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150 YEARS OF YELLOWSTONE BOURBON WHISKEY
HOW LIMESTONE BRANCH DISTILLERY REVITALIZED A CLASSIC SPIRIT
No words can accurately describe the majesty of Yellowstone National Park. A beautiful landscape that sprawls over three states and fosters a diverse wildlife ecosystem that includes wolves, bears, elk, and bison, park conservation efforts will preserve its legacy for centuries to come.
It’s no coincidence that Yellowstone bourbon, a product of Limestone Branch Distillery in Kentucky, also embodies that fundamental desire to preserve the beauty of the past. Limestone Branch carefully distills Yellowstone to honor the traditions of yesteryear, resulting in bourbon replicating the post-prohibition flavors that contributed to economic recovery near the end of America’s Great Depression.
Limestone Branch’s master distiller is Steve Beam, who founded the distillery with his brother in 2015. The brothers represent the newest generation of bourbon experts from a long line of bourbon-distilling families. Many may recognize the last name Beam, also the name of one of the most popular mainstream bourbon brands on the market. On the other side of the family are the Dants, whose namesake is another favorite among bourbon enthusiasts.
This year, the distillery celebrated the Yellowstone brand’s 150th anniversary, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone bourbon dates back to the Beams’ great-greatgrandfather, who named the whiskey after a salesperson who had traveled out west and suggested that calling it Yellowstone could tap into the enthusiasm surrounding what was then a newly-established national park.
“Yellowstone was a brand that touched both sides of my family. It’s what was in our house when I was growing up as a kid. So, I definitely had a connection to Yellowstone,” Beam says.
It was just a twist of fortune that the brothers revitalized the Yellowstone brand only a few years before a show of the same name would emerge as one of the country’s most popular television shows. The association is coincidental, but the show’s success has almost certainly attracted more attention to the whiskey as well.
As a brand, Yellowstone was fully operational for over 100 years. However, in the 1990s, the distillery shut down due to a struggling bourbon market. Luxco purchased the Yellowstone brand, choosing to bottle and sell the whiskey as a non-distiller producer. Yellowstone continued without a distillery until 2015, which was when the Beams sought to bring the Yellowstone brand home to its roots as an authentic Kentucky bourbon.
“We worked out the deal with Luxco, who owned the brand at that time, and they bought part of our distillery. Then, with that
transaction, the Yellowstone brand was transferred to Limestone Branch,” Beam says.
But that was only part of what the brothers wanted to do with the namesake.
“We wanted to be as authentic to where our family left off as possible,” he says.
It took some ingenuity, but Beam found a clever way to tap into both the art and the science of distilling to replicate those flavors of decades past.
The Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown, Kentucky, owned a yeast jug that Beam’s family members had passed down through the generations before donating it to the museum in the 1980s. Beam recalled hearing how scientists had recently sprouted palm trees from seeds found in the pyramids. He wondered if similar technology might help him tap into that yeast to make the Yellowstone bourbon recipe authentic to the bourbon his ancestors made generations before.
It involved tracking down a source for yeast, an ingredient integral to bourbon-making. There are numerous strains of yeast, and matching a modern yeast to an older one would be like finding a needle in a haystack. But that knowledge didn’t deter Beam. A little luck led him to the yeast his greatgrandfather and grandfather used to make Yellowstone.
-STEVE BEAM
He contacted Ferm Solutions in Danville, Kentucky, which specializes in yeasts, enzymes, and antimicrobials. The company used advanced biology to source the yeast DNA, which they matched to the strains. Each distillery has its own microflora and stills, meaning any product made today can never 100% accurately reproduce something as old as Yellowstone. However, the yeast allowed Limestone to produce bourbon that’s strikingly close to the flavors and processes the company used 150 years ago.
“The whole industry is a blend of modern technology and craft, and at Limestone, we wanted to make sure we stayed connected as a craft,” he says.
To add to the authenticity, Limestone Branch uses very little automation. Instead, Beam opts for a hands-on approach that prioritizes smells, tastes, and sights rather than readings from machines.
As the master distiller, Beam takes care of everything from grain mashing to acting as a brand ambassador, educating people about the whiskey and the unique processes that distinguish it from competing brands. When he began his journey toward opening a distillery, there were no college classes or tutorials to show him the ins and outs of the discipline. Even though both sides of his family have bourbon distilling backgrounds, he had plenty to learn about the complex processes involved in distilling the perfect bourbon.
But when bourbon distilling is in your blood, you’re a willing student. Although many distillers have degrees in chemical engineering, Beam leveraged his background in landscape architecture to tap into the more creative aspects of the distilling process.
The distilling process at Limestone Branch involves milling grain and fermenting it for two and a half days. It then goes into pot stilling, which separates it by boiling points. That process will separate the alcohol from the water and grain, the latter of which they sell to local farmers as cattle feed. Then, the mixture goes through a second distillation, after which it ends up in the barrels.
Beam’s job is to ensure all of this goes according to plan. He’s also responsible for blending, such as the blending processes involved with developing Yellowstone Select, a blend of four- and seven-year-aged bourbon.
“The four-year gives you some of the grain notes and sweetness from the corn that comes through, and the seven-year gets a little bit more of the richness from the barrels, so you get caramels and vanilla. That provides a nice mouthfeel and a really nice finish as well,” he says.
-STEVE BEAM
In addition to Yellowstone, the distillery also produces a rye whiskey called Minor Case, named for the brothers’ grandfather and preprohibition distiller Minor Case Beam. It’s a light rye, right on the cusp of a rye and a bourbon finished in American cream sherry casks.
Beam also crafts the distillery’s annual limited edition spirit, which provides an opportunity for experimentation.
More than just an homage to years past, the Yellowstone name has come to represent the Limestone Branch’s values. The distiller regularly donates to conservation efforts and finds ways to support the Yellowstone
YELLOWSTONE WAS A BRAND THAT TOUCHED BOTH SIDES OF MY FAMILY.
-STEVE BEAM
community, such as donating more than $100,000 for repair efforts and cleanup in Yellowstone and the surrounding communities after the region experienced unprecedented flooding earlier this year.
But ultimately, it comes down to making classic spirits, perhaps even ones that his family will still enjoy 150 years from today.
“We have always sought to make an authentic American spirit, drawing from our past, but with a modern twist,” Beam says.
To find a Yellowstone distributor near you, use the product locator tool at www.limestonebranch.com
