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Welcome back to Insider Pix, where we uncover what entertainment and culture insiders are watching, reading, and listening to! Next up:
Matthew Greitzer
Matthew Greitzer is the founder of Silver Brothers. Born and raised in the Columbia County, NY, hamlet of Spencertown, Matthew has always wanted to create something that reflects the region’s inherent beauty. And he’s done just that with Silver Brothers: a whiskey distillery, farm, and tasting room in Old Chatham, New York. Learn more!
Silver Brother’s Distillery
Silver Brothers is a New York State farm distillery located in the Hudson Valley that focuses on creating terroir-driven whiskeys from estate-grown grain and select New York State farms. Today, July 4, they released their second whiskey, 3 Year American Single Malt Whiskey, Batch No. 1, limited to 250 bottles to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Matthew’s 5 Picks
Best TV show you’ve watched recently?
The Bear. I would rank it among the top narrative series ever. (There is one episode in particular, Fishes, which may be the best sixty-six minutes of television ever made. I watched it three times in a row when it first aired.)
And though we aren’t a restaurant, the entire series feels uncomfortably familiar, as there’s a real parallel in our processes in the quest to make something truly great. There’s a frequently referenced sign in the show, which is a credo of sorts: “every second counts.” Whiskey is a product of years, not seconds, but we have our own version of the credo, which is “in whiskey, everything matters.”
A 5-star-worthy book you’d recommend to anyone?
I read a lot of non-fiction, and right now I’m really enjoying The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis by Brady Crytzer. It has so much to offer about that period in early American history, as well as the formative role that whiskey—and rye whiskey in particular—played in the early days of the Republic.
Best movie you saw in theaters recently?
For a great theatre experience, Project Hail Mary. I took my kids on a rainy Saturday and went in with no expectations. It’s really like an old-fashioned summer blockbuster—think E.T. or Back to the Future—that for some reason they released in March. It’s a movie that draws you in, takes you on a journey and leaves you in a happy and hopeful place when you’re done. It’s also a beautiful visual experience, with a decent soundtrack to boot.
A hidden gem you wish more people knew about?
Going with a whiskey theme again here, The Angels’ Share is a great movie about a wayward Scottish youth who turns his life around after a transformational experience visiting a whiskey distillery. It’s a fun movie, with a little bit of a heist plot built in, and whether you are a whiskey novice, a master distiller or anything in between, you’ll come away with a far deeper appreciation for the magic that makes great whiskey.
Your go-to weekly podcast?
It’s not quite a weekly, but I love the Acquired podcast. It’s a long-form show wherein they dissect great companies and what made them great. They cover only one company per episode—running a broad range from LVMH to Microsoft to the NFL—and go really deep on the mix of market dynamics, vision, and luck that made that company successful. It’s a wonderful mix of history, storytelling and business fundamentals, and great for long car rides if you are in summer travel mode. Start with the episodes on Mars or Hermes, and you’ll be hooked.
Pix: What's the most surprising thing you've discovered about New York's rye whiskey history?
MG: It's a bit esoteric, but our distillery is directly across from the original site of the Shaker Museum, which houses the largest collection of Shaker artifacts in the world. I was not aware that the Shakers—whom I assumed were teetotalers—were actually whiskey makers and renowned for the quality of their spirits. The museum even has an old still-head in its collection.
Pix: What sets Columbia County apart from other whiskey-producing regions?
MG: I’d say it’s that we are all making whiskey that reflects a real sense of place: we grow our own grain which means our rye, corn and barley comes from the fields surrounding our distilleries; in the case of Silver Brothers, we have exceptional water from an aquifer that underlies our farm; and we have a varied climate—hot summers and frigid winters—that encourages dynamic maturation in the barrel. All of these elements compound, and so you can’t make whiskey as we do anywhere else in the world. I think that shows up in the glass.
Pix: Silver Brothers sits on a farm that's been active in Columbia County for more than 250 years. What's the most surprising lesson the land has taught you so far?
MG: I wasn’t a farmer coming into this endeavor and I guess I just thought that land was land, but that’s not the case at all. We have 220 acres but we can only grow grain on about 75 of those. The rest is too wet, too rocky, or too hilly for crops. And even with a given field we have huge variations on soil types. But I guess the best lesson is when I got our tractor stuck in three feet of mud because I didn’t know there was an underground spring on the edge of the hedgerow. That is a lesson I cannot forget, mainly because the farmer and friend I called to tow me out will not let me forget it.