Sip Northwest, Winter 2015

Main Grains Barley This grass grain is a key ingredient in not just spirits but beer as well Barley is often malted germinated and dried and its sugars are released eaten by yeast and converted to alcohol SIPNORTHWEST COM corn comes from Hermiston just over the mountains and is distributed throughout California Washington Montana Georgia and Illinois STEIN DISTILLERY came about then as a passion project for both Steins an easier more a ordable way to use their locally grown grains resulting in an exciting new spirits line coming from the heart of eastern Oregon farm country It costs me a lot in freight to market my grain Dan Stein says Using more of the grains locally is better for the farm and distillery both BETTER FOR BUSINESS American distillers have honored the same reasoning as the Steins for centuries Perhaps the history of American whiskey isnt as long or storied as that of the Champagne region in France or the abbey ales of Belgium but we have the same agricultural background and dedication to terroir After the Revolutionary War and during westward expansion many small farmers installed stills on their property because well a ton of corn is a lot heavier to ship than a jug of whiskey Spirits became a common currency of trade But the Industrial Revolution not to mention ensuing wars taxes and then Prohibition permanently changed the scale of spirits production Today many big distilleries make their products with grains shipped from long distances or even overseas The reputation of those famed Kentucky bourbons are more due to its limestone ltered water barrel friendly climate and strategic location on the Ohio River than to any crops produced in the fertile elds of Bluegrass Country Inland the Paci c Northwest has many of those same whiskey ideal environmental conditions access to clean water and a very particular climate with hot summers that build up pressure in the barrels and force the whiskey into the charred wood followed by cold winters that condense the whiskey and avor it with caramelized sugars Slowly local distillers are seeking out the family farms that are big enough to provide a steady supply of quality grain but small enough to be exible in their packaging and shipping options to develop a symbiotic relationship A craft distillery is not going to have a lot of storage space Theyre going to buy small quantities of grain a month at a time says Arnie Omlin whose 700 acre family farm in Quincy Washington supplies grain to several Washington distilleries This is a niche market for a farm like mine From where I am most large farms would not have opened the door it just wouldnt have been worth their time The relationship that has formed between Omlins farm and the distillers he supplies most notably WOODINVILLE WHISKEY CO in Woodinville Washington has benefits that extend past packaging Because the climate in Quincy is much more favorable for barrel aging than in the western part of the state Brett Carlile and Orlin Sorensen of Woodinville built a barrel warehouse on Omlins property Woodinvilles semi trucks are full on both trips transporting grain and barrels to and from the eastern end of the state But of course the greatest bene t for Carlile and Sorensens distillery is that Omlins farm is a steady source of locally grown grain One of the biggest challenges was that because we produce 100 percent rye whiskey we use quite a bit of rye says Sorensen At the time there was no rye grown in Washington State Omlin concurs noting rye did not have a market in Washington until recently Rye is grown in Canada and some in Montana and those were two areas where I researched what varieties you could try here Omlin says He set aside elds to grow exclusively for Woodinville and the distillery Wheat Wheat is the third most widely produced cereal grain on the planet The grain provides sweet aromas and a soft avor pro le to the spirits it bases Rye Also part of the wheat family and closely related to barley rye is a grain used for its distinctive dry avor and spice addition to spirits and beer alike