St. Louis Distillery Scene — The ABV Network

When a man walks into the room carrying a corn stalk, you can say you’ve seen something that day.

The Wife and I were looking to get out of town for a weekend, so I hastily planned a trip to St. Louis. We did many of things one should do when visiting The Gateway to the West. We waved at the Arch (it’s tall). We had gooey butter cake (it’s delicious). We ate Italian on The Hill (also delicious). We walked through Cathedral Basillica (it’s spectacular). We also managed to check out a couple of St. Louis area distilleries while we were there. These were the highlight of the trip…other than time spent with my bride, of course.

Wood Hat Spirits

Gary Hinegardner is the owner and master distiller at Wood Hat Spirits. Gary has spent his life in agriculture through his education (masters in agronomy) to his work with the Peace Corp to his time as an ag extension agent. Now Gary is the foremost authority on corn and its use in making whiskey. I had been in a virtual class featuring Gary and had heard him interviewed on the Distillers’ Talk podcast with Christi Atkinson, Alan Bishop and Royce Neeley (link to show here). However, this was my first chance to meet him in person and it did not disappoint.

Gary is a character. As The Wife and I were tasting some of his whiskey, Gary walks into the gift shop carrying a stalk of corn. He starts talking with us and, without missing a beat, shucks the ear of corn and takes a few bites as if it were a banana.

Gary is also a treat to listen to. He shared with us that everything he puts in the bottle is from grains grown in Missouri. Since rye and barley don’t grow well in the Show Me state, he doesn’t use those. So, it is only corn in his corn whiskey and corn and wheat in his Bourbon.

Bloody Butcher Corn on the way to being whiskey

The passion that Gary has for corn, for Missouri and for Wood Hat whiskey shines through every moment of the conversation. Right now, his products include the use of blue corn, bloody butcher corn as well as some white corn that is used in Wood Hat’s All American Whiskey (a blend of red, white and blue corn). There isn’t a separate white corn whiskey because “by itself white corn doesn’t have much to say” according to Gary.

Gary is working on projects using other heirloom varietals of corn including brown corn and orange flint. “The rest of the world is leaving yellow dent”, Gary said “and they are going to orange flint”. Gary continues, “In whiskey, we are decades behind wine. We are just now figuring out we can get different and better flavors using corn besides just yellow dent”.

You can find more about Gary and Wood Hat Spirits at their website and in a recent episode of The Bourbon Daily where Steve Akley leads a discussion about Gary with several craft distillers. If you are planning a visit, make a reservation for the full tour experience. Our trip was last minute and we didn’t do that, but the gang at Wood Hat let us look around and ask lots of questions. You’ll be glad you made the hour trip from St. Louis to the Wood Hat distiller in New Florence.

Stumpy’s Spirits

Innovation is a wise and experienced gray hair at Wood Hat. Innovation is a fresh-faced genius at Stumpy’s Spirits.

The Wife and I made our way to Columbia, Illinois (just across the Mississippi from St. Louis) and met up with Steve Akley at Stumpy’s Spirits. Owner and master distiller, Adam Stumpf was out running errands but Rachel was working the tasting room and served up some samples for us until Adam arrived.

It had been about six months since I had been at Stumpy’s and he had made quite a few changes so a tour was in order, especially since The Wife had not been there before. His one-of-a-kind coffey still had not changed. What had also not changed is the humility of the man who designed it. When discussing the still Adam didn’t mention that he had designed it himself and that it was the only one like it in the world.

As we moved along, Adam showed us a new water treatment system that will make Stumpy’s a zero-waste operation. When I first met Adam he described himself as “frugal”. Steve added immediately “with MacGyver tendencies”. This water treatment system fits that perfectly as a Folger’s can somehow plays a critical role in the process.

Stumpy’s barrel storage: 2019 (L) and 2020 (R)

Adam has also added a bottling room. The bottling equipment was found at an auction and was originally used by an olive company. Adam retrofitted this himself to be used in his whiskey business.

Stumpy’s has also added racks for barrel storage. Previously, barrels were stored on pallets. With the addition of the racks, Adam now has space for 1,100 barrels. More space for barrels means more whiskey for us! So, this is a very good thing.

While at the distillery, I picked up a new bottle (barrel #201, if you’re scoring at home). I also found a few other Stumpy’s Spirits bottles at St. Louis area liquor stores. You have to stock up when you have the chance and I feel confident buying anything from Stumpy’s Spirits. There has never been anything I’ve had from Stumpy’s that I didn’t love and there aren’t many distilleries that I can say that about. There is one barrel in particular that we got to sample at an event in February that I particularly loved. I keep asking Adam about it. So much so, I believe Adam’s taken out a restraining order against me about that barrel.

When you venture to St. Louis plan to visit Wood Hat and Stumpy’s. Both are well worth your time. You will learn a lot and also taste some exceptional whiskey. The St. Louis market is contributing greatly to whiskey innovation through Gary Hinegardner and Adam Stumpf. These men and the products they are distilling deserve the attention of the Bourbon community. If you aren’t familiar with them yet, get on the band wagon while there is still room near the front.