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English Prairie Distilling Company

Writer's picture: Cru and Hannah Cru and Hannah

Updated: Feb 6

Muscoda, Wisconsin

 

Crusin’ Rating:  A

Booze Rating:  B+

 

This week, we are out in Muscoda, Wisconsin checking out a brand new distillery that opened in June of 2024 - which we would have gotten too sooner had we not been in Alaska at the time it opened!  Muscoda is just over an hour drive, following along Highway 14 out of Middleton and taking a right in Gotham,  past a little dive bar appropriately named “The Bat Cave”, and winding along the Wisconsin River for a short while.  There in the small village of about 1300, lies English Prairie Distilling Co. that we had the chance to review on a chilly winter's afternoon during a Packer game.  


Let me start by saying this - we’ve been to some small towns in Wisconsin and we’ve seen them house breweries, distilleries and other imbiberies and it can be a pretty mixed bag on whether or not the local folk are welcoming of a spot serving up something new and different.  We’ve seen craft breweries with licences to offer Busch to entice the locals,  and we’ve seen other places close because the local folk were just not buying into elevated cocktails or variously styled beers.  We really hope that is not the case here, and after our review, we were excited to learn that Muscoda was treating this new arrival in quite the opposite way - welcoming it with open arms.  



A quick fun fact - Muscoda may be (MUS-co-day) may be a corruption of the Ojibwe word “mashkode” which translates to “prairie.”  This is relevant as Muscoda was, in days gone, known as English Prairie and wherein our imbibery of the day gets its namesake from. 


Muscoda may appear like other small towns along Highway 14, with some shops that have seen better days and business that have long-closed.  There were telltale signs of life across the street from the distillery at the bar and supper club.  We honestly did not know what to expect walking in - and we were worried that we had come out only to be met with a closed sign - there were some conflicting hours on the website and Google.  



Luckily though, that wasn’t the case and inside we were met with a new, well-kept, and neat little tasting room that a few folks sat at the bar watching the game.  Immediately walking in, the bar is parallel to the door in front of you.  To the right is a small gift and swag area, and to your left, an area with some low tables, a door to the patio, and then a small more casual seating area with furniture.  Hannah and I figured just about 35 seats in the space with 13 of them at the bar.  



We were greeted happily by two bar staff and a fellow at the bar (who would later turn out to be the distiller/owner, Scott).  Hannah described the space as a modern speakeasy/lounge mix and I think she really nailed it.  There were dried snacks in a cooler and a cocktail menu with at least 20 offerings as well as flights of the spirits themselves.  I believe there were some wine options, but I don’t recall seeing any beer if cocktails aren’t your thing, but I could be wrong!


Within the drink menu, Hannah noted special Christmas offerings hanging around after the holidays,  winter specials, and standard offerings.  She also - as always, was busy scrutinizing decor and thought that some of the original tiles of what the building used to be remained in the entryway.  Hannah ended up being correct, the tiles are orgininal from what used to be the town bank. Where the bathrooms now sit, used to the be bank vault. You can still see the elevated spot where the vault would have sat. While we took notes, the bartenders checked on us several times and the owner offered us a tour, which of course we took him up on..


It turns out, that Scott owns the tasting room, the outdoor space, large shed behind the tasting room (which functions as a rickhouse), and that he bought a now-defunct antique store next door that he uses for all of his distilling work.  Scott was absolutely a wonderful host - answering a dozen detailed questions, describing his process, his thoughts behind each spirit and impressing upon us how he’s really trying to bring folks something new and local in Muscoda.  We were really excited to learn that the corn he uses is right from the mill down the street in Muscoda and that Perlick Farms - a distillery we visited before the blog started way up north - supplies their grains.  Man, it was so good to hear that as I feel it has been quite a white since we found a place focusing on creating things in Wisconsin using ingredients grown right here.  



Moving on, Scott was more than happy to let us know that he loves to experiment with flavors and more importantly, his philosophy is to distill things to his own taste - which we thought was a bold and unique perspective:


On the one hand, you can create imbibements that you love, and then hope that your customer base agrees with your palate and that you end up selling well.  The caveat is that if you only make things you enjoy - and this seems to be very true of beer especially - you run the risk of alienating part of your customer base.  Say you only make stouts - maybe the best stouts - you’re going to be really popular with stout drinkers at the risk of alienating anyone who wants a lager or a sour.    This method can work on a large scale - just look at Guinness.  But for small craft breweries - it carries a risk.  

On the other hand, you can cater to your customers, and make whatever they like.  This may please customers, but it also might put you at the whims of ever-changing trends and tastes and is going to be hard to keep up with financially and technically in terms of skill - it’s tricky to consistently deliver across widely varying styles.  


To this, Scott told us, he isn’t really distilling for anyone else, he’s distilling for himself and things he likes - that he wants people to enjoy his offerings but at the end of the day, he really has to like it.  We both thought that was a neat and straightforward perspective to have.  It turns out though, that he may be on to something when it comes to what he has to offer.


Usonian Gin (90% ABV) -  This gin had the usual juniper up front when smelling but then was full of orange peel and coriander  with some definite corn sweetness character in there and then finished with low bergamot. All of these different scents played together and made me think of a brightly spiced exotic dish.  Tasting here was sweet cereal grains up front, candied orange peel, black pepper, and low cardamon with a warm finish.  I think - for a first run at an experimental gin that it was nice to not be punched in the face by juniper and I am hoping that this recipe is worked over and fine tuned for a nice new American Gin that I can work into cocktails in the future.  I will definitely be keeping my eye on this as new iterations come out.

Fun fact - Usonian is a term that Frank Lloyd Wright used to describe the New World landscape (Usonia is the term he preferred to America, but that’s another story) - but really liked the use of this word to describe a new-world gin.


Railsplitter Bourbon (45% ABV) - Now, like with some other distilleries that are just starting out - the bourbon here is coming from 45th Parallel Distilling (Wisconsin) and then - we believe - is aged on sight at the rickhouse.  This is a fairly common practice - and you know even J. Henry doesn’t distill onsight due to the cost.  Of course we hope they are able to start distilling their own at English Prairie at some point in the future - but business is expensive and we learned a lot from Scott on the costs associated with equipment and space alone - you know we love to learn.  

This bourbon poured a light gold and smelled of light caramel, toasted sugar, and a little raw wood.  The flavor had some heat but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a hot bourbon wherein ethanol seemingly burns your tastebuds.  There were notes of sweetness, caramel, and even a little nuttiness in the finish.  I am interested to see if this ages more and picks up deeper complexity and varying notes from that process.


York State Rye Whiskey (62% ABV) -  This rye was fairly hot on the nose, with alcohol predominantly hitting your nose with some butterscotch in there for both of us but that’s going to happen with something this high in ABV.  Tasting gave a bit of a grainy spice - pepper, cinnamon, and caraway and low butter sweetness.  Due to the high-perceived alcohol though, some of these flavors you have to look for.  Again, interested to see if the plans are to age this one to see if flavors change.


Hot Honey Bourbon (~80 %ABV) -  This infused bourbon was an in-house offering that was being tested by Scott.  With an aroma of cinnamon-sugar, honey, and spice, it would be tricky though to tell that there was any sort of capsaicin spice just from smelling it.  Tasting gave heavy notes of honey and a significant amount of heat- one of the spiciest imbibements in recent memory.  This was a heat that was devoid of any sort of pepper-flesh flavor to the point that I thought it might just be capsaicin extract used - but after learning the process I was impressed to learn that peppers are in fact used.  This was a sweet heat that would go great as a glaze on chicken and Hannah thought it was tasty enough to drink straight or used- on a limited basis - in cocktails and would have bought some had it been bottled for sale.


After tasting the spirits by themselves we decided to taste some of them in cocktails.  In order to really examine the gin, we opted for a gin gimlet which is about as straightforward as you can get with lime, sugar, and gin.  This gimlet was coriander forward and a little on the sweet side but was a decent gimlet and I think you can play to the strengths of the gin in particular in different cocktails.  Trying the gimlet renewed my interest in seeing this spirit evolve and see it’s uses in warmer months.  The other cocktails we had were also solid and Hannah quite enjoyed the spicy “margarita” that used the honey bourbon.  


In all, this was an unexpectedly great trip where we found a spot that we will definitely be revisiting once the sun starts to shine more to check out live music, bring Barlow along, and enjoy the large patio.  Did we mention - yes, they are Frenchie friendly!  Scott was knowledgeable and really turned the trip into a hands-on learning experience for us and his enthusiasm for his product was infectious.  


It’s is a bit of a hike at over an hour out to Muscoda but we highly recommend checking it out if you’re in Madison or anywhere on the west side.  If you’re brave enough to make it a day trip from Milwaukee, you can check out some nearby attractions in Spring Green such as House on the Rock, Taliesin, or some solid hiking.


To learn more about English Prairie Distilling Co., please visit their website at: www.englishprairiedistillery.com or on Facebook: @EnglishPrairieDistillingCo or on Instagram: @English_Prairie_Distilling_Co

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