Mass. Hidden Gems: A world-class distillery in a historic mill building at GlenPharmer

Most restaurants have one amazing thing that makes you go back to family and friends and say, “Wow, you’ve got to check out this place.”

GlenPharmer Distillery in Franklin has three of them.

No. 1: The drinks. GlenPharmer distills its own award-winning spirits in-house. They offer tours and tastings, sell bottles to-go and have a loaded lineup of cocktails, including visually stunning “smoked” cocktails.

No. 2: The restaurant is located in a gorgeous, restored historic mill building. There’s exposed brick wherever you look and there’s even an attached covered bridge that has outdoor seating.

No. 3: The food is great. Given the drinks and atmosphere, GlenPharmer would still be worth recommending even if dinner service was an afterthought.

Instead, the menu is an inspired one-two punch of creative cocktails and well-rounded food. GlenPharmer didn’t need a killer fried chicken sandwich or an enticing butter chicken flatbread pizza.

But they did it anyway, and I applaud them for it.

Massachusetts Hidden Gems | GlenPharmer Distillery in Franklin

The husband-and-wife team of Pat and Beth Downing are the brains behind GlenPharmer. Before they got into their current cordial craft, they focused on a different type of chemistry. The two are former pharmacists, which plays into the name.

The building is located in a literal glen and the Downings operate with a farmer distillery license. Throw in the “ph” from pharmacy and you’ve got GlenPharmer.

Pat is a native of Lee, while Beth is from Indiana. The two met while they were at pharmacy school at Purdue. The two later moved to the Berkshires, where they ran the oldest continuously operating pharmacy until they sold it in 2004.

That same year, Pat was stuck on an island in the Caribbean following a hurricane. With no power, most of the meals he had featured chicken cooked over an open flame along with whiskey for drinks.

That experience sparked an interest in spirits. But it wasn’t until 2007, when he tried his first American whiskey, that it started to become something more.

“That was when the first lightbulb went off,” Beth says. “It was like, ‘Oh, I’d like to get out of healthcare and open a distillery.”

By 2018, the wheels were in motion. Pat took a week-long course at Moonshine University. He likes to joke that it’s the degree he’s most proud of.

After drawing up a business plan, Pat began searching for a location. A Franklin resident, he’d always had his eye on the old mill building on West Central Street. So when it quietly came up for sale, the Downings jumped at the opportunity.

The old textile mill had previously been converted into a restaurant. However, the property still needed plenty of work.

“We had to gut it,” Pat says. “All the stuff we thought we were going to reuse, including the floors, we had to jackhammer out.”

Then there was the matter of the actual distillery. The Downings had to cut into the old granite to fit the equipment through the door and add metal columns in the basement to support the weight.

The renovations did open the door for other opportunities. There was the scenic covered bridge that branched out from the dining area to the road. The Downings have now incorporated the bridge as a highly sought-after dining space.

However, a degree from Moonshine University doesn’t make one a master distiller. Pat understands the process. But it’s up to head distiller Marco Forziati and assistant distiller Alex Seagrave to make the magic happen.

Forziati got his start working on the construction side at a distillery 10 years ago. Eventually, he landed a job on the distilling side and hasn’t looked back since.

He still does it all at the distillery as their expert painter who also does woodworking. You could describe him as a “Jack of all trades, master of rum,” his favorite spirit to make.

What’s good on the menu?

Having done a whole tasting of all the spirits on the menu, I can say with authority that they’re all excellent.

For standouts, let’s start with the smoked cocktails. GlenPharmer’s smoked old fashioned is a fun spectacle that starts with a glass lid being lifted to reveal billowing smoke. It finishes smooth across the palate.

In terms of flavor, look for anything with the Bog vodka (infused with cranberries) or the Bean vodka (infused with espresso and vanilla). It should be little surprise that Bean comes up clutch in making an espresso martini.

If I were to take something neat, it would be their new American Straight Bourbon (because I’m a sucker for whiskey). But their Reserve Spiced Rum definitely won me over.

As for food, the menu is pretty wide-ranging and eclectic — in a good way. It’s the sort of culinary hodgepodge that makes you go, “Oh, I don’t know which thing I should get.”

You can keep it simple by going with the short rib bites, fried chicken sandwich or one of the flatbreads. The Pharmer flatbread (bacon & onion compote, blue cheese, mozzarella, arugula and shaved parmesan) is a crowd favorite.

If you want to get a little more decadent, look to the entrees, with highlights including the duck ragout, chicken & waffles and a NY strip steak with brown butter potato puree.

Gold (and platinum) in a bottle

GlenPharmer has a surprisingly full trophy cabinet for a distillery that’s just now hitting its five-year anniversary.

The Downings faced an uphill battle when they opened GlenPharmer in March 2020 (a famously cursed time to run any business). But since then, they’ve established themselves as a distillery that can go shot for shot with any spirit in the world.

The classic GPD Vodka won “Best in Class” at the 2024 International Spirits Competition. Meanwhile, their Bog Vodka won gold in the 2024 World Spirits Competition.

GlenPharmer’s secret weapon might just be its ghost pepper vodka, Bhut, which pulls off an intricate tight-rope act of balancing the spicy and fruity notes of the pepper.

Pat says Bhut would probably be the distillery’s most prestigious product. But it’s essentially been retired from competitions.

“We stopped submitting it to competitions because it essentially won every award we could ever hope for,” he says.

Now the No. 1 award-winner is the Reserve Spiced Rum, which won platinum in the 2024 World Spirits Competition.

The awards are nice. But it’s not the only thing GlenPharmer aims for. Their top priority is to pour spirits that their customers enjoy.

“Our No. 1 product is, in fact, our least-awarded. That’s Bean,” Pat says.

What to know about GlenPharmer Distillery

GlenPharmer hosts tours of its distillery, where visitors can learn about how the spirits are made from “grain to glass.”

They also host events in their upstairs speakeasy-themed space called “Proof.”

Customers can purchase GlenPharmer products at the Franklin distillery as well as at liquor stores throughout Massachusetts. GlenPharmer has a list of stores that carry their spirits on their website.

Check them out: Website | Facebook | Instagram

What’s the address? — 860 W Central St, Franklin, Massachusetts, 02038

What’s the parking situation? — GlenPharmer has its own large parking lot with plenty of spaces.

When are they open? — Here are the listed business hours at the time of writing.

• Monday: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Tuesday: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Wednesday: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Thursday: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Friday: 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Saturday: 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Sunday: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

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Mass Hidden Gems is a series highlighting restaurants and other businesses across the Bay State that we think deserve more attention. You can check out the rest of the series here.

Have a hidden gem that you think we should check out? Email nomalley@masslive.com your favorites.

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