It takes a village to make craft whiskey possible. From acquiring a still to finding a grain supplier, your local whiskey maker likely needed the help of any number of businesses to get started. Around the country, like-minded creators are teaming up to support one another and produce a spirit for which their communities can be proud. Here are a few of the companies that whiskey makers call upon to open and stay in operation.
Architects/Design
GastingerWalker&—Kansas City, Mo. and Chicago, Ill.
Specializes in distillery designs that account for every aspect of day-to-day operation, from delivery drivers to employees to visitors, as well as historic preservation. J. Rieger & Co. was its first distillery design project.
Peggy Noe Stevens and Associates—Louisville, Ky.
This firm focuses on visitor centers and tasting rooms, working with architects to design tour-friendly distilleries of all sizes.
Urbanadd—Seattle, Wash.
An architecture, planning, and design firm specializing in small distilleries, equally adept at building brand-new spaces or retrofitting a distillery into an existing space.
Plus Dalkita Architectecture and Construction
Coopers
Anne-Grey Cooperage—Fort Wayne, Ind.
This cooperage specializes in 5-, 15-, and 25-gallon white oak barrels; repair and maintenance work includes stave and head replacement, hoop repair, and more.
Speyside Bourbon Cooperage—Jackson, Ohio
A subsidiary of Speyside Cooperage in Scotland, the Ohio location is dedicated to producing new bourbon barrels.
Kelvin Cooperage—Louisville, Ky.
Family-run since 1969, this cooperage supplies 25- and 53-gallon barrels and customizes oak-toasting and charring combinations. It also sells freshly emptied wine and bourbon barrels.
Fabricators
Artisan Still Design—Eight Mile, Ala.
This family-owned company offers custom-designed batch distillation systems.
Chip Tate Craft Copperworks—Waco, Texas
Pioneering distiller Chip Tate, who built stills for his own distilleries including Balcones, makes highly customized copper pot stills.
Vendome Copper and Brass Works—Louisville, Ky.
A world leader in still production, this generations-old, family-run company fabricates customized stills and equipment.
Farmers
Oechsner Farms—Newfield, N.Y.
Located in the Finger Lakes region, Thor Oechsner’s farm focuses on sustainable practices, like crop rotation. His bestselling grains are soft white and hard red wheats and rye. Specialty grains he’s grown include buckwheat and triticale. He works with partners who run a mill.
Colorado Malting Company—Alamosa, Colo.
This farm/malt house has been a family homestead since 1930. The malting operation was added in 2008. They grow barley, wheat, and rye, and do custom crops including, but not limited to, hemp and teff.
Meadow Brook Farms—Riegelsville, Pa.
Farmer-owner Nevada Mease runs this 1000-acre family farm in Bucks County where he cultivates rye, custom-grown grains, and heirloom corn varietals like Bloody Butcher, Wapsie Valley, and blue corn.
Maltsters
Valley Malt—Hadley, Mass.
The third artisanal malt house in the U.S. when it opened in 2010, this small operation malts grains from sustainability-minded farmers.
Solstice Malt—Salt Lake City, Utah
Owner and maltster James Weed floor-malts all his grains, which he sources from local small farms.
Blue Ox Malthouse—Lisbon Falls, Maine
Organic pale malt, wheat, and two- and six-row pils are just a few of the many house-malted grains from regional farms this malt house produces, along with smoked malts.
