Our journey begins in the grain handling facility where we receive, handle, store, and process our grain. When milling, the grains are turned into meal to allow wetting of their starch cells and make the starch more accessible for enzyme activity.

Next, we begin mashing, which allows us to mix the correct grain proportion, increase the accessibility of the starch for enzyme activity, and transform the starches into fermentable sugars. A mash tun is a vessel used for mashing and is equipped with a means of agitation for mixing. The grain’s starch cells, surrounded in a protective coating, are broken to permit wetting and liquefaction of the starch mass in its entirety.

Using easy to clean stainless steel vats, simple sugars are turned into ethyl alcohol by the action of yeast enzymes during fermentation. A number of intermediate compounds are formed during this intricate chemical process before the final ethyl alcohol is acquired.

During distillation, alcohol and water are separated by the difference in their boiling points. Our state-of-the-art distillation equipment comes in three parts. The still heats the liquid, the condenser cools the vapors, and the receiver collects the distillate.

Finally, our distilled liquor reaches the end of its journey. Distilled liquors can be classified as aged or unaged – vodka is unaged while whiskeys are aged. Once our product has been barreled, it can begin the maturation and aging process. This process includes breathing, the original compounds of the distillate interacting, and drawing out flavor from the barrel wood.