Clear Creek Distillery is a

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

based in

Hood River, Oregon Hood River is a city in and the county seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in O ...

, United States, and formerly in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Founded in 1985, it has been owned by

Hood River Distillers Hood River Distillers is an importer, producer, bottler, and marketer of spirits based in the U.S. State of Oregon. History Established in 1934 in Hood River, Oregon by Ted Pooley and Ned Marshall, Hood River Distillers received the first state d ...

since 2014. It is most well known for its ''

eau de vie An ''eau de vie'' ( French for spirit, §16, §17 ) is a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation. The fruit flavor is typically very light. In English-speaking countries, ''eau de vie ...

'' produced from

Bartlett pear The Williams' bon chrétien pear, commonly called the Williams pear, or the Bartlett pear in the United States and Canada, is a cultivar (cultivated variety) of the species ''Pyrus communis'', commonly known as the European pear. The fruit has ...

s, though today it also makes a variety of other

fruit brandies Fruit brandy (or fruit spirit) is a distilled beverage produced from mash, juice, wine or residues of edible fruits. The term covers a broad class of spirits produced across the world, and typically excludes beverages made from grapes, which are ...

, aged

spirits Spirit(s) commonly refers to: * Liquor, a distilled alcoholic drink * Spirit (animating force), the non-corporeal essence of living things * Spirit (supernatural entity), an incorporeal or immaterial being Spirit(s) may also refer to: Liquids ...

, and

liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...

History

Clear Creek Distillery was founded in 1985 by Stephen McCarthy. The McCarthy family had owned orchards in Oregon since the turn of the century, although Stephen had been running the family's alternative business of manufacturing parts for hunting guns. This endeavor required travel to Europe, where he encountered the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

tradition of producing pear ''eau de vie''. He decided to begin making ''eau de vie'' from the Bartlett pears grown widely in Oregon after concluding they were similar to the

Williams pear The Williams' bon chrétien pear, commonly called the Williams pear, or the Bartlett pear in the United States and Canada, is a cultivar (cultivated variety) of the species ''Pyrus communis'', commonly known as the European pear. The fruit has a ...

s that were often used for ''eau de vie'' production in Europe. He produced the first batches of the spirit in 1985. The production of European-style

is relatively unusual in the United States, and the Clear Creek Distillery is one of the best known American ''eau de vie'' distilleries. The beverage is still a

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development and growth *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ec ...

product not consumed by most U.S. drinkers. The company was sold to

in 2014.

Products

Based on the traditional ''eau de vie de

Poire Williams Poire Williams is the name for ''eau de vie'' (colorless, unsweetened fruit brandy) made from the Williams pear (also known as Williams' bon chrétien and as the Bartlett pear in the United States, Canada and Australia) in France and Switzerland ...

'', Clear Creek Distillery's pear ''eau de vie'' is its most popular product, and it also sells a limited edition version with a pear grown inside the bottle. It also makes other traditional varieties of

fruit brandy Fruit brandy (or fruit spirit) is a distilled beverage produced from mash, juice, wine or residues of edible fruits. The term covers a broad class of spirits produced across the world, and typically excludes beverages made from grapes, which are ...

such as an aged apple brandy made from

Golden Delicious Golden Delicious is a cultivar of apple. It is one of the 15 most popular apple cultivars in the United States. It is not closely related to Red Delicious. History Golden Delicious arose from a chance seedling, possibly a hybrid of Grimes ...

apples,

grappa Grappa is an alcoholic beverage: a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35 to 60 percent alcohol by volume (70 to 120 Alcohol proof, US proof). Grappa is a protected name in the European Union. Grappa is made by ...

from Oregon wine grapes,

framboise Framboise () is a Belgian lambic beer fermented with raspberry (''framboise'' is the French word for raspberry). Beer In English, ''framboise'' is used primarily in reference to a Belgian lambic beer that is fermented using raspberries. It i ...

Mirabelle plum Mirabelle plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''syriaca'') is a cultivar group of plum trees of the genus ''Prunus''. It is believed that the plum was cultivated from a wild fruit grown in Anatolia. Description The mirabelle is identified by it ...

''eau de vie'',

kirschwasser ''Kirschwasser'' (, , ; German for 'cherry water'), or just ''Kirsch'' (; the term used in Switzerland and France, less so in Germany), is a clear, colourless brandy from Germany, Switzerland, and France, traditionally made from double distill ...

, and

slivovitz Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). If anyone else has a dictionary of some Slavic language that translates your word for slivovitz as "plum brandy", please ...

. More unusually, Clear Creek produces an ''eau de vie'' that includes some of the spring

buds In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or Plant embryogenesis, embryonic Shoot (botany), shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a Plant stem, stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormancy, dormant conditi ...

of the

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

tree. Clear Creek also makes a variety of fruit-based liqueurs and McCarthy's Single Malt whiskey.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://clearcreekdistillery.com
Eau De Vie Pear Brandy: A Personal quest
video documentary on Clear Creek Distillery Distilleries in Oregon American companies established in 1986 1986 establishments in Oregon Food and drink companies established in 1986