Iron Fish Distillery is releasing the Mad Angler brand of estate whiskeys and will triple production capacity for its estate whiskeys with an investment of around $900,000 in new equipment and facility upgrades.
Since 2015, Iron Fish has grown and harvested grain on its farm and purchased grain from Michigan farmers to distill spirits and age whiskey. While waiting for its estate whiskeys to age, Iron Fish distilled vodka and gin from Michigan grain and sourced whiskey for its barrel-finished whiskeys, created and aged in three-barrel rack houses on the farm.
Iron Fish Distillery says it is Michigan’s first farm distillery and annually draws more than 125,000 people to its agricultural operations. Iron Fish is named for the Steelhead, Iron Fish is situated on the Betsie River, where it operates a third-party environmentally verified farm through the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program on the Betsie River.
Investment to expand the production of estate spirits will increase the amount of grain Iron Fish will purchase from Michigan farms to 725,000 pounds annually, increasing the number of growers supplying Iron Fish from six to 10 farms, including Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where rye grain has been sourced since 2015.
New distillery production equipment is on order and is scheduled to be operational in early 2023. Private investment and bank financing were supplemented with a loan from the Manistee Area of Commerce EDC and a $55,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
Iron Fish spirits are distributed in Michigan, Wisconsin, and home delivered in 40 states by the digital spirits retailer Spirit Hub. Iron Fish is expanding distribution to Colorado and California in September and Illinois and Indiana later this fall.
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