Hollerhorn Rises from the Ashes

by Garrett Ruhmann

Hollerhorn.

The word itself means nothing; you won’t find it in a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia. It’s a made-up term combining both “holler” and “horn” – two methods of drawing attention. And despite its location in the tiny northeastern town of Naples, Hollerhorn Distilling speaks loudly, its name an appropriate moniker for the waves it’s created throughout the community.

Hollerhorn is a family-owned distillery focused on local harvest, producing small-batch spirits. It hosts an event space, outdoor concert venue and has been featured on CBS Morning News. “Hollerhorn,” indeed.

The distillery has its roots in the Finger Lakes Region. For Karl Neubauer, founder of Hollerhorn Distilling, it’s home. He grew up in Naples, moving away just long enough to meet his future wife Melissa at Alfred University School of Art & Design before returning.

At the time, Karl thought he’d follow the family tradition. “I come from a long line of carpenters and home builders. I was designing and building energy-efficient homes in the Finger Lakes Region. I had my own business for over 25 years and had the opportunity to work with the material that I love the most, which is wood.”

Ah, wood. For someone living in such a lush forest area, it runs in the blood.

“Some of my earliest memories are just adventuring in the woods,” Karl said. “Trees have always been an inspiration and have tied me, in some way, like an umbilical cord, to the earth. It’s not just a material; it’s creating everything that we have. It’s heating our homes in the winter. It’s providing the air we breathe. Trees inform all of my sculptural work.”

But the family trade wasn’t meant to be. Karl pursued distilling as a hobby for nearly 15 years while Melissa honed her cooking skills. Between the two of them, a seed was planted.

“I had talked about just a small little farm distillery. We got pretty excited about the idea of maybe a small restaurant, small farm distillery, and we are definitely dreamers. Once that seed was planted, things just escalated,” recalled Karl.

That seed grew quickly and steadily. “I drew the building three different times from start to finish. We planned it for about five years.”

Karl began the work long before settling on the final design in 2017. As barns in the area collapsed, he asked owners to salvage the timber. He sawed and trimmed the lumber to his own design.

After a year of building, Hollerhorn Distilling opened its doors. Over its first four years, Hollerhorn saw steady growth each year. The locals loved the live music, distinct spirits and elegant food offerings. They quickly expanded and began building an outdoor venue. Naples had a successful distillery to put its name on the local map.

Then, in 2022, disaster struck.

The fire

“We were woken up by a state trooper in the middle of the night,” Karl said. As they drove into town, they could see the flames, the sky awash in orange and red. Multiple fire departments tried, unsuccessfully, to put the fire out. The entire building was lost.

“The reality was devastating,” Karl stated. “It was heartbreaking to lose literally years of work not only in the building, but all the barrels of spirits that were aging.” The building was empty, fortunately. But seeing the kitchen melted to steel and barrels turned to ash devastated the family, staff and entire community.

There was a silver lining: The major distilling equipment survived due to quick thinking. From first light the morning after the fire, Karl and friends built a wall supporting the ridge that held the equipment. When the ridge fell, the equipment came away intact.
That was all Karl and Melissa needed to decide they would rebuild.

The community rallied, starting a GoFundMe and donating funds, materials and timber. “I get pretty emotional about it,” said Karl. “Without that support, we could not have retained our staff.” Locals dropped by with little horns in acts of encouragement.

The original build was done mostly by Karl and one friend. The rebuild was different. Karl’s friend Jonathan pulled together his construction friends, and they rearranged schedules to help. Considering the first build took five years to source lumber, Karl knew they couldn’t wait for old barns to collapse. Fortunately, the community showed up with the lumber.

Though the process still isn’t complete (“I still find bits of debris and ash tucked under things”), the new Hollerhorn has taken steps forward.

In the first year, the tasting room and distillery became operational. Exactly one year after the fire, they opened to the public and began bottling spirits again. By October 2024, Hollerhorn fully reopened, bringing the whole crew back to work.

The passion

“I love every aspect of distilling,” said Karl. “I’m the most happy and excited when I’m in that spot. Many times, I’m alone, distilling late nights. It’s my happy place.”

For Karl, it’s the collaboration of it all. He takes raw material someone else grew and celebrates it with his craft. He embraces the annual challenge of deciding which fruits and grains grew most successfully.

Much of the distilling process comes down to four elements: yeast, a grain or fruit, water and wood. These threads pull the fabric together, each essential.

Trees and wood have tied Karl’s life together. “Trees have informed me and what I do, and as a distiller, it’s carried through. I love every aspect of what trees have brought to my life.

“It’s how I got into distillation, fermenting maple sap and then distilling it. It’s very direct. There’s no fruit to harvest. It’s directly from the tree. It’s all of the land. It’s telling you where the tree grew and what the year was like. That was why those tree spirits were the first thing we ever released. It felt right.”

The sawmill

Twenty years ago, when Hollerhorn was still a glimmer in Karl’s eye, he knew he wanted to build his own home. After knowing friends who owned Wood-Mizer sawmills, he became intrigued. The thought of creating his own material was too tempting to pass up.

It was a decision that paid dividends. Karl now describes his sawmill as the central tool in his world. “I cut all the siding on our house and all of the timbers in the building, and as a builder, it allowed me to do things that no other builder in the area could do.”

The mission

The Neubauers recognize their restaurant holds larger significance than being the local watering hole. It’s become a community hub – a place to connect and form rare bonds.

“Our ethos is very much community mindedness,” Karl stated. “Being true, genuine representatives of the Finger Lakes Region. It’s family. We want to be ambassadors of goodwill for the Finger Lakes. That’s why we’re doing this. It’s about filling people’s cups.”

Hollerhorn Distilling has come a long way since its humble beginnings. “It’s not a selfish thing anymore. The dream maybe started as a selfish dream. But I think why we’re still here is our staff; they are our family. It’s the community support and what it’s become,” Karl observed. “That’s kind of what I think the purpose of art is: to challenge and raise awareness and inspire. And that’s why we love seeing people leave here so inspired and filled. And we feel that.”