So what do you do when you already have a big job — huge private and public construction projects that require full-time management?

You start a completely new job alongside it. 

Amy and Steve Bohner are the owners of Alchemy Distillery (oh, and also Alchemy Construction — which specialized in green building designs).

“We understand boilers, we understand heating, process heating… so it wasn’t very scary … If you have the mindset and tools to overcome the obstacles, it’s not that big of a deal.” - Steve Bohner

“It was a dream of ours to use exclusively local grains,” says Amy Bohner. Using grains purchased from Rhonda Wiedenbeck of Beck’s Bakery (grown in the lovely fertile growing region of Honeydew, CA), they are making Boldt Whiskey.

“Our very first batch that we made on this still, we came out with 290 bottles. That’s pretty small,” says Amy. But she says it’s all about choosing quality over quantity. “Everything that comes off this still can be divided into three categories - head, heart, and tails. The first thing is heads is acetone, it’s methanol, it’s stuff you really don’t want to be drinking.”

If you want to know head, heart and tails of the distillery process…learn about the whiskey trail… experience the majesty of the gigantic U.S. made distiller check out their recent interview on KHSU’s Food For Thought. 

[NOTE: This audio story is part of a LoCO/KHSU collaboration and originally appeared here. Since 2009, Food for Thought has been an opportunity to meet the people who bring us the food we eat via a radio program on KHSU.]