The typical grain mixture for bourbon, known as the mash bill, is a minimum of 51% corn, with the remainder being wheat, rye, and/or malted barley.[1] A mash bill that contains wheat instead of rye produces what is known as a wheated bourbon. The grain is ground and mixed with water. Usually, though not always, mash from a previous distillation is added to ensure a consistent pH across batches, and a mash produced in that manner is referred to as...

Bourbon whiskey is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky (which, in turn, was named after the French House of Bourbon royal family). It has been produced since the 18th century.[1] While it may be made anywhere in the United States, it is strongly associated with the American South in general, and Kentu...

Harvest in Canada is wrapping up, albeit a bit slower than average.  This past (2013-2014), we have seen rye exports out of Canada decrease by 38%.  Domestic usage in Canada has also decreased by 19%.  Because of these decreases, the carryout from this past crop year is now projected to be 49,000 metric tonnes.  Movement of rye into the US is very slow, albeit steady.  And despite weakness in the overall grain market, rye prices remain steady due to a continuing low...

We believe it is important to be on top of Bourbon inventory levels. This article sheds some light on supply and demand.Blame the new urban bartenders, those pretentiously mustachioed hipsters who’ve sold us on shifting our taste buds upmarket. While once we contented ourselves with a margaritas made from glow-in-the-dark mixers, in today’s cocktail culture we fetishize Manhattans sourced from Brooklyn’s craft distilleries and top them with artisanal, organic cherries.click her...

If you’ve paid any attention to spirit sales in the last decade, it should come as no surprise to you that the bourbon and whiskey market is booming.  According to the Associated Press, U.S. bourbon and whiskey exports continue to skyrocket, surpassing one billion dollars in total this past year.  On the home-front, things are going just as well, with revenues increasing 10% last year alone.  You can read more about the dollars and cents here.This isn’t just good ...

This month the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal will be getting a few of the twin cities local distilleries together in one room to discuss the past, present and future of the craft spirits business!  Our very own Cara Fields will be on the panel of experts discussing the past, present and future of the craft spirits business! Be sure to follow along with this conversation on Twitter using the hashtag: #mspbjspiritsSome of the other panelists will be Bob McManus from 11 wel...

Social media is becoming an important part of every business today.  This holds true also for Grain Inspectors for the USDA.  Check this out from the Department of Agriculture:Most consumers may not realize it, but in many ways grain inspection has not changed much over the years. Even though there are sophisticated scientific tests today to measure moisture, oil, protein and several other intrinsic qualities of grain, the human eye still carries the most weight when judging a gra...

Rye is a “hot commodity”.That is, rye whiskey is a “hot commodity”… but rye grain as a commodity is a different story.Rye is not something that a farmer necessarily wants to produce in large quantities anymore. There are several reasons for this.  First, rye isn’t generally a high dollar yielding crop. At best, it will produce 40-45 bushels per acre. While the input costs (fertilization, pest control, etc) are not as high as other crops, the return ...

Researchers with the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund recently conducted further investigation into the impact of the distilling industry of Kentucky on its economy. Kentucky is well known for its Bourbon and due to this fact the study is the third of its kind put on by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. It is important to know the impact of a major product on an area, it allows you to better predict what will happen over the years.To better understand the Kentucky bourb...

There is a worldwide or national day for just about everything you can imagine these days, including whiskey! I don’t know about you, but that has us excited. Any day you can drink to good things with whiskey becomes a good day.When is World Whisky Day in 2015?This world celebration day is held on the third Saturday of every May. In 2015, that happens to be May 16th. Why a Saturday you ask? Well, if you are going to celebrate a day with drinking, it should be a day where you don’t ha...