Just your average Joe.  My work experience began in high volume retail, running a busy Meat Department for a local grocery store where I gained the skilled trade of Butcher.  Formally educated from the school of hard knocks, I attended finishing school at our wonderful University at Buffalo; degreed in Business, Accounting & Auditing.   I keep a day job as a Financial Auditor.

I have been home brewing since 1999 and have brewed award winning beer, mead and cider.  Throughout this process, I have gained the skills and experience to rank as a National Beer Judge in the Beer Judge Certification Program. My homebrew specialty is Armageddon Joe’s Volcano Stout, always on tap at home.  Taking brewing to the next level of distillation is both intriguing and rewarding.  I am looking forward to experimenting with ingredients and flavors in distilling spirits, as I have done with home brewing over the years.  

Family – The cornerstone of life in my opinion.  I am the youngest of seven, God Bless my parents!  Our busy home with four brothers and two sisters was a joy to grow up in.  I could go on for pages, let’s just say it was priceless.  My Father was born near Rome, Italy and brought with him the skill of winemaking. 

We made wine each year from local grapes.  I suppose that’s where it all began.  My Family has always been supportive and my Mother is loves our Gin.  I have a wonderful wife and two children that have fulfilled my life.

Niagara Craft Spirits is located in a friendly community, filled with great people, fertile land, and plentiful crops.  The countryside is beautiful and welcoming.  It is the perfect setting for spirits hand crafted from local sources.  I look forward to working with my business partner in producing exceptional distilled spirits that are unique to our region.  I hope you enjoy the fruits from our passion and hard work.

I spent my early years picking stones, cutting firewood, making maple syrup, harvesting hay, castrating pigs, and shoveling manure on my parents’ hobby farm in rural Central NY.  

Early childhood experiments with fermentation and fuel distillation were enthusiastically conducted but largely unsuccessful.  Things changed when I brewed my first batch of homebrewed beer while studying Ag Engineering at Cornell University in 1990 and I've been converting starches to alcohol ever since.  

A Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from UB in 1996 allowed gainful employment and supported further experimentation in fermentation, allowing me to work more on knowledge and the organoleptic analysis of beer, eventually reaching the level of BJCP National judge; a rank achieved by fewer than 1 in 6 judges nationwide.  

I'm a firm believer that excellent whiskey starts with a high quality mash.  I've spent the better part of my lifetime studying and perfecting the process of converting starches into luscious fermented beverages and I'm excited to be using those skills to make what I hope will be excellent spirits.