11 Wells Spirits

Located in the historic Hamm’s Brewery on Minnehaha Avenue in St. Paul, 11Wells is proud to be part of the revitalization of the Payne Avenue Corridor along with our other great neighbors Ward 6 restaurant, Ace Hardware, Flat Earth Brewery, and Urban Organics. And, yes, there are 11 wells on site, the 11th of which will be the water source of our spirits. You may have heard of us before under the name Mill City Distillery, but we have renamed our distillery 11Wells to be true to our St. Paul roots.

11Wells will be found in the old Blacksmith and Pipe Shop buildings on the vast Hamm’s site. These buildings will be home to our production facility, and in the future, a tasting room and gift shop. If the winds shift in our direction we may even have a bar or restaurant on site to compliment our hand-crafted spirits.

As in any business, a good location is just part of the equation, because no distillery happens without people. In this case we are lucky to have a full team of friends, family and even future customers that have all helped us get this endeavor started. In addition to a great team of friends, we (Bob & Lee) bring a third key component – passion.

We each had the separate idea and goal to open a distillery, and it wasn’t until a good friend connected us that we decided to join forces, as two hands are definitely better than one when opening a distillery. The extensive background research that we both have done, including visiting more than 40 distilleries, can now be brought together at 11Wells.

We each bring skills from our previous lives and experiences to this project. Bob has not only years of business analysis experience to ensure that 11Wells will be around for years to come but also a degree in microbiology, a skill at the heart of distilling. Knowing how to both frustrate and make yeast happy and grow is the key to unlocking yield and flavors. Lee brings a creative eye to design and marketing along with a wide knowledge of herbs and spices from time spent traveling abroad. He is also an avid mixologist who has created his own line of cocktail bitters, tinctures, salts and other cocktail curatives, which you may have seen around town – Dashfire Bitters. Creating outstanding flavors from botanicals are part of our passion and will inject an excitement into 11Wells spirits.