Although I have been aiming to focus more on sports posts, I couldn’t pass up this story. Best wishes to the King family and to the newly formed Ironclad Distillery. Cheers!!
About a year ago, I noticed an e-mail message in my Google mail account. By itself, this is not an odd occurrence, but what stood out is that the e-mail came through an account I have with the Guru website. Guru is one of those one-stop shops for freelancers like myself who are in search jobs for their companies.
Turns out the mail came from a man named Steve King, and his message was indeed interesting. To paraphrase, it said, I’m looking to open a bourbon distillery in downtown Newport News, and can we talk? When I inquired for the directions, he told me to look for an older looking warehouse down on 23rd Street, in fact, just across from City Hall.
Really? You got my attention.
While I’m not at liberty to discuss what we talked about, I was pleased with the visit. Years ago, Steve bought a beautiful old three story brick building to house his Paul Davis restoration company. But the reality was that his company only needed about a third of his building’s 30,000 square feet.
But that was OK, as I was about to see. King spent the next hour showing me the “other” side of the main level, and in the process taught me a little about the bourbon industry. He showed me the wooden casks – “new white oak! The bourbon picks up flavor from the wood” where his product will ferment and go through the process of becoming bourbon for a minimum of two years. I saw the 26-gallon stills – “we pour in 22 gallons and heat to 180 degrees.” I saw the barrels of corn, wheat, barley and rye, a distiller’s dream. King adds, “We get those (corn and wheat) from a farm on the other side of Williamsburg (Renwood Farms), which is the oldest operating farm of its kind in the United States.
At the end of the process, King will be the proud owner of Ironclad Bourbon. The name itself is reminiscent of the Monitor-Merrimac battle, which is apt because you can see where the actual battle happened from his spot at 124 23rd.
City leaders are hoping that Ironclad will become one more stepping stone in its efforts to revitalize downtown. Plans are in the works for tours of the plant (got mine already!). Davis already has a son, Owen working for on board. In fact, it was Owen who gave WAVY-TV 10 their tour of the plant. The Ironclad label was designed by Davis’ oldest son Ben, and Steve’s daughter Kara is the company’s Creative Director.
The plans for Ironclad are big for the Davis family. “We want to move up to a 100 gallon system, then possibly 150...200, says Steve. “A couple of 100 gallon systems would be enough to produce enough product to be commercial.”
As the only new bourbon distiller in Hampton Roads, the King’s have a clear path on the road to spirits success.
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| Logo for the new Ironclad Bourbon |
About a year ago, I noticed an e-mail message in my Google mail account. By itself, this is not an odd occurrence, but what stood out is that the e-mail came through an account I have with the Guru website. Guru is one of those one-stop shops for freelancers like myself who are in search jobs for their companies.
Turns out the mail came from a man named Steve King, and his message was indeed interesting. To paraphrase, it said, I’m looking to open a bourbon distillery in downtown Newport News, and can we talk? When I inquired for the directions, he told me to look for an older looking warehouse down on 23rd Street, in fact, just across from City Hall.
Really? You got my attention.
While I’m not at liberty to discuss what we talked about, I was pleased with the visit. Years ago, Steve bought a beautiful old three story brick building to house his Paul Davis restoration company. But the reality was that his company only needed about a third of his building’s 30,000 square feet.
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| Little ways to go before the distillery is finished, but the bourbon is holding up well! |
At the end of the process, King will be the proud owner of Ironclad Bourbon. The name itself is reminiscent of the Monitor-Merrimac battle, which is apt because you can see where the actual battle happened from his spot at 124 23rd.
 |
| The (un)finished product!! |
The plans for Ironclad are big for the Davis family. “We want to move up to a 100 gallon system, then possibly 150...200, says Steve. “A couple of 100 gallon systems would be enough to produce enough product to be commercial.”
As the only new bourbon distiller in Hampton Roads, the King’s have a clear path on the road to spirits success.
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