Could Chobani Yogurt Be the Key to America’s Next Great Gins?

Every day, tankers arrive at the Chobani plant in South Edmeston, N.Y., from nearby dairies, each truck holding some 8,000 gallons of milk. The milk is pumped into 200,000-gallon tanks in the pasteurization room before eventually being heated to 131 degrees and put into an industrial centrifuge that divides the cream from the 0.05 percent skim milk. The temperature is then raised even higher to remove any further impurities...

...But with America’s appetite for Greek yogurt what it is, there’s just too much damn whey for Chobani to get rid of every single day...

...He stumbled upon the work of Van Groll, a biochemistry engineer employed as a Wisconsin cheese exec who had been working part-time out of his garage on creating a proprietary technique to turn whey into ethanol...

...Zaydman thought he could maybe change that, while saving the environment in the process. Thus New Age Renewable Energy became Cayuga Ingredients, and Zaydman started knocking on distillery doors in Brooklyn....

...“The quality of the spirit was fantastic and really made all the nuances come through in the gins,” he claims, particularly loving its rich texture that tones down some of the alcohol heat. “Because whey comes from milk sugars, there is a nice creamy mouthfeel to it, which is great.”...

...Besides the great flavor, texture, and environmental impact, New York state distillers also love the price they pay for the 192 proof whey distillate, around $3 a proof gallon, Thomas tells me. Because Cayuga Ingredients strictly uses byproduct, it can pass the savings onto their customers, who are often craft distilleries operating on slim margins. In under a year, 20 New York State distilleries, including Black Momma Vodka, have started using the whey distillate....

...“Spirits are truly renewable,” says Zaydman. “And there’s still an ocean of whey out there left for us to grab.”...

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Ken Notes: A New York story with Wisconsin roots. This would be a brilliant idea for a new Wisconsin company. We have a wealth of whey and some master distillers. I see the next RumChata here..