4Four6 Distillery has a clear opening in Sharpsburg
The faces running the Pittsburgh area’s newest distillery and tasting room, which opens Saturday, are female.
Sisters-in-law Marcy Sunday and Maria Yeater concocted the notion of making their own booze on a vacation, and what happened in Las Vegas didn’t stay in Las Vegas. About five years later, they and their husbands and some other investors are opening 4Four6 Distillery on the main drag of Sharpsburg.
They gutted and renovated a former dry cleaner down to the original brick walls and warmed up the front with a tin ceiling and retro lights, with a short bar and other seating and tables for a total of 30 people. The big back and upstairs production spaces they redid in cool bright white.
Ms. Sunday’s husband and Ms. Yeater’s brother, Jerry, is running the 600-liter still, which is a pot still topped with a four-plate column. He’s already used it to make some gin and rum and will eventually make brown spirits such as bourbon and whiskey, which will need to be aged in barrels.
For opening, they’re offering flights of two ($6) and all four ($12) of their first spirits: American dry gin, clementine gin, white rum blend and white spiced rum. Bottles of each can be purchased for $36.
The place also will serve cocktails ($8 to $10) made with their own spirits as well as some liquid from other local producers such as Arsenal Cider House, plus two local draft beers ($7) and some Pennsylvania wines and cider ($7.50 to $8). Customers are welcome to order pizza, pasta, wings and more from Gino Bros Pizzeria & Bar next door.
Dancing Gnome brewery is two blocks down, Hitchhiker Brewing Co. is a half mile away, and Pittsburgh Winery is opening nearby, too, so the principals are very happy they squeezed in to Sharpsburg.
“I’m very excited about where this is going to go,” says Ms. Yeater, who works as a university athletic trainer and lives in Verona. “I want it to be a family thing.”
In fact, one of the fermenters is named for her daughter, Cora, and another for Ms. Sunday’s daughter Zera. Another big holding tank is named for the Sundays’ son,
Cullen, and the still, on Saturday, will be named for their daughter Ashley. The Sundays now live in Sharpsburg. Ms. Sunday
also is keeping her day job; she’s a nurse. You’ll see various family members working at the distillery. Mr. Sunday, who used to run Beer Nutz in O’Hara, will be working behind the bar.
He’s still passionate about beer, but, “Whiskey is what I really want to make and really be good at,” he says, looking forward to releasing his first in about a year.
In the meantime, they are thrilled to have their first labels approved and on bottles, along with a map of Pittsburgh. They’re still inviting customers to solve the riddle of the distillery’s 4Four6 name.
“It’s fun,” Mr. Sunday says, “to hold something in your hand and say, ‘I made this.’”
“It actually brought a tear to my eye,” says Ms. Yeater, who smiles as she thinks that her daughter may help run the place. “I hope it’s my future.”
Hours to start are noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, then 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday and 3 to 10 p.m. Friday.
The distillery is located at 703 Main St., Sharpsburg, PA 15215, and you can learn more on its Facebook page and other social media and at its website in progress, https://4four6distillery.com.
Explore the region’s distilleries and other drinks producers on the Post-Gazette’s interactive drinks maps at https:// newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/drinkmap.