1 00:00:09,860 --> 00:00:16,480 Distilling, for me, is not just about making whiskey. This is something that 2 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,420 family's done for generations. 3 00:00:18,980 --> 00:00:22,080 I mean, it's our legacy. It's our pride. 4 00:00:23,060 --> 00:00:26,820 There's a lot that goes into that bottle besides just liquid. 5 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:38,340 I'm very fortunate to be in Kentucky and to be able to go back. 6 00:00:38,860 --> 00:00:40,200 to my ancestors. 7 00:00:41,300 --> 00:00:43,200 I know where they're buried. 8 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:44,820 I can go visit. 9 00:00:47,460 --> 00:00:51,540 It's just a spiritual journey that I have with it. 10 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:55,540 And I think bourbon, for our family, has always been like that. 11 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,220 It's more than a job. It's more than the liquid. 12 00:01:00,540 --> 00:01:03,080 It's what we are. It's our essence. 13 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:23,740 I'm Stephen Beam, and I'm the master distiller of Yellowstone Bourbon. 14 00:02:12,010 --> 00:02:16,070 The very first mention of bourbon actually is in a deposition for a murder 15 00:02:16,070 --> 00:02:19,210 trial. The trial took place in 1797. 16 00:02:19,990 --> 00:02:25,130 It took place in a tavern, of course, and there was a mention of a barrel of 17 00:02:25,130 --> 00:02:29,890 whiskey there, and they referred to the barrel of whiskey as red whiskey. That 18 00:02:29,890 --> 00:02:31,050 was bourbon. 19 00:02:36,260 --> 00:02:39,580 Bourbon is the American whiskey. It's the American spirit. As a matter of 20 00:02:39,620 --> 00:02:43,080 you can't make bourbon anyplace else than America, the United States. 21 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:48,280 The beams are intrinsic, if you will, to the entire bourbon industry. I mean, it 22 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:53,780 was Jacob Beam, I believe, that was the very, very first whiskey maker. 23 00:02:55,690 --> 00:02:59,770 We're still in the late stages of the 1700s. We haven't even fought the War of 24 00:02:59,770 --> 00:03:04,090 1812 yet, and the Beams are making whiskey. That is a legacy that is 25 00:03:04,090 --> 00:03:06,630 by anyone making whiskey in America today. 26 00:03:11,570 --> 00:03:16,350 When people ask, they assume that I've been around, that I grew up in the 27 00:03:16,350 --> 00:03:19,450 business, and I tell people that I grew up around the business. 28 00:03:20,390 --> 00:03:24,610 My father was in the business, but was out of it well before I was. 29 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:31,460 But I had aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone was involved in the bourbon 30 00:03:31,460 --> 00:03:35,840 business. So it was always a conversation in the family. 31 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,580 One of the things that I was always passionate about was horticulture and 32 00:03:46,580 --> 00:03:53,220 plants. I gardened as a very young kid and had a greenhouse when I was 13 years 33 00:03:53,220 --> 00:03:57,040 old. grew exotic plants. I loved growing things. 34 00:03:57,340 --> 00:03:58,079 Come on. 35 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:04,240 Life is so unpredictable because where you think you might be 10 years from 36 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,720 you can be 180 degrees. 37 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:13,340 I knew I had always wanted to open a distillery, but the time was not right. 38 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,380 Everything was geared toward large distilleries. Nothing was geared toward 39 00:04:17,380 --> 00:04:22,220 distilleries. And there wasn't a lot of interest in... 40 00:04:22,830 --> 00:04:27,150 you know, crafted items in the restaurant business for 10 years. 41 00:04:27,370 --> 00:04:29,370 And it was fine. 42 00:04:29,810 --> 00:04:31,910 But I kind of felt like I had bought a job. 43 00:04:32,130 --> 00:04:35,610 Kept looking back, kept coming back to the distillery. 44 00:04:36,370 --> 00:04:38,490 There was an organization called ADI. 45 00:04:38,710 --> 00:04:44,750 I went to one of the conventions and I was hooked. So that was in April. 46 00:04:45,510 --> 00:04:49,730 And by October, I had sold my shares of the restaurant. 47 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,840 and started the journey to opening the distillery. 48 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,220 Chase, are you getting the titration on that? 49 00:05:11,140 --> 00:05:12,140 Yeah, awful. 50 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:13,360 Good. 51 00:05:20,810 --> 00:05:23,150 Which one is that? Which fermenter? Fermenter 3. 52 00:05:23,370 --> 00:05:24,630 Fermenter 3? Awesome. 53 00:05:24,890 --> 00:05:30,610 Okay. What we're doing here, we're trying to get our acid titration here so 54 00:05:30,610 --> 00:05:35,830 we can see what types of bacteria may be present in that mash. 55 00:05:38,010 --> 00:05:43,270 The acid titration lets us see organic acids that are being created by bacteria 56 00:05:43,270 --> 00:05:47,190 versus the alcohol that's going to be created by our yeast. 57 00:05:52,590 --> 00:05:55,630 Have you done the gravity on that one already? 58 00:05:55,890 --> 00:05:59,170 Okay. Yep. You've got your gravity listed. You've got your bricks listed. 59 00:05:59,470 --> 00:06:00,790 That's awesome. Looks good. 60 00:06:03,190 --> 00:06:09,830 So my family has always been hard workers. My mom and dad, my brother, 61 00:06:10,030 --> 00:06:14,450 they're all in the bourbon industry. When I grew up, dad always made sure 62 00:06:14,450 --> 00:06:18,790 we knew if you were going to do something, it was worth doing it right 63 00:06:18,790 --> 00:06:20,130 time or not doing it at all. 64 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:30,020 Making bourbon is hard work, but it's a simple process. The hard part about 65 00:06:30,020 --> 00:06:36,600 making bourbon is being repeatable and consistent and following the 66 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:41,520 procedure, doing things the right way, not trying to cut corners, not trying to 67 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:46,940 look for an easy out. The process is simple. It's just grain, water, and 68 00:06:47,060 --> 00:06:51,780 but the details are where all of the complexity come in. 69 00:06:59,630 --> 00:07:03,310 I'll tell you a very interesting story about Steve Beam. When he first starts 70 00:07:03,310 --> 00:07:09,690 getting back into making whiskey, he wants to carry on a family legacy. He 71 00:07:09,690 --> 00:07:11,690 something that I think is so incredibly creative. 72 00:07:11,910 --> 00:07:16,410 He comes to the museum here, and he's looking around for something that he 73 00:07:16,410 --> 00:07:18,950 was donated a long time ago, 40 years ago. 74 00:07:19,250 --> 00:07:24,050 There was a yeast jug that was donated to the museum. We still have some yeast 75 00:07:24,050 --> 00:07:25,019 jugs here. 76 00:07:25,020 --> 00:07:29,300 But none of the distillers have come back to see if they've got what we would 77 00:07:29,300 --> 00:07:30,420 call the family yeast. 78 00:07:30,780 --> 00:07:34,440 So what he does is he takes the jug and he takes it to a University of 79 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:36,820 California laboratory. 80 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:42,740 And what they do is they're able to clone the yeast that his grandfather 81 00:07:42,740 --> 00:07:43,579 make whiskey. 82 00:07:43,580 --> 00:07:48,880 There is nothing like that on the landscape. It is the most wonderful 83 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,840 it really tells you something about his level of dedication because that's... 84 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:58,360 second to none in the industry. He's literally a genius in just taking that 85 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:03,020 move, that legacy yeast, and making his product out of that. I think it's just 86 00:08:03,020 --> 00:08:04,020 absolutely spectacular. 87 00:08:07,300 --> 00:08:13,900 One of the many hats that a master distiller wears in a 88 00:08:13,900 --> 00:08:17,700 small distillery is a master blender as well. 89 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:24,700 And so what I'm doing today is I'm blending our next introduction of 90 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,300 You can see these are all different profiles that I'm going to blend 91 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:35,039 And there are almost an infinite number of combinations, and there's not really 92 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:39,900 one right combination, but I try to find the best combination. 93 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:46,600 And for me, I always have and always will make whiskey that I like to drink 94 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:51,100 and hope other people do as well. And so far, it's worked out. 95 00:08:51,550 --> 00:08:54,710 Pretty good, so let's taste through these. 96 00:08:56,610 --> 00:09:02,750 This is the first one I'm tasting here, and on the nose there's honey, 97 00:09:02,890 --> 00:09:09,330 some brown sugar, pretty basic or pretty classic 98 00:09:09,330 --> 00:09:12,490 Kentucky bourbon profile on this one. 99 00:09:12,790 --> 00:09:18,090 Well, the frustrating part is this one may have a fantastic nose, but when you 100 00:09:18,090 --> 00:09:21,150 blend it in with the other, it completely disappears. 101 00:09:21,850 --> 00:09:25,250 So it's just a lot of trial and error and taste. 102 00:09:25,570 --> 00:09:29,010 So it's a tough job, but someone has to do it. 103 00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:47,030 The thing that I know most people here that work here, me included, we take a 104 00:09:47,030 --> 00:09:49,630 lot of pride in knowing that we have seen this product. 105 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:55,220 From the second the grain comes into our bin to going into the mash tank and 106 00:09:55,220 --> 00:09:59,540 being able to be distilled twice. And then our distillers fill it into a 107 00:09:59,740 --> 00:10:02,980 We literally roll the barrels ourselves onto barrel trucks. 108 00:10:03,420 --> 00:10:06,320 Once a week, we ship a truck over to Lux Rose. They get aged. 109 00:10:06,660 --> 00:10:10,200 Four years pass, which most of us have been here that long. We've been able to 110 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:15,260 see our product, right, get put into production and get put into a bottle. 111 00:10:15,260 --> 00:10:16,460 then we're able to see it in itself. 112 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,120 So we have a lot of pride. 113 00:10:18,650 --> 00:10:23,350 in the small and uniqueness that we have at limestone to say that we've started 114 00:10:23,350 --> 00:10:24,870 it literally from start to finish 115 00:10:24,870 --> 00:10:30,790 so 116 00:10:30,790 --> 00:10:36,290 whenever we receive in our grain we're going to get our grain probe from the 117 00:10:36,290 --> 00:10:41,450 truck so that we can get a nice accurate sample this would be our corn coming in 118 00:10:41,450 --> 00:10:45,250 and we're going to take this corn and do all of our scientific testing on it 119 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,360 One of the first tests that we're going to do is a contamination test. So we're 120 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:55,560 just kind of looking through here, and we're just making sure that we don't 121 00:10:55,560 --> 00:11:00,820 any large quantities of cob, stick, anything like that that maybe would have 122 00:11:00,820 --> 00:11:01,820 been in the field. 123 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,880 Most of our corn obviously needs to be corn. 124 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:10,840 The moisture of our corn needs to be at a set percentage. The farmer typically 125 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,140 dries it in their silos. 126 00:11:13,790 --> 00:11:18,890 We want to make sure that we're getting the right grain moisture content because 127 00:11:18,890 --> 00:11:22,510 otherwise we're paying for water. So we want to make sure we're getting the 128 00:11:22,510 --> 00:11:23,510 right amount. 129 00:11:28,270 --> 00:11:34,310 So for us, we want to be below the 15 % moisture, and this sample here is in 130 00:11:34,310 --> 00:11:37,210 range. So we are accepting this corn. 131 00:11:43,689 --> 00:11:47,150 organisms growing on this corn like aflutoxin. 132 00:11:47,630 --> 00:11:52,350 Aflutoxin is a common thing that will occur to corn once it sits out in wet 133 00:11:52,350 --> 00:11:55,890 weather. We want to make sure that we have the best corn we can possibly have. 134 00:11:56,170 --> 00:12:00,130 So we're going to take our black light and shine it into our corn. We're just 135 00:12:00,130 --> 00:12:04,090 looking to see if we have any really bright green reflective spots. 136 00:12:04,370 --> 00:12:10,110 So I don't see any reflective spots on this corn. So this corn here is free 137 00:12:10,110 --> 00:12:12,150 aflutoxin and it is accepted. 138 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,740 When you take a sip of Yellowstone whiskey, remember that you're tasting a 139 00:12:19,740 --> 00:12:24,260 legacy that's gone back probably a hundred years, if not longer. I remember 140 00:12:24,260 --> 00:12:28,260 Yellowstone was named after a national park, okay? So I think Teddy Roosevelt, 141 00:12:28,260 --> 00:12:33,260 want to say it was like 1912, 1915 that he institutes the National Park Service. 142 00:12:33,780 --> 00:12:39,000 So we're looking all the way back past a hundred years to something that really 143 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,260 wasn't made and was disconnected, if you will. 144 00:12:43,170 --> 00:12:49,830 Nobody knew that it existed until Stephen Beam had the inspiration to get 145 00:12:49,830 --> 00:12:54,150 yeast jug and see if he could clone the yeast that was being used to make 146 00:12:54,150 --> 00:12:57,010 Yellowstone bourbon more than 100 years ago. 147 00:13:00,830 --> 00:13:06,070 The proper way to enjoy bourbon, any way you like to drink it. 148 00:13:07,050 --> 00:13:09,650 It doesn't make any difference if it's neat. 149 00:13:10,110 --> 00:13:12,110 on the rocks, or with diet soda. 150 00:13:13,310 --> 00:13:19,990 Whatever you enjoy, that is the essence of bourbon. But I really think 151 00:13:19,990 --> 00:13:26,030 the way to drink bourbon is with friends and enjoy the community. 152 00:13:26,410 --> 00:13:32,430 And it's really about camaraderie and enjoying it with other people. 153 00:13:43,210 --> 00:13:49,750 So this is New Hope, Kentucky, and it means so much because this is kind of 154 00:13:49,750 --> 00:13:52,410 where my family began their journey in Kentucky. 155 00:13:52,690 --> 00:13:56,010 The house over here is my grandparents' home. 156 00:13:56,310 --> 00:13:58,110 That's where I would come spend summer. 157 00:13:59,390 --> 00:14:05,570 We came every Sunday when I was a kid, had family gatherings there, and it's 158 00:14:05,570 --> 00:14:11,530 kind of sad to see it in this state of repair because when my grandmother had 159 00:14:11,530 --> 00:14:12,459 it, it was... 160 00:14:12,460 --> 00:14:17,500 pristine there were great big shade trees this time of year there'd be 161 00:14:17,500 --> 00:14:22,960 ferns on the porch and potted plants that she loved so much and flowers i 162 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:28,220 that's one of the inspirations for me liking plants so much was uh all that 163 00:14:28,220 --> 00:14:32,440 growing up around all those plants that she had but i remember you know this 164 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:37,910 very fond memories all the hills back over here especially as a kid, you know, 165 00:14:37,930 --> 00:14:39,030 coming from the city. 166 00:14:39,230 --> 00:14:42,590 I grew up in the suburbs of Louisville, and you come out here, really wasn't 167 00:14:42,590 --> 00:14:46,270 much to do other than just go out and fish and hunt. 168 00:14:46,810 --> 00:14:53,810 A lot of memories that, you know, the kids today don't have like 169 00:14:53,810 --> 00:14:56,850 that. And, you know, I think it's a little unfortunate. 170 00:14:58,390 --> 00:15:04,410 So this is St. Vincent de Paul in Hope, Kentucky, and some of my earliest 171 00:15:04,410 --> 00:15:05,630 memories are here. 172 00:15:06,380 --> 00:15:11,160 I remember an aunt who got married here, and that's one of my earliest memories. 173 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,080 It means so much to our family. 174 00:15:13,860 --> 00:15:19,300 My grandparents, great -grandparents, were founding members of the community, 175 00:15:19,620 --> 00:15:20,620 the church community. 176 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:26,120 And you look around, and you stain glass windows with my great -grandparents' 177 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:27,280 name on them. 178 00:15:27,820 --> 00:15:34,700 My other great -grandfather over there, J .B. Dent, who was the founder of 179 00:15:34,700 --> 00:15:35,700 Yellowstone. 180 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:43,260 So like I was saying, there's so many different elements of our family 181 00:15:43,260 --> 00:15:46,260 in the church and the community. 182 00:15:47,220 --> 00:15:54,080 The bowling, birch, dance all came to Kentucky in the 183 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,520 1780s. So they were here before Kentucky was a state. 184 00:15:59,180 --> 00:16:04,880 and helped build this area, which was the thriving area of Kentucky at that 185 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:10,200 time. A lot of people don't realize that in the 1780s, Kentucky was the western 186 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:11,200 frontier. 187 00:16:11,540 --> 00:16:15,200 I think it's kind of fitting, you know, to be here today. 188 00:16:16,860 --> 00:16:23,460 And 254 years ago today, Daniel Boone first came into Kentucky, 189 00:16:23,620 --> 00:16:28,080 and he said, heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place. 190 00:16:29,420 --> 00:16:32,580 And, you know, I kind of get what he meant. 191 00:16:43,420 --> 00:16:49,780 I really think that our family has such an impact on Kentucky bourbon. 192 00:16:50,020 --> 00:16:56,200 You know, I was following great men who did great things in the industry. I 193 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:57,200 don't even try. 194 00:16:57,690 --> 00:17:00,530 to say that I'm going to be as good as they were. 195 00:17:00,730 --> 00:17:06,170 My grandfather, you know, spent his entire life in the distillery. And I 196 00:17:06,170 --> 00:17:11,530 to call myself a master distiller for at least 10 years until I felt like I had 197 00:17:11,530 --> 00:17:12,650 mastered it. 198 00:17:14,609 --> 00:17:21,010 So Minor Case Bean was the oldest of his generation, and he kind of 199 00:17:21,010 --> 00:17:23,290 helped glue that generation together. 200 00:17:24,569 --> 00:17:26,410 So I had the vision of... 201 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:31,920 bringing our side of the family, our story out, because it had long been 202 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:32,920 forgotten. 203 00:17:33,340 --> 00:17:37,680 And it's an important story, and I wanted it to be told. 204 00:17:38,100 --> 00:17:43,340 So, like I said, Minor Case being trained, a lot of the people who go on 205 00:17:43,340 --> 00:17:46,840 train master distillers across Kentucky. 206 00:17:47,060 --> 00:17:52,640 So, so many different whiskeys, bourbons trace their back, their master 207 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,920 distiller's roots back to being trained by Minor Case. 208 00:17:58,540 --> 00:18:04,960 Well, Miner, it only took 100 years, 209 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,400 but we're back in the game. 210 00:18:11,580 --> 00:18:12,900 Here's to another 100. 211 00:18:51,590 --> 00:18:57,450 We've used the word legacy, and bourbon truly is an American legacy. It's kind 212 00:18:57,450 --> 00:19:01,730 of a love song in spirit form to who Americans are. 213 00:19:01,930 --> 00:19:08,050 It's not just the color and the flavor and the process. It supports 214 00:19:08,170 --> 00:19:10,410 It supports shopkeepers in business. 215 00:19:10,630 --> 00:19:11,730 It supports towns. 216 00:19:12,070 --> 00:19:13,870 It supports churches. 217 00:19:14,270 --> 00:19:15,450 It supports neighborhoods. 218 00:19:15,670 --> 00:19:18,690 It supports the people that work in the distilleries. 219 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,060 And the nature of the industry today has really kept the promise, if you will, 220 00:19:23,140 --> 00:19:27,900 of the American dream by moving forward, by becoming the juggernaut it is today, 221 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:33,560 and by making something that is so uniquely and identifiably American that 222 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:35,620 there's nothing like it on the face of the earth. 223 00:19:36,900 --> 00:19:43,800 The filling, for me, is not just about making whiskey. This is something that 224 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,920 our family has done for generations. 225 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,520 It's our legacy. It's our pride. 226 00:19:50,580 --> 00:19:54,280 There's a lot that goes into that bottle besides just liquid. 227 00:19:54,780 --> 00:19:59,520 We make bourbon in good times. We make bourbon in bad times. 228 00:19:59,900 --> 00:20:01,220 We just make bourbon. 229 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:02,980 And that's what we do. 230 00:20:05,540 --> 00:20:08,100 It's more than a job. It's more than the liquid. 231 00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:10,920 It's what we are. It's our essence.