Bessemer Bourbon Whiskey is a love letter to our national spirit — bold, expressive, and built on the belief that great bourbon comes from real hands and a genuine passion for making it. A blend of heirloom corn, rye, wheat, and barley makes this four-grain bourbon something to savor. Mashed, fermented, distilled, and matured the only way we know how — with a little sweat, the occasional swear word, and a whole lot of love.
Our Recipe | Per 1500-gallon mash
2000 lbs corn
(Varietals – Bloody Butcher or Hickory King or Waspi Valley/Minnesota 13 blend)
250 lbs malted rye (single varietal – Danko or Keystone Rosen)
250 lbs malted soft white wheat
100 lbs pale malted 2-row barley
2 kg FS-921 yeast
1200 gallons water
- Corn is milled and mixed with 900-gallons of water. The slurry is cooked for 30 minutes at 2000°F. The mash is then cooled to 148°F when our malted rye, malted wheat, and malted barley are milled and mixed in. The mash is held for 45 minutes until starches are completely converted. At this point the slurry is cooled to 80°F and yeast is added with an additional 300 gallons of water. Fermentation lasts for 96 hours. Final wash alcohol concentration is 8.4% abv.
- Wash Distillation (Pot Still): 4 hours yielding 220 proof gallons
- Low Wines Distillation (Pot Still): 7.5 hours; Heads cut at 30 minutes; Hearts cut at 61.5% abv; Heads and tails recycled into next low wine distillation. Yield of ~310 gallons at 69% abv.
- Hearts are diluted to 101 proof (50.5% abv) and barreled into new charred American oak (1/2/3/4) into our steam heated warehouse.