A Behind-The-Scenes Tour Of Hangar 1 Vodka's Distillery

Mallory Carra|June 4, 2018 1:05 am EST

True to its name, Hangar 1 Vodka is made in a hangar. The Alameda, California distillery is housed in a vast World War II-era hangar in the Alameda Naval Air Station, located about 30 minutes outside of San Francisco.

Inside the hangar, Hangar 1 head distiller Caley Shoemaker and her team have been making flavorful and innovative vodkas. In February, Hangar 1 announced and released their buzziest product so far: an easily sippable rosé vodka aimed at the brunch-loving crowd. The new spirit can be used in cocktails or imbibed alone.

But even before the rosé vodka's debut, Hangar 1 has been making new and different spirit flavors for years. The current collection includes the following flavors: straight (distilled from grains and grapes), Buddha's hand citron, Mandarin blossom, Makrut lime, and the limited-release Fog Point (distilled with water from San Francisco fog). The distillery offers several small-batch distiller's exclusive flavors, such as chipotle, pink peppercorn, and honeycomb.

The Hangar 1 distillery tasting room offers a taste of the collection for visitors and has a patio that offers a lovely view of the San Francisco skyline across the way.

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Photo by Mallory Carra

Shoemaker became Hangar 1's head distiller in 2014 after working at Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey for six years.

"I had been drawn to Hangar 1 because the straight vodka recipe is so complex, and it to me was the first vodka I could really identify with as something that did have interesting flavor notes, and could be drank in that same sort of whiskey-style drinking occasion," she said. "So when the opportunity came for me to come out here, I was really excited about the challenge of being able to build a whole brand new distillery and take on this project."

On a tour of the new Hangar 1 distillery, Shoemaker proudly stands by the distill for the vodka and explains the complex process.

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Photo by Mallory Carra

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She shows just as much pride as she talks about her new labeling machine, showing how much she appreciates each part of the vodka-making process. Her office/lab has a live edge table for sipping, a mini distill, plants by the window, and mathematical equations on a blackboard.

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Photo by Mallory Carra

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"I do everything here," Shoemaker said. "Realistically, my 80 percent of what I'm doing is the day-to-day business here at the distillery. Whether that's managing the distillation runs and the production schedule, or physically getting down there and scrubbing a tank. It's a little bit of all of that, which is great. It's never boring if there's never a dull day."

Travel expenses for this article were paid for by Exposure. The product samples that are the subject of this review were provided at no cost to the contributor.