About Fairbanks
Distilling Company
Our Fairbanks Distilling Company was established in 2012 and purchased the Old City Hall building in downtown Fairbanks. We are located in the Historic Downtown District of Fairbanks at 410 Cushman Street within easy walking distance of downtown hotels, restaurants, and gift shops. We moved into our building in 2014 and began renovations to create our manufacturing facility and tasting room. Visitors can sample our Artisan small batch craft spirits in the warm decor of our tasting room, and can discover our building’s rich history on a Distillery Tour. Our products are all produced on site.
About Our Products
Fairbanks Distilling Company’s signature 68 Below Alaskan Potato Vodka is our first product. We use only Yukon Gold potatoes and the purest Alaskan water with no additives to produce our 68 Below vodka. All of our spirits are made at our production facility in the Old City Hall building using traditional methods. Through the use of proven state-of-the-art distilling technologies, Fairbanks Distilling is creating Artisan, handcrafted, small batch, ultra-pure vodka. Our spirits are certified as genuine “Made in Alaska” handcrafted products.
About Our Building
Through an overwhelming vote of support from the community in 2013 and 2014, Fairbanks Distilling Company acquired an incredible historic building from the City of Fairbanks. The “Old City Hall” building is located at 410 Cushman Street. Fairbanks Distilling Company began moving into the “Old City Hall” building in downtown Fairbanks in early June of 2014. Many months were spent renovating the building, bringing it up to code, and building our manufacturing facility.
The historic building is a two-story Art Deco structure, built out of reinforced concrete in 1935 as a fireproof alternative to the city’s previous city hall. It was the third concrete building in town made after two devastating fires had almost destroyed the city. The building was designed by Architect Henry Bittman and was originally built to house city offices as well as police and fire stations and the city jail. The city drunk tank was down in the basement. The building was enlarged by an extension to the back in 1937 and we lovingly refer to this section as “The new part of the building”. The city moved its offices to the adjacent Main School in 1994. Before Fairbanks Distilling Company acquired the building in 2014, it housed the Fairbanks Downtown Association, of which we are proud members, and the Community Museum.
Step inside of local Fairbanks history and walk the halls of the center of Interior Alaska government during WWII and the Cold War. Tours of the distillery are available by request.
About the Owner
Patrick Levy
Fairbanks Distilling Company is the dream of longtime Alaskan and Fairbanksan Patrick Levy. He realized some time ago that he would never be able to establish a vineyard and produce World class wines in Fairbanks, Alaska where wintertime temperatures have been known to bottom out in excess of 60 degrees below zero. Mr. Levy turned his attention to the craft of producing a delicious Artisan high latitude spirit in the far North. Mr. Levy believes that distilling education is essential to the production of pure high quality spirits and has traveled the World learning the trade.
Patrick Levy has lived in Alaska since 1979, and has made his home in the Golden Heart City of Fairbanks since 1985. He personally performed many of the building renovations that you’ll see in a visit to the tasting room or a tour of the Fairbanks Distilling Company production facilities. But of course with any project as large as this, it truly takes a village to complete. Our thanks go out to Patrick’s good friends: Mr. Jake Matulka, Mr. Bob Grunditz, Mr. Dan McGoughy, his wife, Ms. Lori Neufeld, and daughters Rachel & Sarah Levy, Ms. Becky Aschenbrenner, Ms. Eva Zamzow, Mr. David Koester, Mr. Jochen Mezger, Mr. David Pruhs, Mr. George Schneider, as well as the hardworking crews with ACE Roofing, TS Construction, Fullford Electric, Denali Mechanical, Buckmeier Enterprises, Glacier Point Services, Exclusive Paving, and SMRT General Contractors. Without all of these folks this project would not have been possible. Thanks everybody.
About Our Logo
Fairbanks Distilling Company’s logo is inspired by Alaska’s Flag and the owner’s home city. The eight gold stars on a field of blue represent the stars of the big dipper and Polaris that appear on the Alaska State Flag. The gold heart in the center represents owner Patrick Levy’s home since 1985, Fairbanks – Alaska’s Golden Heart City.
Fairbanks Distilling Company
Located in the historic Old City Hall