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Paducah Distillery to Make Bourbon History

Silent Brigade Distillery

There must be something in the water in Paducah, because in less than two years three different businesses have opened to brew alcohol; the trend began with beer, this time the business is bourbon. 

Silent Brigade Distillery will begin producing the city’s first bourbon since prohibition, when the town was home to more than 14 distilleries.

Silent Brigade co owner John Brown says their bourbon will be different because they are introducing a more 'wheated' style.

 

“Wheat makes the whiskey a bit more mellow and also it is the next grain behind corn that has a lot of starch to produce more alcohol. We run our temperatures real slow, we ferment real slow, that just kind of sets ours apart. Rather than trying to stip it out and running it out we prefer a slow fermentation that takes longer and we distil a longer period time than most distilleries," says Brown.

 

Brown says the passing of Senate Bill 11, allowing distilleries to sell by the drink, motivated him to have a shop open to the public. The doors open for the first time Friday and Brown says everyone is invited to witness them make bourbon history at 426 Broadway in Downtown Paducah.

Silent Brigade Distillery will begin the manufacturing process of producing the bourbon using a 1930’s era mill.

 

Paducah Mayor Gayle Kaler will be pitching the yeast to get the bourbon making process started at 5 p.m. by beginning the first process of “mashing in”‘ The Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon, where it will ferment for around 14 days to be distilled and barreled in the beginning of July.

The event is free and open to the public.

Nicole Erwin is a Murray native and started working at WKMS during her time at Murray State University as a Psychology undergraduate student. Nicole left her job as a PTL dispatcher to join the newsroom after she was hired by former News Director Bryan Bartlett. Since, Nicole has completed a Masters in Sustainable Development from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia where she lived for 2 1/2 years.
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