How Wyoming Whiskey is Made

EVERY DROP. WE SELL, WE MAKE.

We make bourbon in small batches at our distillery in Kirby, Wyoming. From day one, every drop of Wyoming Whiskey was made in Kirby and aged in one of our six rick houses. That’s not true of every whiskey you run into. We don’t pass judgment, but it means a lot to us and we hope it means something to you.

Wyoming

EVERY DROP. WE SELL, WE MAKE.

We make bourbon in small batches at our distillery in Kirby, Wyoming. From day one, every drop of Wyoming Whiskey was made in Kirby and aged in one of our six rick houses. That’s not true of every whiskey you run into. We don’t pass judgment, but it means a lot to us and we hope it means something to you.

Local corn, wheat, barley, rye, and no GMOs

LOCAL CORN, WHEAT, BARLEY, RYE AND NO GMOS.

WE KNOW WHO GROWS. Our partners Brent and Sherri Rageth in Byron, Wyoming have worked with Wyoming Whiskey from the start to select strains of non-GMO corn, winter wheat, barley and winter rye for specific starch and sugar yields, the building blocks of whiskey making. Brent cultivates a corn strain that matures in 91 days which is ideal for Wyoming’s high elevation short growing season. Winter rye is a must in this environment and our winter wheat variety is aptly named “Yellowstone”.

Mash Bill

mash bill

Mash bill for (1) mash cooking will consist of 2,166 gallons of liquid.

Liquid will consist of: 1,100 gallons of water and 450 gallons of backset, or thin stillage.

Grain: 57 Bushels
68% Corn – 3,183 pounds
20% Wheat – 951 pounds
12% Malt Barley – 570 pounds

water

water

Your whiskey is as good as your water. And our water is unrivaled. A mile below Manderson, Wyoming lies the Madison Formation, a limestone aquifer where we get our water. This limestone rock is millions of years old and the water that it filters hasn’t seen the light of day since the Bronze age, over 6,000 years ago.

the yeast

the yeast

The secret stuff. While our Mash Bill is in clear view, ask any distiller about their yeast and you’ll usually get a deafening silence. We’ll give you this much. To attain our profile, we use a combination of 2 yeasts; a high-yield yeast and a second proprietary yeast that yields a bit less, but produces a slightly fruitier alcohol. For more information, you’d probably have to marry Faz.  So, let’s leave it at, we use 2 different yeasts.

hot & cold

hot & cold

Our whiskey is aged for a minimum of 5 years in the most unique maturation environment in the bourbon world. Kirby is cold in the winter. And it’s hot in the summer. Real hot. That’s tough on people, but good for the whiskey.

The Big Horn Basin heats up in the summer, pushing the whiskey in the barrels through the charred oak and producing most of the flavors of the soon-to-be bourbon. The intensity of the heat and drastic daily temperature swings cause the barrels to dramatically breathe in-and-out, taking the best of what the oak and 5 summers have to offer.

five years in the rickhouse

five years in the rickhouse

Doing the time. We age our bourbon for a minimum of 5 years in one of our 6 rickhouses. There are some newfangled ways of speeding up the maturation process that are being tested by both craft and behemoth distilleries.

Consider us Old School, but we don’t do that. Believing that nothing can replicate the magic that comes from the simple combination of time, temperature, and charred oak barrels, and that the Wyoming environment is one of the things that makes our bourbon singular. You can cheat color and some taste, but for the super smooth finish – only time will do.

Local corn, wheat, barley, rye, and no GMOs

Brent and Sherri Rageth in Byron, Wyoming have worked with Wyoming Whiskey from the start to select strains of non-GMO corn, winter wheat, barley and winter rye for specific starch and sugar yields, the building blocks of whiskey making. Brent cultivates a corn strain that matures in 91 days which is ideal for Wyoming’s high elevation short growing season. Winter rye is a must in this environment and our winter wheat variety is aptly named “Yellowstone”.

Mash Bill

Mash bill for (1) mash cooking will consist of 2,166 gallons of liquid.

Liquid will consist of: 1,100 gallons of water and 450 gallons of backset, or thin stillage.

Grain: 57 Bushels
68% Corn – 3,183 pounds
20% Wheat – 951 pounds
12% Malt Barley – 570 pounds

Water

Your whiskey is as good as your water. And our water is unrivaled. A mile below Manderson, Wyoming lies the Madison Formation, a limestone aquifer where we get our water. This limestone rock is millions of years old and the water that it filters hasn’t seen the light of day since the Bronze age, over 6,000 years ago.

The Yeast

The secret stuff. While our Mash Bill is in clear view, ask any distiller about their yeast and you’ll usually get a deafening silence. We’ll give you this much. To attain our profile, we use a combination of 2 yeasts; a high-yield yeast and a second proprietary yeast that yields a bit less, but produces a slightly fruitier alcohol. For more information, you’d probably have to marry Faz.  So, let’s leave it at, we use 2 different yeasts.

Hot & Cold

Our whiskey is aged for a minimum of 5 years in the most unique maturation environment in the bourbon world. Kirby is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. That’s tough on people, but good for the whiskey. The Big Horn Basin heats up in the summer, pushing the whiskey in the barrels through the charred oak and producing most of the flavors of the soon-to-be bourbon. The intensity of the heat and drastic daily temperature swings cause the barrels to dramatically breathe in-and-out, taking the best of what the oak and 5 summers have to offer.

Five years in the rickhouse

Doing the time. We age our bourbon for a minimum of 5 years in one of our 6 rickhouses. Believing that nothing can replicate the magic that comes from the simple combination of time, temperature, and charred oak barrels, and that the Wyoming environment is one of the things that makes our bourbon singular. You can cheat color and some taste, but for the super smooth finish – only time will do.

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