Dane family unit begins bourbon event - Wisconsin State Farmer

Liz Henry, a former Alice in Dairyland, is applying her communique potential marketing bourbon that her family unit is making with heirloom red corn, rye and wheat raised right on their personal farm. The Henry family unit has been within the seed business for a number of generations, and the addition of the bourbon enterprise is their latest challenge.(photograph: Gloria Hafemeister)

Dane — Following the longtime way of life of learning more about Wisconsin's different agriculture, contributors of the Wisconsin ladies for Agriculture currently held a gathering at the tasting room of Henry Seed Farm in Dane, where the Henry family is additionally making bourbon from their own home-grown corn and grains.

The meeting started with a tour of the facilities and a presentation from Liz Henry about the project.

"this is cost-delivered agriculture at its absolute best," noted Henry, a former Alice in Dairyland. "after we market our product, we want to be certain to include the academic element."

A key part of their plan is to have a Wisconsin-themed product to capitalize on the explosion of locally-made food and drinks. And that starts off with their corn.

The Henry's challenge started eight years ago when Henry and her husband, Joe, took a vacation to Kentucky and the noted "bourbon trail."

On that travel, they have been instructed bourbon can most effective be made in Kentucky, but she said, actually, bourbon will also be made anyplace within the U.S.

"All bourbon is whiskey, however no longer all whiskey is bourbon," Henry observed. "Craft distillers, as a way to name their whiskey bourbon, should adhere to strict instructions to retain fine, personality and continuity."

in response to the American Bourbon Society, the recipe need to encompass at least 51 percent corn, be made within the U.S. and, unlike Canadian, Scotch and Irish whiskey, no coloring or additives are allowed. simplest new charred barrels may also be used for growing older, and that they can simplest be used once.

The barrels need to be stored on their facet in ricks, which permits for airflow throughout the storage constructing. Temperature fluctuations and extremes are additionally critical because the alterations have an effect on how the bourbon reacts with the oak.

Their bourbon is made from a unique heirloom red corn that Joe chose for nostalgia sake, blended with some normal yellow corn. They additionally carry some rye and wheat for the mix.They source their Wisconsin malt from an organization in Chilton, making their bourbon an all-Wisconsin product.

The Henrys dedicate about 25 acres to red corn, 25 acres to wheat and 25 acres to rye for his or her product.

"Our heirloom corn only produces about 65 bushels per acre, whereas the yellow corn is nearer to 200 bushels per acre," she noted, "however we are looking to use our special corn.

"Bourbon made in other places is barely from number two yellow corn that the distilleries purchase."

at the present there is not any still on the Henry farm. in its place, they invent their personal recipe, elevate the parts after which have it custom made off the farm. If their sons come to a decision to be part of the business in the future, there are lots of percentages for bringing the entire manner home to the farm.

while her husband was desirous to get into this assignment, his adventure on the farm helped him be mindful the value of using belongings in the most appropriate means and never always doing all the layers of creation appropriate on the farm.

After simply 365 days, sales have increased greatly, the bourbon is purchasable at 400 areas and it has additionally moved into the Chicago market.

a distinct product

Henry admitted it's quite an funding getting begun. Barrels need to be in particular made and price $200 each. They source white okayfrom Wisconsin, but given that there aren't any coopers within the state, they deserve to send the timber to Minnesota to have the barrels made.

The growing older timber produces tannins. "We desire some tannin however now not too a lot or the bourbon may be bitter and dry," Henry talked about.

White okaybarrels, crafted from Wisconsin lumber, are getting older bourbon within the former dairy barn on the Henry farm at Dane. (image: Gloria Hafemeister)

The barrel is additionally placed over a hearth to "toast" it, thereby releasing the sugars into the barrel. When this manner is performed, they can not use some other wood than white alrightor the fire will produce an off-flavor in the barrel. The barrel is then charred interior earlier than it is eventually time to fill it with the newly brewed product.

due to the fact that the barrels can't be used once more for getting old bourbon, the Henrys sell them to others who utilize timber barrels, together with maple syrup producers who say their syrup develops a unique style from the slight taste of the bourbon left within the wood.

The Henrys' task intended remodeling the barn to grasp the barrels and transforming what had been Joe's family's farm home into a tasting room and workplaces.

"like every farmer who has a huge funding in device, seed, feed, farm animals and supplies earlier than seeing a return, we had our investment in this mission for more than 5 years before seeing a return," she spoke of.  "It's scary, however like other farmers, we just hoped we would make it."

endurance counts

Henry observed most people going into a task like this might beginning out selling vodka that doesn't need aging, but they chose to wait and see and wait 5 years earlier than bottling and marketing their product. That supposed having their money tied up in the investment for many years earlier than seeing a return.

The business changed into an outstanding healthy for her husband, who grew up within the seed business. Henry said he loves creation and is very exacting and certain.

advertising a liquor product in three states capacity a lot of forms.

"We deserve to account for every barrel we make," Henry noted. "If we would drop a barrel, and it spills, we should take images to prove what happened to it. If we provide some away, we need to account for it."

One rationale the couple begun the challenge became to open new chances for their sons to ultimately take over the family unit farm. She referred to their sons were no longer always interested in continuing the family unit seed company as it had been after they have been turning out to be up on the farm, however this new undertaking presents probabilities for expansion and adding price to the corn grown on their farm.

The name they selected for their elite product is J Henry Bourbon. The name reflects the names of Henry's father-in-law, who all started farming on the Dane region in the Nineteen Forties, in addition to her husband, Joe, and sons, Joe Jr. and Jack.

Their first batch of 10 barrels changed into produced in 2009, and the subsequent 12 months they made 70 greater barrels. production increased to one hundred barrels in 2011 and a hundred and fifty barrels in 2012.

the first earnings have been in 2015 after the product made its debut at Distill america in Madison. within the brief time considering the fact that it hit the market, it has received a lot of prestigious awards.

like the craft beer and wine industries, craft distilling has also been on the upward thrust in contemporary years. Nationally, the trade may hit 1,000 craft distilleries in the next two years.

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