westender (a twist on the Moscow Mule with elderflower syrup, StrangeLove hot ginger beer, cucumber, mint and lime), the I Found It? (lemon myrtle syrup and soda) and the Keep it Simple (a clarified pina colada made with BY.ARTISANS platino cane spirit).
There’s also a clutch of Range Brewing beers and wines from Witches Falls, plus a menu of grazing finger foods inspired by Italian aperitivo culture. Guests can also come in from 10:00 am and have a coffee from Industry Beans alongside a small selection of tarts and cakes.
All told, BY.ARTISANS is a distillery unlike any other. Here, the team is looking to give Brisbane, and the state at large, a distillery it can call its own – one that champions creativity, collaboration and craftsmanship.
“Queensland doesn’t really have a distillery that we can all be proud of and push,” says Lotersztain. “The challenge when we embarked on this project was how we could make it different in almost every sense of the word. We want to elevate it and challenge what those guys down south are doing.”
BY.ARTISANS is now open to the public. Operating hours and contact details can be found in The Directory.