Middletown Native Brings Moonshine Back Home

One of two men who built up a local moonshine distillery in Manchester is bringing the love of their spirits to Middletown.  

Middletown resident Adam von Gootkin and Peter Kowalczyk, of Onyx Spirits Co., began a “Moonshine on Main” cocktail crawl through 10 downtown restaurants and one city bakery, the Middletown Press reports. During the crawl, the restaurants crafted signature cocktailes surrounding moonshine, the newspaper reports.  

The Press wrote a lengthy story in which it interviewed both Gootkin and Kowalczyk about their craft.

Onyx recently expanded its business and moved its headquarters from Manchester to East Hartford.

Although they are grateful for their start in Manchester at the old Hilliard Mills complex and the way the community embraced their product, Von Gootkin said the move was necessary to increase the company's production and continue to expand.

He said that Onyx plans to produce 60,000 bottles of moonshine this year and unveil some exciting new products later in the year.