Distillers Talk

Paul Menta of Key West First Legal Rum Distillery joins Alan Bishop and Christi Atkinson following a distillers gathering at George Washington's Distillery at Mount Vernon. Paul catches us up on collaborations in the works following the trip. We also learn more about his unique processes at his own distillery, including salt curing his barrels for pH adjustment, and the need for greater education by distilleries to the consumer.

AJ from Casey Jones Distillery in Western KY joins Alan Bishop and Christi Atkinson to chat about the square pot still, running a lake-destination distillery and more. We even get a few stories about Casey Jones and learn about Moonaritas.

Ken Schreiner of A.J. Schreiner Spirits joins Alan Bishop and Christi Atkinson to catch up since the company's launch and release of their first pre-prohibition style rye and gin.

Moonshiners Master Distiller alum JJ Jackson joins Alan Bishop and Christi Atkinson since taking on the Head Distiller role at Lucky Sign Spirits. Tune in as JJ walks through a sampling of new projects, including rum and brandy. We get into consumer relatability in the craft spirits industry, transparency and techniques with younger products, and embracing terroir and our local farmers. There's also a proposal for vintages in some distilled spirits.

Dr. Pat Heist of Wilderness Trail Distillery and Ferm Solutions joins Alan Bishop and Christi Atkinson to discuss fermentation, particularly grain vs sugar ferms, osmotic stress and more. Pat shares some perspectives from his consulting work for distillers exploring yeast strains and ways to manipulate your batches to produce diverse results using the same strain. We discuss the buzz about the bourbon industry and speculation about the market, as well as how the approaches taken by Wilderness Trail that have supported their growth and maintained the brand's strong presence during the market softening. We also chat about opportunities with rye whiskey and Pat's experimentation with "casket strength" whiskey.