Who knows, maybe Oct. 1, 2016, will become an important date in Middle Tennessee drinking history, much like Sept, 6, 2013, which is when both Black Abbey Brewing and Tennessee Brew Works delivered their first kegs to Nashville retail accounts. Earlier this month Asgard Brewing Company and Leiper's Fork Distillery added their names to the ever expanding rolls of Tennessee beer and spirits producers.
In Columbia, Asgard owner John Porter and brewers Ryan Whitaker and Chris Davis are working to create their own version of Valhalla at their new brewery as they begin to work on their offering of Icelandic-style beers. Asgard is located at 104 East Fifth St. in Columbia, right on the Duck River. While they work to fill up their own tanks, the majority of the 10 handles in their taproom are occupied by local, regional and national craft beers, but their first release, Voyager Citra Wheat Ale, was available on opening night.
In order to present their own limited (for now) offerings in different ways, Asgard has been running Voyager through a randall filled with exotic flavoring elements like citrus peels and ginger. Think of a randall as a tea bag to infuse flavor into the liquid flowing through it, to create a new expression of the beer. Initial reactions to Asgard have been that it is a welcome and novel addition to downtown Columbia. If you’re looking for a special reason to visit, the brewery will be celebrating several traditional Norse holidays in the upcoming weeks, including Winter Nights Oct.28-Nov. 2 and Einherjar on Nov. 11. Say hi to Papa Odin!
Meanwhile, in Leiper’s Fork, owner-distiller Lee Kennedy has been working on his new operation for several years, developing the first legal distillery operation in Williamson County since Prohibition. Kennedy has a commitment to producing premium spirits in small batches, utilizing local ingredients whenever practical. To accomplish this, the distillery has constructed a very attractive facility in a large barnwood building at 3381 Southall Road. Utilizing a pot still from Vendome in Louisville, Ky., Kennedy and his staff are producing or planning to produce whiskeys under three brand names.
Old Natchez Trace White Whiskey is their unaged whiskey collection of a white Tennessee whiskey and a white rye made from traditional corn, rye and barley mash bills. Filtered through sugar maple charcoal as part of the Lincoln County process, these products are not aged in oak. White Maple TN Whiskey is an homage to the last legal distillery operating in the county, J.H. Womack and Bros. They have partnered with the former distiller and general manager of Woodford Reserve, Dave Scheurich, to select and blend five-barrel batches of Tennessee whiskey from another distiller which will be bottled and labeled under the White Maple brand. Instead of aiming to create the same consistent flavor in each bottling, Leiper’s Fork promises that each batch will have its own unique character.
Finally, Leiper’s Fork will be distilling eight to 10 barrels a week of their own recipe, which they are laying down in oak for a minimum of five to seven years before being released under the distillery’s name brand. In this collection, they will be producing both a wheated bourbon and a rye whiskey, so those could indeed be exciting products if you’re patient. Until then, you can drop by Tuesday through Saturday for a tour every hour on the hour from 9 a.m. until the last tour leaves at 4 p.m. The pay tours include a tasting for participants of legal drinking age.
