Whiskey Chasers All in Good Spirits Network

History of distilleryOpened in 2015 in the upstairs of big wood pizza in Nashville Indiana2107 began construction  on current distillery CAMPUS325 acres with a touring and tasting room and restaurant 2018 sweet mash distillery officially opensThe property has a live music stage, hosts festivals, food trucks and a bar, all called “Hard truth on the Rocks”Hard Truth Distilling Co. is part of the BWQOHT, Inc. family of brands, which also includes Big Woods Restaurants and Quaff ON! Brewing Co.Brewers startTim O’bryan  started brewing beer, the family really liked itHis father in law, Jeff McCabe, and Ed ryan went in as partner and they opened a brew pubBig Woods Brewing opens in 2009 2012 opens Quaff ON! Brewing corp..  It was an old bowling alleyJim Dunbar joins as a fourth partnerHard truth starts2015 they start distilling upstairs at big woodsWhen it took off at the restaurant they decided we arent going slow like they did for the breweryThe brewery changed locations and grew slowly.  They would max out capacity and then keep moving up.  This was slow movingFor distilling they bought the distillery land and planned to grow into it2017 brought in Bryan Smith as 5th partner, and the master distiller.Hard truth campus2018 campus opens. It's a disneyland for adultsYou can take ATV Tours of the campus2020 challenge 2020 pushed back the plans, but they leaned into the challenge and released new products and added new locationsSour mash vs sweet mashVery basically, Sour mash, think sour bread.  You use mash from the previous set to “start” your next set.Sweet Mash has no starter.  Every batch is its own batch, with nothing added to adjust the PH (which is the purpose of the starter in sour mash)Sweet mash is harder but more controllable because you start fresh every time, but you run the risk of bacteria.Sour mash is easier and safer, because it corrects the PH to help drive out bacteria.Sourceshttps://hardtruth.com/our-story/ https://www.abvnetwork.com/whiskey-corner/2019/2/25/whats-the-deal-with-sour-mash-vs-sweet-mash https://alchemistcabinet.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/sweet-mash-vs-sour-mash/ https://www.jconline.com/story/life/2022/03/18/hard-truth-distillery-gin-vodka-rum-whiskey/7047278001/ 

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VERY OPEN about their sourceOwned by O.Z Tyler and Latitude beverageProduced by O.Z. TylerO.Z Tyler changed its name to Green river Distillery in 2020Nowhere on their site do they claim to be anything other than a green river product.  This was the first rye out of Green RiverGreen river was purchased by bardstown distilling in 2022History of green river founded in 1885 by John W. McCullochIt was the first in owensboroAnd the 10th distillery in KentuckyLike so many of these brands it passed through many hands and fell and rised in prominence throughout.Jacob Call is the master distiller, a 7th generation distiller.When they brought back the green river brand they talked with Rob McCulloch, great grandson of John, to make sure they got the story straight Its worth mentioning that “the story” is he sold whiskey and was a great marketer, thats it.  There are little to no details on the original green river distillery other than a few awards it won and its slogan “Whiskey without regrets”Latitude beverageGot its start in Wine.  Shifting the cost structure to provide high quality wines by skipping out on buying vineyards… so sourcing wine.It might be more complicated than that so don't rip them to hard for itThey own a few other spirits brandsNorth Cross Irish Whiskey, Copper and Cask, Zarpado TequilaThe juiceThis sour mash Rye whiskey is made from 95% rye and 5% malted barley. It's distilled in copper stills then matured in 53-gallon, charred American oak barrels for between three and four years. Like all of our small batch whiskeys, Wheel Horse Rye is bottled at 101 proof and is non-chill filtered.Sourceshttps://www.latitudebeverage.com/ https://kybourbontrail.com/a-legacy-revived-green-river-distilling-co-releases-green-river-bourbon/#:~:text=in%20September%202020.-,Green%20River%20Distilling%20Co.,of%20the%20finest%20in%20Kentucky. https://greenriverwhiskey.com/ https://wheelhorsewhiskey.com/ 





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History of distillery1890’s in scotts level, distillery owned by L. winand and bro. Produced pikeville whiskey. Pikeville was the next town over, not sure why they didnt name it scotts level rye.He owned it up to prohibition, and there is an elementary school and a tea kwan do facility named after him there.  His story ends hrer1936, Andrew W Merle acquires the brand and the recipeAndrew was not a distiller, but a business man who now owned a well known brand. But he found a distiller and sarted producing Pikesville Maryland RyeHe formed “standard distillers Products” (SDP), which was also associated with….. The most corporate nonsense name ever seen….”The Corporation Trust Corporation” (CTC)CTC owned Monumental distilling, which was where pikesville was made, in Lansdowne, Maryland.Majestic distilling corporationIn 1942, there was some accident at the distillery, the details and little known, but there was an explosion and smoke stacks fell.  pretty much right after this happened, Monumental distilling no longer existed, and it became majestic distilling. Owned by Zellic Cohen.It continued to be the distillery so whatever damage happened it was repairable.  And there are a few pictures that seem to be relatively minor in damage.1972Majestic may be owned by Cohen, but the Merle family still owns pikesville brand.1972 is the last year they distill anything, and the branding changes to Maryland-STYLE RyePreculation is out on where they got the juice.  Pikesville is the last maryland distiller at this time, so whatever the juice, its not coming from maryland. Most likely its pennsylvania  Could be publicker, AKA continental distillersThe were the original distillers of rittenhouse, so its possible its them and that would be the conection to heaven hill later (spoiler)Michters also could have produced it.1982Andrew Merle Jr. sells pikesville to Heaven hill.  Sales were low, and cost was high. It was time to get out.Note on monumentalMonumental is still around today as a brewery. It was located near baltimore and has become a destination brewery to visit.Maryland style rye?Maryland style has a lot of corn. Usually 60-70% rye, 20-30% corn, the rest malted barley Sourceshttp://www.ellenjaye.com/majestic.htm https://www.baltimoreorless.com/2011/01/pikesville-maryland-rye/ https://marylandspirits.org/what-is-maryland-rye/ https://distiller.com/articles/rye-whiskey-styles 

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Rye 101


Made with at least 51% rye in the mash bill.Aged in charred new oak barrels.Distilled to a maximum of 160 proof (80% ABV)Barreled at a maximum of 125 proof (62.5% ABV)Bottled at a minimum of 80 proof (40% ABV) and a maximum of 150 proof (75% ABV)

Rye was the prominent whiskey of the americas at its founding.  George washington had 5 stills and could produce 11K Gallons of Rye per year.


Pennsylvania scots irish began distilling rye because of how well it grew in the area, and they wanted a dark spirit like their irish whisky at home.  Though it doesnt taste the same, it has the whiskey feel that made it work for them.


In 1810, KY produced 2.2 million gallons, PA proceed almost 7 million gallons.  One county in PA in early 1800’s could give a barrel a whiskey to every other person in the US at the time.


Rye is not an easy spirit to make, so when prohibition came there was a sharp decline, since the bootleggers made corn whiskey due to its ease. 


The stills were three chamber stills, this is a big reason it was hard for bootleggers, not as mobile and big.  Leopold Bros from denver has a three chamber bottled in bond.  He also uses an heirloom grain style called Abruzzi.  This has a lower starch content, meaning they need to use more rye than modern strains, making it more flavorful.


Empire Rye
75% new york grown rye (Any type or combination of typesDistilled no higher than 160 proofMax barreling of 115 proofMin 2 years aging in chared new american oak100% produced in a single New York state distilleryYou can have multiple empire ryes blended together to make blended empire rye

Heirloom ryes tend to be lower in starches and harder to grow with lower yields (We have the yields we have today because of breeding tactics to increase yields and flavors






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Subscriber-only episode
History of distillery-option 1Paul Jones Jr starts the brand in 1888, but was producing back into the 1860’sLoose story of it was started by a love story and marriage proposalEnd of storyHistory of distillery option 2Rufus M Rose starts the brand in 1888He was a druggist from Connecticut, but moved to GeorgiaFought in the Civil war as a confederateWas a foot soldier, but was quickly switched to a medical unit, and after an injury was honorably discharged, but continued to work for the confederacy creating medicines until the end of the warAfter the war, moved to atlanda and founded  R. M. Rose Co. Distillery, also known as the Mountain Spring Distillery.  Created the four roses brand in 1888, named after him, his brother Origen, and their 2 sonsHistory after the originBought the Frankfort Distillery company in 1922, allowing them to produce medicinal whiskey through prohibitionSeagrams bought them in 1943Discontinued the brand in the US in the 50’s, but it was sold overseas in japan and europe and was well likedThey did bring the name back and made cheap blended whiskey under the name2002 purchased by Kirin Brewing co., and renames four roses DistilleryThe juiceMash billMashbill B60% corn, 35% Rye, 5% BarleyMashbill E75% Corn, 20% Rye, 5% barleyYeast StrainsV-Delicate fruitK- Slight spiceO- Rich fruitQ- Floral essenceF- Herbal NotesEvery bottle will have a four letter codeFirst letter says its made by themSecond letter is which mashbill is usedThird letter is the type of whiskey (S for straight whiskey as an example)Fourth letter for the Yeast Strain

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History of distillerySourcing for a long time2015 broke ground on their own distillery, opened in 20182021 Lux Row was bought by MGPNo mixing of MGP and LuxCo product, luxco is still distilled in KYMGP bought it for the distribution network.This is why we now have George remus available, as well as rossville.  MGP Products that now have a distribution networkThe juice4 grain double single barrelCombines a single barrel of Rye bourbon and single barrel wheated bourbonIs this still a single barrel? 




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