After reports of coal in the Hunter Region, a shaft was opened in 1886 with small quantities of coal sold locally. Realising greater capital would be required, Earp Gillam & Co. were entrusted with operations of the colliery with a registered office in Bond Street, Newcastle East. This building still stands with Earp Gillam & Co. cast into the facade of the building.

The company began the new century as Earp Brothers & Co., with a team of 26 rising to 34 within a year. Coal sales continued, as did imported materials such as produce, commodities and building materials.

An automotive repair shop called The City Garage was opened in 1914.

World War 1 impacted both the family and the business. Mr and Mrs Charles Earp suffered a grievous loss when their son Reggie was killed in France. Serving as a gunner in the 10th Field Artillery Brigade, Reggie was struck by shrapnel while operating his gun in action.

After the war, the decision was made to end wholesale grocery distribution, followed by the upgrade of The City Garage to the title of Earp's Motors Ltd.
The sale of Model T Ford cars indicated a profitable future, and the produce store closed in April 1930. The end of the first 50 years of the company was also the end of an era.

Improvement in business was evident in 1934 with significant growth in the main product lines of plaster and cement. Arnott's biscuit distribution was a useful line that continued on after the end of the produce business.

To conform with the Companies Act 1936, Earp Brothers & Co Ltd. became a proprietary company on June 22nd 1937, adding Pty. to its name before the word Limited.

The impacts of World War 2 were felt by the company with Mr Roderick Earp joining the Army. Business was maintained but expansion halted.

Upon his return, Roderick was made Managing Director. A redirection towards hardware and ceramic tiles saw building products flowing through the store, with significant growth in this area.

Arnott's biscuit distribution actually lasted until 1963, a period spanning more than 75 years.

In the second half of the century a shortage of manufactured goods led to the decision to import substantial quantities of ceramic tiles, baths and bathroom furniture.

As a number of legacy Earp business' faded away, the importation of high quality tiles and bathroom furniture flourished.

Michael & Richard Earp took over as Managing Directors from their father John and uncle Tony, focusing the company on the procurement and supply of the worlds highest quality tile and stone materials for Australian homeowners and construction professionals.

Having built one of Australia's most respected tile brands with designer showrooms across the East Coast of Australia, and becoming the country's only green certified tile supplier, the only question was 'what's next?'.

Having journeyed to Tasmania to immerse himself in the whisky distilling process, Michael returned impassioned by distilling. Approaching Richard to discuss the potential to open a small distillery in Newcastle, Richard immediately agreed and plans were put in place to craft a distillery unlike any other.

Today the two businesses operate in parallel, maintaining family ownership at their core while building an amazingly talented team to push the boundaries in both industries.

Earp Distilling Co. continues to grow rapidly, with new spirits, events and experiences just around the corner!

The most common question we get asked when someone sees our stills? "What are the springs in the column?"

Our column is filled with stainless steel packing coils to create reflux when needed and open space when distilling in potstill mode.

The patented flush square boiler offers many benefits including preventing 'agitation of shearing'.

This ensures we get a much more stable distillation run with more control over what flavour components are selected and harvested.

Requiring high temperatures and large amounts of energy, every joule of electricity matters when distilling.

Through the use of stainless steel, insulation and innovative design, our stills operate with up to 90% more energy efficiency than traditional copper stills.

Using automation and robotization we get total control over our spirits production process.

This helps us ensure we make the exact same top shelf spirit over and over again. Did we mention we can even control our stills on our phones?

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned food its distinctive flavour. Seared steaks, fried dumplings, cookies and other kinds of biscuits, breads, toasted marshmallows and many other foods undergo this reaction.

Insulated heaters inside our stills, coupled with our jet propulsion agitators, give us direct access to the Maillard Reaction without the risk of scorching.

Hermes (son of Zeus) is our 500 litre reflux column still which also has both pot and column distilling modes. Hermes looks after our small batch spirits, along with the ever popular Summertime Limoncello (utilising our extraction attachment).

Artemis & Apollo are our twin 5000 litre fermenters with pH, SG and temperature monitoring.

Our distillery lab is home to eight 5 litre stills which we use for rapid R&D of our spirits, and for our Spirit School.