Missouri Ridge Distillery is now open for business! Based in Branson, Missouri, our family has continued the tradition of creating specialty whiskey from our time-honored, family recipes. We use only the finest ingredients from the USA and use the purest water from the Ozark Mountains. We hope you come by and see for yourself that our premium whiskeys are sure to please even the most discerning taste buds. We interviewed Greg Pope, the proprietor of the distillery.
Greg, I would like to kick off by asking what the backstory is to setting up the Missouri Ridge Distillery, how you came to be involved and what drew you to the project?
GP: I was exposed to alcohol manufacturing early in life. I literately cut my teeth on homemade moonshine (Grandpa would numb my gums as an infant with a drop of shine).
My grandfather was a real moonshiner during the prohibition era. He made a fine product and people would come from far and wide to get their hands on his spirits. My Uncle continued to run Grandpas still after his passing. I always had a strong interest in making spirits, but that passion was not fulfilled until much later in life. I started brewing beer when I was around 40 years old. I had a “homebrewer” neighbor that helped me with my first beer batch. It was a Belgium Double. The beer was quite good, and I was hooked. Since then I have won awards for my beer through AHA/BJCP.
I have spent years reading and researching the art and science of distilling. I designed and built my first still. My column design was one that I had never seen before. To this day, I think that I am the only person in the world that uses this design. I canted a pot still column and packed it with copper wool. My first run was a Bourbon Whiskey. I gave some of it to people whose opinion
I admired and respected for feedback. The feedback was amazing.
My second run was a Highland style single malt whiskey. Both were amazing. I’ve had hundreds of people tell me that they had never tasted whiskey so young, and yet so flavorful and smooth. So, knowing that my wife was retiring from Veterinary medicine and that I would need to work for some time yet, we decided to open a distillery.
Please tell me how the distillery came about? What was your vision. Tell us about the name. Is it a family business?
GP: We relocated from Salt Lake City, UT to Branson, MO in 2013. During our move, I had 2 heart attacks and that put a temporary hold on the distillery idea. However, we continued searching for land. We looked for about a year and we finally found the property where Missouri Ridge Distillery is located today.
Our property is the top of a ridge in Missouri so we thought why not call it Missouri Ridge Distiller? For our logo we used the M and the R from our name and added Whiskey. Thus, began Missouri Ridge Whiskey, MR Whiskey, or Mister Whiskey as is my nickname. We are 100% family owned.
Greg, what have been the main challenges involved in setting up a new distillery? And what has been the part you’ve enjoyed most?
GP: The main challenges were finding a property that had the appropriate zoning, met the restrictions of not being within 1000’ of a church or school. It also needed to be something we could afford. We found our property, but we needed to change the zoning. The conditional use permit process to change the zoning provided a new challenge. We were successful in changing the zoning and that allowed us to build Missouri Ridge Distillery. It took us about 1.5 years to build the distillery. (I would like to thank Taney County Planning and Zoning Department. They were so kind and helpful to work with.)
I really enjoyed the construction process. I was the General Contractor and I hired out a few trades to assist me in building my distillery. I was hands on every single day and the few trades that I hired did a great job.
What exactly does your job entail?
GP: As an Owner, and the Master Distiller, I wear every hat… From helping in the tasting room to smoking our BBQ, running the kitchen and stills, giving tours, ordering materials, mowing the lawn, picking up trash, doing the landscaping, cleaning the bathroom. No job is to big or small… I’ll do it all and I love it!!!
I am truly thankful for my Assistant Distiller Gary R. Wells. Gary and I do all the distillery functions as a team. We do the Mashing, Fermenting, Distilling, Barrel fill, bottling, sales etc… Gary and I met at a fermentation festival held in Ozark MO, in November of 2015. We became fast friends and I offered him a job working for me. Gary has been a member of the family since April 1, 2016.
Welcome to the family Gary! So what whiskey expressions do you currently produce?
GP: Missouri Ridge Distillery makes Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey, American Single Malt Whiskey (Highland style Scotch), Corn Whiskey, Sugarshine/Moonshine and flavored moonshines. We also make Silver, Barrel Aged, and Spiced Rums. And I am currently developing a Wee Heavy Scottish Ale inspired whiskey.
What attributes do you feel a Head/Master Distiller should posses in order to create a great dram?
GP: First and foremost, you need a deep seeded craftsmanship passion. Learn all that you can about brewing a great beer before you try to make whiskey. Chemistry and science are of critical importance in understanding the nuances that play such a dramatic role in brewing and distilling. But chemistry and science are only a part. Without the passion and drive, it would be just a job.
Why did you start production? Did you see a gap in the market or was it to fulfill some passion?
GP: I did not feel a lacking in the distilling industry. However, I fell that there is always a need for high quality products, regardless of the industry. We make fantastic spirits and I believe our customers would agree. I tell a lot of our guests at Missouri Ridge Distillery “My job is better than your vacation…” It is intended to be a joke but let’s face it, not many people get to make whiskey for a living. I am truly living a dream come true.
Walk us through the distillation process. From grain to glass? Is there a flavor profile you’re looking for before bottling the whiskey?
GP: We start with American sourced products. Everything we use is grown and processed in America. We mash our product on site. I have a 738 gallon (22 barrel) mashtun that we make 600 gallon batches in. We transfer 300 gallons of wert into a couple of our closed 330 gallon fermenters. Then we pitch the yeast and let the yeast do what they do. Upon the completion of the fermentation process, we pump the “beer” into our stills and distill it into fine spirits. We have two 450 gallon stills made by Confederate Stills of Alabama.
While they have a 450-gallon capacity we charge them with 300 gallons. We usually collect around 50-60 gallons of high proof spirit for bottling, or barrel aging, depending on what spirit we run. Our Stills are 100% copper and the columns weigh in at just over 1000 pounds. We pack our columns with 2100’ of 99.99% pure copper mesh/wool. This provides for a one run and done product that is as smooth as anything you will ever taste.
Craft distilling has become incredibly huge – as there’s still no official definition, how would you define “craft” and do you think Missouri Ridge Distillery fits into this category? Why?
GP: Personally, I think that the word “Craft” is more an aspect of pride and passion, rather than batch size. In my opinion, however, I think if you are producing more than 50,000 cases annually you are probably more like a macro distillery, rather than a micro distillery.
At full production running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I could only produce around 15,000 to 18,000 cases annually. Yes, I believe that I am a micro distillery, and more aligned with a Craft or Artisanal distillery model. I estimate that I will produce around 3,000 to 7,000 cases of product annually.
Talk for a minute about your choice of still – how did you know it would create the flavor profiles you were looking for?
GP: Since I created my own column design, I sized up the column to match the ratio from my small homemade still to our larger commercial stills. So often you start with a particular piece of equipment, get used to it, and then when they step up in size and quality, the equipment changes and they cannot duplicate the same quality on a larger scale. Because I kept the same design, I could maintain the same quality and flavor profiles that I had produced in the past with my smaller still. Also, by transitioning from a stainless steel still and copper column to a 100% copper still and column, I know that my whiskeys and moonshines are even better than before.
What is in the pipeline for 2017 that we should look out for?
GP: We are looking forward to growing our customer base and picking up a distributor that can take our product to a national market. We are excited to showcase our distillery to the masses. We have typically have live entertainment on the weekends, and our tasting room offers complementary tastings of our high-quality spirits. We also offer Texas style BBQ, and exquisite Ozark Mountain views.
Would you say now is the most exciting time to be a whiskey lover?
GP: Absolutely! With the rapid expansion of craft distilleries across the United States, we can sample many fine American made whiskeys. I believe that the craft distilling industry is today where the microbrewing industry was 30 years ago.
Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
GP: If you find yourself in or around the Ozarks, we would love to meet you and give you a tour of our fine facility!! Our hours are Tuesday-Thursday 11-7 and Friday-Saturday 11-10.
You can find us on Facebook @Missouriridgedistillery and the internet at http://missouriridgedistillery.com
