Andy Craig, one of our owners, sources the grains locally from our farmer investors and grinds the grain on his family farm. The last load of corn Andy ground came from Kent Dornink’s farm. Andy had the pleasure of riding with Kent in the combine for a few rounds while he was harvesting the corn. After the grain is ground, Andy delivers it to the distillery where we weigh it out and cook it. After the grain has been cooked we cool the mash and pitch the yeast. From there the mash is transferred into fermenters and allowed to ferment for approximately one week. After the fermentation process is complete, we transfer the fermented mash into the still and distill the alcohol from the mash. After the alcohol has been removed we then have “spent grains” and water left over. Andy takes the spent grains and the water to his farm to mix in the feed ration for his cows. Andy says
“They love it! The cows and calves so look forward to feeding time and the interaction that comes with it. It’s like they are all my pets. The calves approach me and nose at my legs while the cows are feeding.”
Andy had to change up the feeding process quite a bit to accommodate the spent grains. It adds a little more work to feeding time, but the forced interaction has made working the cows and calves so much easier.
Cheers!
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