by Markby Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap
I had a nice phone conversation this past week with Alan Bishop, the Master Distiller of Old Homestead Distillery at Patoka Lake down south and west in Indiana. Our talk concerned a corporate group wanting to do a tasting and a lecture on Indiana craft beverages, and I thought Alan would be a perfect person to talk about the past, present, and future of Indiana spirits. But there was a side bar to our conversation that changed the weekend for Walter and I.
I asked a simple question, “What’s new at the distillery?” And he proceeded to tell me about Wickliffe Bell, a poitin (Irish/Welsh style moon shine) using peat smoked apples and oats. Well, he had me at peat smoked. I love peated whiskies, peated Wee Heavies, gins aged inpeat smoked barrels….basically I’m a fan of anything you can peat smoke. He said that the Wickliffe Bell was going behind the bar on Friday, and that immediately made me think of taking a drive down to see the Old Homestead Saloon and taste what he has going on.
Walter joined me for the ride, and I’m glad she did, because we learned it is a lot more than that just a distillery that happens to be by the big Patoka Lake. Our plan was to arrive early (the saloon opens at 11am on Saturdays), which would give us time to then visit DJ McAllister’s Patoka Lake Brewing, the Patoka Lake Winery, finish up at Yard Goat Artisan Ales in Huntington, and still be home in time for Walter to catch OPL and miss any weird weather stuff that might happen.
What we didn’t appreciate is the destination nature of Patoka Lake. Old Homestead shares space with Alcohol Acres Hotel, and both are adjacent to the winery and brewery. You walk into the hotel and turn right for the distillery, left for the winery, or across the parking lot for the brewery. Patoka Lake has a huge selection of different accommodations, including floating cabins, houseboats, family cabins, and silo suites, but if you tell me my room is over the distillery or winery, then I know where I’m staying.
Walter and I will definitely want to come back in the summer, do some fishing, do some drinking, and do some veranda sitting, but that is for another day. Today we’re tasting the white spirits, cordials, and definitely the Wickliffe Bell as we look forward to the bourbon and whiskey that will coming down the pike in the near future.
The Wickliffe Bell didn’t disappoint; peat smoke is there but not overwhelming, the apples smooth out the texture, as do the oats, but it still gives a kick at 139 proof. I chose to do mine with a chip of ice that pretty much eliminated the throat and chest burn, although Shanno behind the bar was a proponent of straight water with the pour.
Walter had a couple of spirits flights. She started with the Sunshine Spirits, which are moonshines made with Indiana sunflower seeds. There are three, the base version has the seeds, grains, raisins and sugar, while there is also a version with Indiana corn and one finished on Brazilian Amburana wood. She finished that flight up with an slightly aged apple brandy (Alan brought this spirit back a decade ago), and botanical spirit with herbal tea and cane sugar.
Her second flight were cocktails… a cocktail flight is a great idea. She did an espresso martini, a lemon drop, and something called, Let’s Go Bigfootin’, with sunflower seed moonshine, strawberry basil syrup, lemon juice, and ginger beer. That was her favorite of the entire session, bright, and refreshing.
We walked around for a while before heading over to Patoka Lake Brewing, just about 500 feet from the front door of the distillery. DJ started this brewery in Jasper, as Schnitz Brewing, and then it had a second life in the same location as Lighthouse Brewing before moving the xx miles to Birdseye and setting up shop near the lake. The move was a magical thing, as I have really been enjoying the beer since they landed at the lake.
The taproom was packed when we arrived at 1pm on a Saturday, which is a great sign for the state of craft beer in Indiana. We waited a while to get a couple of seats at the bar so we could talk the beer while I kicked myself for forgetting to bring my case of brewery stickers. They have a good wall of stickers going, something you see less and less nowadays. Well, another reason to come back.
We split a flight of beers, including the core session IPA, a Scottish ale, a wonderful chocolate coffee porter, a peanut butter porter, and a really nice Oktoberfest. We got to talk to Kristie behind the bar when she was free, but DJ was up in Indy for Winterfest. Lunch was ordered from the hotel across the lot and they waked it over for us, and it was all very good.
After beers, we drove around the lake for a bit, imagining how relaxing it would be in the summer. Being from Indy, we just hadn’t gotten down here very often, and hadn’t drunk the place in at all. Now that we are in the know, we’ll be back for a weekend and not have to worry about driving.
We finished the day by heading the 18 miles to Huntingburg and had a pretzel and some beers at Yard Goat Artisan Ales. The doppelbock was bready and rich, just as I wished it, and Walter’s Imperial IPA (she started big) was a bit juicier than she likes, so she switchover to the Citra dry hop ale, which she loved. It was good to see this place very crowded as well, right in the middle of the afternoon on a wintery day. I moved on to the Oktoberfest (my second of the day), and loved the fact that it was served in a dimple mug. All beers taste better in a dimple mug.
They had 4th Street in front of the brewery blocked off for a “chocolate stroll,” one of several they do each year for different holidays and occasions. I asked if it affected business and they said it was basically a wash, they people brought in for the stroll sort of offset the lost business due to lost parking spots. Walter loves it when small towns do these sorts of things, while Indy is becoming just too big and impersonal for her. A small town with a brewery, close to other small towns with breweries and distilleries – that’s her ideal.
We headed back to Indy without stopping at St. Benedict’s Brew Works, another small town stop in southern Indiana. Our plan is to come down this summer for a weekend and do all the attractions including letting Walter run wild at the casino in French Lick. Think of that, within 20 miles you’ve got a destination hotel and lake with a brewery, winery, and distillery, plus other small towns with breweries, and two resort hotels with a casino. Whether it’s alcohol or other amenities, this part of the state has you covered.
