How did you decide on distilling and why bourbon?
I retired from industry in 2016 and decided to build a distillery. I am a chemical engineer and have significant experience in many unit operations including distillation. I made my first batch of beer in 1980. It’s right in my wheel house and I wanted to do something interesting and add value by producing a unique set of products. I make much more than bourbon…I make five whiskeys, two rums a gin and a vodka.
What is bourbon made from?
Bourbon Whiskey is a corn spirit. It must contain at least 51% by mass corn in the mash bill. Other than that, the distiller can include any other cereal grains (also known as adjuncts) and malts that he wants. The mash bill for my Dewey’s No.69 Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey is Wapsie Valley Corn, Bloody Butcher Corn, Two-Row Winter Wheat, Triticale and Pale Ale Malted Barley. Commercial bourbons pretty much stick to very similar mash bills (corn, rye, malted barley or corn, wheat, malted barley).
How does it get from the above to bourbon?
The distiller must always make beer first. In the lexicon of the spirits industry is known as “distiller’s beer” or a “wash”. This is accomplished the same way as in any brewery. Grains and malts are combined with water and heat and enzymes (from the malts) to convert the starch in grains and malts to simple sugars. This is called “mashing in” and the resulting intermediate product is mash. The mash is then pumped to a fermenter where yeast is added to convert the simple sugars to alcohols and a host of other naturally made chemicals. In my distillery this takes about six to seven days. The resulting intermediate product is distiller’s beer (or wash). The beer is then pumped to the potstill whereby a stripping run is executed. The objective of the stripping run is to boil out and collect all of the compounds (including alcohols) that the yeast produced during fermentation, leaving behind water and spent grains (together called “whole stillage”). The captured liquid, known as “low wines” is the resulting intermediate product and has a high alcohol content. These low wines are then pumped back to the potstill for a distillation run (or spirits run). It is this final process that results in heads, hearts and tails through distillation. The distiller makes these cuts and keeps the hearts and wastes the heads and tails. Pure water is then added to the hearts to result in the proper proof (or percent alcohol by volume) for aging. The proofed liquor is pumped to an oak barrel and put away in a rick house for a long time before harvesting.
What is a mash bill and what it yours?
A mash bill is simply a bill of materials. It lists the various grains and malts used in a recipe and their quantities. I explained my mash bill above. All of my grains and sourced from one farm in Bedford County, PA and all are non-GMO. I use only one maltster in Huntingdon Valley, PA. Me and the yeast (sourced from Belgium) do the rest.
Do barrels matter and what do you use?
Barrels certainly matter but there are an infinite number of variables involved in aging whiskeys, so the distiller adopts a process that works best for him with the goal of producing a beautiful whiskey. I source only Quercus alba (white oak) for my barrels and I spec all of the toast levels and char levels for each barrel. By US law, bourbon whiskey (and some other whiskeys) MUST be aged in NEW OAK. It can be any species of oak (there are about 500 species of oak worldwide). Most distilleries use white oak.
Does any of your family drink bourbon?
Yes! Many of them love my Dewey’s No.69 Bourbon which is a tribute to my late father whose name was Duilio (went by “Dewey”).
How many spirits do you create?
I produce an ultra-premium bourbon which is more than five years old now and is 90 proof. I do not purchase third party spirits like many of the other “distillers” do but rather make all of my spirits from scratch. I do not make any me-too spirits, so my bourbon is truly unique in every way. It is my best seller, and I currently sell eight spirits with a ninth soon to be released.
Do you love what you do and why?
I have been doing this for ten years now and do truly love it. I always wanted to create something real that people can enjoy.
penndistilling.com | 50 Three Tun Rd Ste 3, Malvern | 484.568.4920
My bourbon is my best seller. It's truly unique in every way.
I have been doing this for ten years now and truly love it. I always wanted to create something real that people can enjoy. Dewey’s No.69 Bourbon is a tribute to my late father, “Dewey”.