Engineered Spirits

Engineered Spirits. Hand-crafted for your enjoyment. Sit a spell.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

Do you know what's in your whiskey? Well, we know exactly what goes into ours. The farm's corn, the farm's springwater and Middle Tennessee-grown wheat and barley. And, in just over three more years, you'll be able to taste that difference too!

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We have several species of native American Asters growing in the #distillery's picnic area, about half of which were growing there originally. This year, we're collecting seeds from many of them, so we can sow them in the area that was damaged by utility work earlier this year.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We won't compost these Hardy Orange seeds; this is one plant we don't need to spread around unintentionally! But sometimes we do harvest the peels as well. It just depends on which ingredient we need for our next experiment.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

One of the reasons we dislike Hardy Orange is because each tiny orange has hundreds of seeds and only a tiny amount of juice. But a great way to reduce the amount of seeds that hit the ground is to harvest them!

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We collected a few hardy oranges #downonthefarm to replenish our stock of highly acidic orange juice from these exotic invaders. We use the juice and peels of these as a substitute for orange juice, bitter orange, and orange peel in our recipes.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We talk a lot about the different fruits and botanicals we use, but the one we've spent the most time on is undoubtedly the Jimmy Red corn we use to make our whiskey. We think it's incredibly special, not just because of its heritage, but also because we grow it #downonthefarm.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

There's wild beauty to appreciate everywhere #downonthefarm so, when we need a break from our work, we just step a few feet away to enjoy it. This patch of native Goldenrod and Helenium is just below the orchard and right beside our springhouse.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We've let the pectin do its work on our persimmon fruit and juice, what winemakers refer to as "must", for the last 24 hours. Now, we're ready to see how much alcohol potential it has before we add our yeast.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

A few years ago, we harvested native elderflowers and elderberries #downonthefarm. After those first experiments, we were eager to use them again, but we need to plant a whole lot more if we're going to harvest enough for wine! We'll grow these on for a year before planting them.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

Our highest priority has always been to use the farm's limestone spring water as the main ingredient for our products. We've been waiting for weeks and, finally, we've received the latest water test results. But we still haven’t heard if the State will let us use it or not!

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

This statuesque #wildflower is native Helianthus maximiliani, Maximilian's Sunflower, which loves full sun and thrives in prairies with infertile soils. This clump will expand in time, filling the limestone outcrops beside the distillery with golden flowers each October.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

Pectin has proven to be extremely useful when making wine from these fibrous persimmons. We want to get as much sugar out of them as possible to make the best quality wine. Then, after we've left it for 24 hours to work its magic, we'll add our yeast.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We've found that using pectin helps us make better wine, in the same way it helps you make better jams or jellies. But we have to use it at just the right temperature if we want it to be effective.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

Our third batch of homemade, native persimmon wine this year commences! But no matter how many times we do this, we never fail to learn something new! And that's why we practice. Each attempt helps us hone our craft.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

Here in the U.S., most of the ingredients used in gin are imported from other continents. We plan to make our gin from more locally sourced ingredients. One of those are these Aronia berries, produced by the Red Chokeberry, a small native tree that grows throughout Tennessee.

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

As it turns out, saying this native persimmon pulp was going to need more squeezing was a MASSIVE understatement!

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

Chip added quite a lot of pectin to this year’s second batch of persimmon wine to make sure we got out every last bit of sugar. But there was one unintended consequence -- the pulp this time was a whole LOT finer, so removing it so we could rack our wine took even longer!

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

It only takes a few weeks of warm weather for every empty spot to turn into a jungle #downonthefarm. You wouldn't know it to look at it, but this autumnal display of Late Boneset, Goldenrod and bare Poke Salad branches is just beyond the edge of the distillery's building site!

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We've been so busy #downonthefarm, we almost forgot to celebrate an important landmark that occurred just over one year ago. Late last September we barreled the first seven barrels of our inaugural #JimmyRed corn whiskey at Prichard's Distillery. One year down, three more to go!

[Engineered Spirits @EngineerdSpirit]

We don’t want the invasive Hardy Orange trees (Citrus trifoliata) we have #downonthefarm, but when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, or, in this case, a highly concentrated orange flavoring. Every fruit we harvest is one less to drop hundreds of seeds on the forest floor!