PAGE 89

• Articles •

Distilling Tradition: The Traditionalization of Craft at Bear Wallow Distillery

CAROLINE HUNDLEY MILLER Indiana University, Bloomington

Abstract: Moonshine has traditionally been defined by the illicit nature of its production. Increasingly micro-distilleries are basing their business on the production of “legal moonshine”—legally produced un-aged whiskey labelled by the distillers as moonshine. This paper draws primarily on ethnographic work at Bear Wallow Distillery to understand how the owners create a destination distillery by connecting their legal moonshine and distillery experience to a local moonshining tradition and a broader rural American imaginary. It will also explore issues of traditionalization and commodification of heritage through examining how micro-distilleries rely on a perceived connection with an “authentic” moonshine tradition even as they seek to challenge traditional definitions of moonshine in the development of their own moonshining tradition.

Bear Wallow Distillery is a family-run craft micro-distillery in Gnaw Bone, Indiana, nestled in the hills of Brown County. Brown County, situated about an hour south o f Indianapolis, is a popular tourist destination, especially for outdoor recreation. Its beautiful outdoor attractions include Hoosier National Forest, Brown County State Park, Yellowwood State Forest, Lake Monroe, and Lake Lemon. The distillery opened in 2014 and is owned and operated by Susan Spagnuolo. The distillery is truly a family-run business: Susan’s son Adam is the head of production, her son Jon is in charge of marketing and creates all the labelling and logos, and her husband Mike works at the distillery entertaining customers with highly engaging tours on the weekends. Bear Wallow make several types of small batch whiskeys, among them is a variety of legally produced craft “” or un-aged corn based white whiskey. Based primarily on an interview with Susan in 2016 and participant observation at Bear Wallow, this paper offers a case study of the ways in which legal craft moonshine is creating a place for itself both as an emergent tradition in its own Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 90

right and as a part of the genre of moonshine, despite the contradictions apparent in commercializing a tradition defined by its illegality.

Bear Wallow and Brown County That Bear Wallow emphasizes its connection to Brown County and a rural aesthetic is evident for the entirety of each guest’s visit, from the time they turn onto the gravel road that runs parallel to Old State Road 46, to the end of the distillery tour and tasting. Upon arriving at the 4,000-square-foot distillery, guests enter a large inviting tasting room. Natural wood paneling covers every wall giving it a log cabin-like feel. Soft lighting illuminates the wooden shelves along the walls that are stocked with handmade local products and whiskey infused foods, as well as some quirky locally and non-locally made gifts. On a given afternoon a visitor might purchase local bourbon aged maple syrup, age your own whiskey kits, locally made moonshine whiskey pickles, a “Battleshots” drinking game, locally made ginger and root beer, or locally crafted simple syrups and elixirs. Before going on an hourly tour of the production space, guests might walk up to the and order one of the Bear Wallow’s signature , “Moonshine Shake-Ups,” from the handwritten list on a chalkboard above the bar. The cozy aesthetic of the tasting room certainly invokes notions of a rustic past which contrasts with the warehouse-like feel of the exterior and the distilling space. The distillery production space has concrete floors, high ceilings, and holds two large stainless-steel fermenters and a copper still. In comparison to the tasting room, the distillery space seems very modern except for the beautiful old-style copper pot still. The back room of the distillery space is another garage-like warehouse room that holds the packaging equipment. A small forklift sits idle in the corner and the air is warm and heavy with the sweet malty fragrance of whiskey production—it smells like a whiskey lover’s heaven. This is where all the of their aging whiskey are stored, and the back wall is full of beautiful barrels. The juxtaposition of the rustic and nostalgic feeling of the tasting room and the generally more modern industrial feeling of the distillery space gives the tour participant the impression that, although the folks at Bear Wallow certainly see themselves as part of a tradition that is associated with a rural ascetic, they are also embracing the fact that theirs is an emergent tradition that incorporates previous

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 91

traditions rather than stays bounded within them. One gets the feeling of a connection to the past, rather than being thrown abruptly back into it. There is certainly a past for them to connect to in Brown County. At one time Southern Indiana and several surrounding areas were known to hold the highest concentration of illegal stills outside of the South Eastern United States. And indeed, Brown County is especially well-suited for moonshining. The many streams in Brown County were a crucial supply of cold running water, which is essential to the distilling process, before widespread modern refrigeration and the hilly terrain made it easier to hide stills (Blackwell 2016). This is a past of which the people who live and work in Brown County are not only well aware, but also to which they very purposefully connect. For example, in February of 2015 the very first exhibit to open in the new Brown County History Center in Nashville, Indiana, was called Moonshine Stills in Brown County Hills. Bear Wallow Distillery was invited to contribute a display about their craft moonshine. Also, in May of 2014, The Brown County Playhouse put on a play called If You Don’t Outdie Me. It told a history of Brown County in which moonshiners featured prominently through the eyes of a photographer who was famous for photographing moonshine stills from the 1920s to the 1950s (Blackmer 2016). The origin story of Bear Wallow, at least as Susan tells it, is deeply connected to this recognition of a local moonshining tradition. Originally, she hadn’t planned to open a distillery at all and was instead focused on her desire to create a business that fit into the story of Brown County. As Susan explained, The inspiration, first of all started with me wanting to own my own business. I was walking through life for those couple of years just looking around and seeing what kind of might be a good fit. The idea for Bear Wallow actually came through a vacation with our friends in Asheville, North Carolina. This brewery we were at ended up being right next to this little craft distillery [Troy & Sons Distillery], which wasn’t open at the time or anything. We kind of looked in the window and there was a little copper still and there was just something about it. It was just a little immediate thing that went in my head, “Oh my gosh this would be cool in Brown County!” And we weren’t looking for a business idea at that point. It just kind of came to me. That was the little seed of Bear Wallow...There are a lot of similarities between North Carolina and some of the things that were going on in Southern Indiana with moonshining. That just kind of confirmed for me that it would be a good fit for Brown County. What Troy is doing and what I am doing wouldn’t necessarily fit other places. But the history was there, and the history was here.

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 92

That’s where the seed started that this would be a neat story to tell in Brown County.

Since Asheville and Brown County are both popular tourist destinations, Susan, like Troy & Sons’ owner Troy Ball before her, decided to open a distillery based on an agritourism business model. As an agritourism destination, Bear Wallow’s clientele is primarily made up of out of town tourists. Therefore, it is vital that Susan and her team can create an image of Bear Wallow Distillery as a destination experience within Brown County, rather than simply a bar. Susan explains that Bear Wallow’s agritourism business model is not based primarily on repeat or “regular” customers the way a bar’s would be. It is not a bar, we close at 5:00 or 6:00. Tours are the main thing we do. It is not just something we do. It really is a tour where we educate people, entertain people and we just happen to be a business that is using grains to make whiskey. That was the type of business that we wanted to create, more of an agritourism destination experience rather than a bar.

Susan’s ability to create this destination experience depends on Bear Wallow’s capability to attract tourists. Jonathan Culler argues that tourists seek to “discover something which for them is unusual, authentic in its otherness, a sign of alien culture” (Culler 1981, 131). Although tourists who are visiting Brown County are probably not looking for a sign of something they would describe as “alien”, they are looking for something novel. In this case, connecting to a place that is completely new or, at least, is different from the one they inhabit in their everyday lives provides the novel experience that they are seeking. At Bear Wallow, visitors connect to Brown County through consuming its physical products of whiskey and other local goods while gaining esoteric access to the folk history surrounding moonshine in Brown County. This affords the tourist a connection to a specific history and space to which they previously had no claim. In addition to wanting something novel Culler argues that tourists also “set out in quest of the authentic” and that to be fully satisfying the site needs to be certified as authentic. He says the proof of this is that authenticity is a major selling point in advertisements and travel writing (Culler 1981, 131). Of course, many folklorists—notably Regina Bendix—have addressed the complicated and often problematic nature of the “A” word (Bendix 1997). Still, if one agrees with Culler that authenticity is a notion that exists

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 93

in the minds and desires of tourists, then authenticity is meaningful to the majority of Bear Wallow’s customers. If this is the case, then it is of concern to Susan and her team and they must consider the extent to which tourists perceive their product as tied to the sort of authenticity that Culler suggests they expect. Therefore, the Bear Wallow Distillery team is responsible for marking—or marketing, as it were—their legal moonshine and overall distillery experience as tied to some sort of authentic tradition. One of the main ways that Bear Wallow appeals to this demand for something perceived as authentic is through research that Susan and her team have conducted about the history of moonshining in Brown County that allows them to connect their whiskeys and distilling process in a local tradition that dates back centuries. According to Susan, after they began their research her team realized what rich connections their whiskeys could have with local stories and the history of Brown County. She says, “We always say we don’t have to make anything up because it was already here. It’s just a matter of tapping into what was already here. People in the community are well aware of the history of moonshine in Brown County.” This is especially true of their emphasis on highlighting the historical accuracy of their recipes. For example, their description of the Hidden Holler Corn Moonshine says, Made with the first legal still in Brown County, Hidden Holler Moonshine is typical of the kind of whiskey that is known to have been made in southern Indiana illegally since the late 1700's. This handcrafted whiskey is made from Indiana Corn and is an historically accurate example of what the best local farmer/distillers would produce. In the history of Moonshining in Brown County we found a description of a Moonshiner being pursued by the law, and it says," he escaped by hiding in a hidden hollow in the bear wallow", and now you know how we came up with the name! (Bear Wallow Distillery 2016).

Emphasizing the connection to “original” local moonshining traditions and recipe appeals to the guests’ desire for an authentic moonshine experience. In this way the authenticity of the moonshine creates a virtual experience for the tourist. They can experience the moonshine without the risks associated with illegal activity and can even purchase moonshine to enjoy in the comfort of their own home. The tourists’ perception of the authenticity of the moonshine combined with rustic aesthetic of the tasting room gives the visitor the sense of a connection to an earlier time without having to navigate the hassles that accompany time travel. Barbara Kirshenblatt-

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 94

Gimblett explains that increasingly people travel to actual destinations to experience virtual places. Like a museum that is located at the site of a building that is no longer standing, it offers the visitor the information necessary, like a computer-generated video, to clearly envision the building. These become the interfaces that allow us to see and experience things that we would otherwise be unable to experience (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1995, 376-377). In this case, the distillery tour becomes an interface that allows the tourist to learn about a craft that would normally require special access into a relatively secret community. Even for guests who live more locally, the distillery experience can become an interface for the actual experience of going back in time and tasting the moonshine that one’s forefathers might have drunk.

Positioning and Distinguishing Craft Moonshine In tying their whiskey to ideas of an “authentic” Brown County moonshine through emphasizing their use of local ingredients and historically accurate recipes, Bear Wallow is attempting to minimize the intertextual gap by adhering as strictly as possible to the conventions of the traditional (illegal) moonshine genre (Bauman 2004). Part of the goal in doing this, however, is to widen another intertextual gap—to expand the way that people think about moonshine to include legal craft moonshine, something which given the history of moonshine would seem like a contradiction to many. Bauman explains that widening the gap “allows for the adaptation of generic frameworks to emergent circumstances and agendas” (2004). In this case this is the broadening of the moonshine genre to include the new legally produced craft moonshine. However, it’s important to note that here the work is toward including this new moonshine as a sub-genre of sorts that exists alongside the illegal moonshining tradition that still exists in Brown County rather than to replace it. In their presentation of craft moonshine, Bear Wallow chooses to place little emphasis on the associations between the moonshining tradition and rebellion against official governmental or social control. This stands in contrast with the discussion in so me literature about most other legal moonshiners and with the portrayal of moonshining in popular media portrayals. For example, of the six distiller profiles in Moonshine Nation: The Art of Creating in a Bottle only two, one of which was Troy and Sons who served

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 95

as the inspiration for Bear Wallow, did not focus on the moonshine related arrests of the master distiller’s father or grandfather, or of the master distiller himself (Spivak 2014). Instead, Bear Wallow connects their whiskeys to a shared American past, prominent American historical figures, and local history. During my first visit to the distillery in December of 2015, Susan’s husband, Mike, who she describes as a history buff, enthusiastically regaled the participants of the tour with many stories about the history of moonshine, and whiskey in general, in America. We enjoyed accounts of everything from the legend of the invention of bourbon to the history behind whiskey’s status as the first true American spirit. One of these accounts is even summarized in the description of Liar’s Bench , which is centered partially on the spirit’s connection to George Washington himself. It states, After the Revolutionary War the main drink of the young nation switched from Rum to Rye Whiskey. Rum was identified with Great Britain & the New Americans wanted a drink of their own. At one time George Washington was the largest distiller in the country & the primary spirit he produced was Rye Whiskey. Liar's Bench Whiskey is handcrafted, using Spicy Indiana Rye & is named after the bench that still stands on the Old Courthouse Lawn in Nashville, IN, where it is documented that Moonshiners (and other more prominent town folks) used to hang out (Bear Wallow Distillery 2016).

This connection with George Washington in the description of their rye whiskey, although not moonshine itself, encourages the reader to connect Bear Wallow’s products to official rather than subversive histories. In fact, of the seven whiskeys described on their website [1] —which include three moonshines, a rye, a bourbon, a white whiskey, and a four-grain whiskey—only one description, that of the Hidden Holler Corn Whiskey Moonshine, makes any mention of the illegality of moonshining’s history. The other descriptions are more concerned with highlighting local ingredients and a connection to local history. The connection to place is especially apparent since reference to one hundred percent Indiana corn or other grains is mentioned in every description. Additionally, the top of the page includes a description of grains that are sourced from local farmers. Place is similarly evoked in the description of their flagship Hoosier Hooch Corn Whiskey Moonshine, which is also available in an assortment of flavored varieties, promises that it will provide a “unique Hoosier experience” for the imbiber (Bear Wallow Distillery 2016).

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 96

Labelling their whiskey “moonshine” makes sense for the diverse tourist demographic who are interested in forming a connection the place that they have chosen to visit and the sense of the “other” that is to be found there. This connection to Brown County also offers an added narrative to the whiskey that is unique to this specific place and cannot be entirely replicated by the distilleries on the nearby Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and perhaps more importantly for the story that Bear Wallow is trying to tell that connects to local history. As Susan explains, We embraced the history that was already here. We were not afraid to put the label “moonshine” on our products, while other distilleries that may not be the customer base that they are going after. What we found – which is cool and what, really, I thought would happen – is there is no one demographic for moonshine. The people that come in here that have heard about moonshine or watch the Moonshiners show or know about Tim Smith [2], the moonshiners are all over the place. So, moonshine maybe to some of the other distilleries has negative connotations that they might not want to have their products associated with, but we embrace it. That is kind of the story we are telling here. They did not call it “white whiskey” back in the day; they called it “moonshine.”

According to Susan the perception and definition of what qualifies as moonshine is changing: The real definition of moonshine used to be illegally made alcohol, basically. Now it is kind of known to be associated with an un-aged corn whiskey, typically a high proof un-aged corn whiskey. Typically, if people are talking about moonshine that’s what they are talking about…The culture now, if you think of moonshine that’s what you think of, corn whiskey that’s high proof. A moonshine, an un-aged corn whiskey, is a white whiskey so it’s really all the same thing they just have different names.

Susan’s “traditional” definition of moonshine contrasts with the one that she associates with the “culture now.” Her traditional definition, or what the “real” definition used to be, is illegally made alcohol—not even whiskey specifically, although that would have been the illegal alcohol of choice in Southern Indiana. The current definition, she believes, is “corn whiskey that is high proof”. The one essential element of her traditional definition—that it is was illegal—is not necessarily present in what she believes is the current popular definition. This conception of the changes in perceptions of what is considered important attributes for something to be qualified as moonshine is reflected in Bear Wallow’s image. The distillery is intimately tied with a local past in which the illegality of was

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 97

unavoidable and contributes a certain amount of intrigue. However, in the distillery’s image, as well as in the more current understanding of moonshine, a connection to the illicit history of moonshine is given a firm nod rather than an overly enthusiastic embrace. This definition of moonshine acknowledges the illegality, but it considers it an optional rather than integral part of what makes a spirit moonshine. This understanding of how moonshine is defined is supported on an official level as well. Unlike the strict regulations placed on like bourbon, rye, or , moonshine is one of the only spirits approved for sale in the United States that currently has no legal definition according to the US Government (Spivak 2014, 222). The consensus on what actually counts as moonshine seems to be an un-aged whiskey that is called moonshine by the people who produced it. In Moonshine Nation Mark Spivak says, “Most people would probably say that moonshine is un-aged whiskey made from a mash bill of sugar and corn, but other ingredients are often used as well” (2014, 222). He also notes that to be included in his list of moonshine distillers the distiller had to make liquor that they called moonshine; although he emphasizes that this is not an exhaustive classification (Spivak 2014, 222). By creating a place for craft distilled products within the genre of moonshine that is outside of, but still related to, that of illicit moonshine, distillers like Bear Wallow are working to loosen the genre of moonshine to include legal craft whiskey and thus the intertextual gap is widening. That said, Bear Wallow certainly benefits from the heritagization of moonshining, as seen in the plays and exhibits in Brown County that celebrate this history as local heritage. As Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett tells us, heritage is one way that a location produces the “hereness” that transforms a location into a destination in order to compete for tourists (1995). Many of the events and exhibits celebrating Brown County’s moonshine heritage focus only on illegal moonshine’s role in the past, ignoring or even erasing it as a living tradition while bringing attention to moonshine as an especially culturally valuable product. These public events do not, and cannot because of the very nature of the tradition, acknowledge the existence of an ongoing tradition of illegally making moonshine in Brown County. Considering Dory Noyes’ explanation of the paradoxes of heritage, this erasure is to be expected. As she explains,

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 98

Heritage recuperates a dead tradition of the lifeworld (or even kills off a living one) in order to bring it to a second life in print, in the museum, or onstage. There the tradition no longer serves ordinary social purposes but is an object of veneration in its own right, a monument of cultural identity; its form, “protected” from decay or corruption, becomes frozen in time (247, 2009).

At first it seems like Bear Wallow’s legal moonshine fits perfectly into this description of the way that heritigization gives tradition a second-life. After all, the legality and commercial aspects of it inevitably change some of the social function and context associated with illegal moonshine. However, Bear Wallow does not attempt to keep moonshine as an object “frozen in time,” even as it draws heavily on historical recipes and processes. Instead they present it more as a sub-genre of moonshine—intricately related and dependent on its illegal predecessor but moving toward a separate tradition in its own right that exists alongside an illegal moonshine tradition in Brown County. Thus, by working to loosen the intertextual gap that defines moonshine to include legal craft moonshine, craft distillers like Bear Wallow are allowing craft moonshining to be a tradition in its own right, rather than being seen strictly as a second life of illicit moonshining traditions. Adapting their products and distillery experience to the preferences and expectations of their customers ensures that craft moonshine is distinct enough from illegal moonshine that they can exist alongside each other. One such adaptation they have made involves the selection of products they offer. For example, on the tour when explaining how they choose which types of whiskey to produce they often mention that they thought they never wanted to make flavored moonshine now they have almost eight flavors of their Hoosier Hooch including everything from familiar flavors like apple pie and “backwoods blackberry” to ones less commonly associated with moonshine like salted caramel, seasonal candy cane, or “Front Porch Lemonade” which was even recently featured at the Indiana State Fair. Their production also illustrates Bear Wallow’s combination of connecting to illegal moonshine traditions and embracing innovation. On the tour visitors also learn about the aspects of the production process that they have updated from historical accounts to ensure that Bear Wallow makes a consistently high-quality smooth moonshine. Many of these include using the same technology that big distilling companies are using but on a

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 99

smaller scale. Bear Wallow embraces these changes in process and variety of products as innovation. Far from freezing illegal moonshining traditions in a second-life and offering them up as an object of consumable past, Bear Wallow offers craft moonshine as a sub- genre of the moonshining tradition—intricately related to and dependent on its illegal predecessor but moving toward a separate tradition in its own right that exists alongside an illegal moonshine tradition in Brown County. It seems possible that the capacity of these two traditions to exist alongside each other is helped by the necessarily private and secretive nature of illegal moonshining traditions compared to the public commercialized nature of the emergent craft moonshine. Since illegal moonshining was never meant to be visible to those without the necessary connections, it is easier for residents and visitors in Brown County to assume that it continues to exist in some capacity. This may make it easier for craft moonshine to thrive alongside illegal moonshine, embracing innovation to emerge as a tradition in its own right rather than as a frozen symbol of a bygone illegal moonshining tradition.

Conclusion Susan Spagnuolo’s vision for her business began as one that would tell a story in and about Brown County and her creation of a whiskey distillery came as a result of that desire. In doing so, Susan and her team have used the region’s official and unofficial histories at their disposal to create a business that appeals to a sense of Brown County’s “hereness” and Southern Indiana heritage by providing a new product that draws on an old tradition. In order to provide both the quality product and feeling of authenticity that her customers want, Susan has closely tied her moonshine to many aspects of the local tradition of moonshine defined by illegality while simultaneously recognizing and embracing rather than minimizing the insurmountable differences between a commercial spirit and one that is produced illegally. In doing so she is stretching the boundaries of moonshine as a genre category to include her high-quality craft—entirely above-board—corn whiskey. This preliminary exploration of craft moonshine distilling at a specific distillery in Indiana applies to a slew of craft and artisanal products, especially those related to the alcoholic beverage and tourist industries. Furthermore, it highlights issues that folklorists are uniquely positioned to address like the commercialization of emergent traditions. In

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 100

the process of creating a place for these products in a new tradition, people depend on the veneration of the existing tradition on which they draw as they find ways to separate from it.

Caroline Hundley Miller is a PhD Candidate in the Folklore and Ethnomusicology department at Indiana University, Bloomington. She completed a master’s degree in Folklore at UNC Chapel Hill and holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Elon University. Her research interests include women’s personal narrative, Ireland, collaborative methodologies, rumor and legend, and drink and foodways of the Southern United States. Her PhD dissertation examines the expression of identity and agency in Irish Traveller women’s narratives about accommodation discrimination and displacement.

Notes [1] This is reflective of their website in 2016, when the majority of the fieldwork was conducted. It has been redesigned since then but conveys much of the same information. [2] Moonshiners is a Docudrama television show on the Discovery Channel that first aired in 2011. It follows the lives and activities of several people in Appalachia who make illegal moonshine, although local law enforcement has denied the production of illegal moonshine by those appearing on the show (Associated Press 2011). Tim Smith is a prominent character on the show and has used this fame to launch his own line of legal moonshine (Tim Smith Spirits 2019).

References Associated Press. 2011. Virginia Authorities Claim Show ‘Moonshiners Doesn’t Show Illegal Moonshining. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/virginia- authorities-claim-show-moonshiners-doesnt-show-illegal-moonshining.

Bauman. 2004. A World of Others’ Words. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Bear Wallow Distillery. 2016. http://www.bearwallowdistillery.com/index.html.

Bendix, Regina. 1997. In Search of Authenticity: The Formation of Folklore Studies. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Blackwell, Mark. 2016. In the Still of the Night. Our Brown County http://www.ourbrowncounty.com/0406s4.htm

Culler, Jonathan. 1981. Semiotics of Tourism. American Journal of Semiotics 1.1/2: 127-140.

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. 1995. Theorizing Heritage. Ethnomusicology 39.3: 367-380.

Vol. 17, no. 1 (2020) New Directions In Folklore PAGE 101

Noyes, Dorothy. 2009. "Tradition: Three Traditions." Journal of Folklore Research 46.3: 233- 268

Spivak, Mark. 2014. Moonshine Nation: The Art of Creating Cornbread in a Bottle. Guilford: Lyons Press.

Tim Smith Spirits. 2019. https://www.timsmithspirits.com