“I’ll take a motion to take it off the table if it’s wanted,” River Falls Mayor Dan Toland said February 23 of the proposed city ordinance relating to “Breweries, Brewpubs, Wineries and Distilleries” in River Falls. Council member Diane Odeen spoke up.

“Mr. Mayor, I move to take Ordinance 2021-02 off the table for discussion,” she said, being quickly seconded by Council member Scott Morrissette.

Seven ayes and zero nays later, the ordinance was passed. Development Services Director Amy Peterson explained things some more after the vote was taken.

“I understand that this ordinance isn’t a typical ordinance,” she said of City Ordinance 2021-02. “Typically, we would have strong parameters of how this is regulated,” she said of city statutes. “This is from a land use perspective, not from a licensure perspective. We’re not regulating the licensing of these establishments,” she made clear.

Ordinance 2021-02 defines a “distillery” as “an establishment or facility that manufactures intoxicating liquor on the premises and which may include a tap room, tasting facilities, and/or an independently-operated restaurant and has been issued a manufacturer’s permit under current Wisconsin statutes.”

With no set definitions at the state or other level for alcohol manufacturers, Peterson gave examples of different opinions, most all conflicting and all over the board in terms of volume produced.

“So what I can tell you is that there is a state definition for brew pubs,” she said of the 10,000 gallon limit. Online definitions of breweries and others varied, however, from “less than six million barrels for a brewery,” or 3,000 to 15,000 barrels for a “microbrewery,” or even just 1,000 barrels for a nanobrewery—or no definition at all.

“You kind of get the idea that there are no specifics,” Peterson said. “Especially at the state level. So we’d kind of be pinning these down out of thin air,” she told the River Falls Council of putting parameters on establishments as related to alcohol production.

Locally, Peterson said that Rush River currently produces 2,500 barrels annually, while the Swinging Bridge is at about 800 barrels annually, with Garage Bikes and Brews reportedly turning out 700 barrels annually. As area micro and nano breweries, though, the above three names will have new competition soon, in part on account of the same looser Wisconsin state statutes.

The new competitor, Tattersall Distilling, is set to open in fall 2021 at the old Shopko site on 1777 Paulson Road, having been founded in 2015 and currently distributing to 22 states.

Now located at 1620 Central Avenue Northeast in Minneapolis, Tattersall Distilling is hopping the state line—cocktails and all. The craft distillery, running up against restrictions in Minnesota law that would hamper its ability to have a cocktail room, saw no other way to continue expanding itself.

“It’s either stop rolling, stop the business, or you have to move it out of state,” Tattersall coowner Jon Kreidler said of Minnesota state alcohol laws that are more restrictive than those in Wisconsin, with no change in sight. The statutes in question relate to Section 340A.22 of the Minnesota state statutes. As to the new “destination distillery” coming this fall to 1777 Paulson Road on the north side of River Falls, Tattersall Distilling plans to have a full-service restaurant and cocktail bar with modern American cuisine and a cocktail program for up to 150 guests. In addition, there will be an outdoor patio with access to a bar, along with fire pits and lawn games for up to 250 guests. There will be a large amphitheater and grand ballroom for up to 420 guests, along with a boardroom and VIP suites for weddings. An enlarged barrel room at the 75,000 square foot Shopko site, will allow for tastings and tours, along with vintage Tattersall merchandise and alcoholic spirits.

As to the new site being environmentally friendly, Kreidler says that “the whole roof is solar panels,” while a water recycling program to recycle production water will reduce tap water use. So what’s on tap?

Old medicines, in large part. Many alcoholic drinks including some centuries-old drinks Tattersall has brought started as medicines rather than social hour specials. With gin, orange crema, 17th-century ‘Plague Water’ (made of different roots to ward off illness) and Scandinavian aquavit among the offerings, Tattersall Distilling is fast expanding, with River Falls north side soon their place to call home. That wasn’t to say the new ordinance imposes no stipulations.

“You’ll see that we did add in some language in the definitions that was consistent across the board,” Peterson said, giving as an example for breweries of “large batches that are produced once a day,” with micro and nanobreweries determined as those producing “every other day or so.”

“I don’t think we’re going to run into issues with these categories here,” she said. “I believe the size of their establishment is going to limit the number of barrels they can produce. If there’s a need in the future we can always go back and make changes,” she said. Council member Odeen then clarified that categories were for determining where certain establishments could be in the city, with no state significance, being confirmed in this judgement by Peterson.

As for Tattersall Distilling, readers can find out more by travelling on over to www.tattersalldistilling. com.