Second Act Spirits opens in Amsterdam: Biz Beat

Richard Michaels began homebrewing in college. When Brown Brewing Company opened in Troy in 1993, he showed up with a six pack of beer in a shirt and tie, and said he wanted to brew some beer.

“So I got my first brewing job,” Richard Michaels recalled.

He helped create the cherry razz flavor that is still brewed today, he said.

He ended up leaving the brewing job about three years ago and was traveling the world with his wife when they decided it was time to work on something together.

“I think it was just kind of wanting a challenge,” Stacey Michaels said about the decision to open their own place to sell their distilled spirits.

So the two found a spot in the Amsterdam Clock Tower building at 37 Prospect St. and had a soft opening on Father’s Day. The distillery has since opened on Saturdays and Sundays.

The space was previously occupied by a dance studio but now features details such as a repurposed bar from Common Roots Brewing Company and tables made using barrels.

Second Act distills out of Glenville and produces premium vodka, green apple flavored vodka, Concord grape flavored vodka and Clocktower bourbon. The couple will also be introducing a new product at their grand opening — a gin that honors Stacey Michaels' dad.

“We really wanted flavors that would speak to New York, like the Concord grape, the green apple,” Stacey Michaels said. “I'm doing more product development, and we're not going to have an orange. We're not going to have a lemon — most likely we won't — because we want flavors from fruit that can really be grown in New York. So we want to stay with the New York products.”

The business is a New York State Farm distillery meaning 75% of the items they use in their spirits must be raw materials produced in state.

Richard Michaels said that vodka can be served the next day after it's distilled but bourbon takes time to age.

So far, they’ve had a lot of people they know come and check the place out, in addition to some locals. They said they’re excited to have even more people see — and drink — what's in store. 

For Stacey Michaels, the unique learning curve has been a highlight of the journey thus far. 

“You know, there was so much of it that wasn’t different from what he did with brewing, but for me, I had never really joined him in that,” she said. “Even like putting the product in the bottles and labeling them, I guess somehow it being a product of my own hands, that has been rewarding.”