Best Little Distillery in Austin – The Still Austin Whiskey Co. (Part 1: The Story)
I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered the best distillery inside the city of Austin (and only distillery in the city since prohibition): Still Austin Whiskey Co.
I spent the day at the distillery and had the pleasure to meet owner Lisa Braunberg, the head distiller, and several other members of the team. I got to hear the story about how three couples with a love of both whiskey and the city of Austin dreamed up Still Austin Whiskey Co. and turned it into a reality. As someone who is no stranger to distilleries, I absolutely loved the appearance of Still. Everything from the tasting room, to the distillery, to the pipes that transfer the mash and water add to the beautiful and clean design of this building. But, what’s more important than my girly tendencies to love pretty things, their grain whiskey is wonderful.
Head distiller, John Schrepel, who is formerly from the Black Dirt distillery in New York, has been in the distilling business for seven years.
He is the one that runs all day to day operations in the distillery and he has benefited from the mentorship of distiller Michael Delevante. I was lucky enough to pick his brain for about an hour and a half on everything from the type of yeast they use and why, to the exact operation of the 42ft still affectionately named Nancy. His enthusiasm for whiskey and the distillery he runs was evident and probably the only reason he was not ready to strangle me as I asked my endless questions.
The real differences that made Still stand out from other distilleries I toured is the use of Texas ingredients, the technology used on the Nancy, and the way they helped transform the community. Their mash uses Texas white corn, wheat, and barley mixed with naturally limestone-purified Texas water. I was a bit scared to taste the fermenters’ beer at first, as I’m to the sour flavors from Kentucky, but was pleasantly surprised with the sweet grainy taste. I am inclined to attribute the Texas white corn for the extra sweetness that carries through to the grain whiskey.
After it’s finished, they take all the fermenters’ beer over to Nancy, who has the task of turning it into that sweet whiskey. She is a 42ft column, or Coffey, still which is by far the highest I have seen. It is connected to a digital system that makes the distilling process much more accurate, allowing them to have more control of the final flavors with less trial and error than a new distillery would typically experience. One of my favorite parts is that all of the fermentation tanks are named after famous men like Frank Sinatra and Mark Twain, but they leave the real work to the ladies.
Most distilleries explain the low wine and high wine distilling process exactly like I did in my which whiskey series. Still Distillery went a step further and explained the heads, the hearts, and the tails. This is the first time I had ever heard this in over 15 distillery tours. They explained each very professionally but I enjoy stories…
Once upon a time Sorority Goldie Locks stumbles into the distiller’s house looking for a drink. She wouldn’t want heads because they were not distilled enough, last time she was sick for days. She wouldn’t want the tails because they were distilled too much, they barely had any flavor. She would drink the hearts because they were just right! Then she takes an Uber back to the house because the distiller needs his sleep!
Now, after all of that I am sure you are ready for a drink. I have never been to a distillery that did not seem more like a family than a place of work, Still Distillery is no different. It’s one of the many reasons I love whiskey. Even better, the Still is part of a much larger community. The Distillery location sits in the center of a transformed rundown factory area to “The Yard”. The Yard is composed of Still Austin Distillery, The Austin Winery, and Saint Elmo’s Brewing all occupying the factory area and just a convenient Uber ride away from downtown Austin.
These areas have both indoor tasting rooms and (on nice days) dog friendly outdoor areas, entertainment, and different food trucks at each establishment. They’re perfect for a fun day full of tastings, creative cocktails, and yummy food trucks. Sitting in Still, I loved how complimentary everyone was of their neighbors and how they regularly recommended customers to visit their neighbor’s establishments, creating a community feeling. Thank you to The Still family for letting me do my “yoga session” in your distillery. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers!
Best little distillery in Austin – The Still Austin Whiskey Co. (Part 2: The Whiskey)