Garrison Brothers

Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Written by Brian Donnelly, CSS, WSET III

Overview

Dan Garrison was the Vice President of Marketing for a software company in Austin, Texas, before he created a Bourbon brand. When his most prominent client, Enron, went bankrupt due to account fraud, (Book Recommendation) his company also went bankrupt, and Dan, along with 12,000 other Texans, lost his job. At the age of 40, Dan Garrison needed to figure out what he would do next to support his family. Dan was a lifelong Bourbon drinker, and his wife told him with as much Bourbon as he drinks, he might as well make the stuff. This came after Dan was poking fun because his wife drank vodka, which he viewed as tasteless and bland. According to Dan, “All great ideas come from wives who didn’t know what they’re getting themselves into.” Needing to reinvent himself, Dan took this remark as permission from his wife and headed to Kentucky in 2003. While in Bourbon country, Dan visited nine distilleries and was blown away by the wide selection available.

Before visiting Kentucky, Dan was introduced to a woman nicknamed Mack, who was the former director of marketing for Buffalo Trace and had recently moved from Kentucky to Texas. Mack introduced Dan to a who’s-who of Kentucky Bourbon’s royalty, including Max Shapiro (Heaven Hill), Bill Samuels Jr. (Maker’s Mark), Craig Beam (Heaven Hill), Harlen Wheatley (Buffalo Trace), Elmer T. Lee (George T. Stagg / Buffalo Trace), Eddie and Jimmy Russell (Wild Turkey), and Dave Pickerell (formerly Maker’s Mark). Dan just took notes, learned, and finally wrote up a new business plan for what would become Garrison Brothers. Dan borrowed money from his dad, brother, and wife to start the brand. First, he had to overcome several legal challenges to ensure that he could produce Bourbon in the state of Texas. At the time, Texas did not view the liquor industry as a growth industry. The distillery received its federal permit in 2007 and the state permit in 2008. Since Dan didn’t have any money and had yet to sell a bottle of Bourbon, his first employee was a retired local carpenter named Fred Cook, that helped build the budlings at the distillery. Next, the current Master Distiller, Donnis Todd, arrived at the distillery and pitched Dan on hiring him, even though the company’s financial were minimal. Now Donnis runs the entire facility, knows how to fix everything from the plumbing to the electrical lines. Dan says that Donnis is the best distiller in the whole country, and without him, the brand would have never survived. In addition to distilling, Donnis also understands every aspect of the aging process in the unique climate of Hye, Texas. There is a fantastic write-up about Donnis in Esquire.

Using a 100-gallon Vendome copper pot still that Dan purchased from Elmer T. Lee, former Master Distiller at George T. Stagg (now Buffalo Trace), Dan and his first employee worked 24 hours a day in 8-hour shifts for the first three years to reach the point where they could sell their bourbon. Dan also received a lot of help from his friend and former Whistle Pig Master Distiller Dave Pickerell, who passed away on November 1, 2018. After a lot of trial and error and overcoming many challenges, Garrison Brothers sold their first bottle of Bourbon on Texas Independence Day, March 2, 2010. The first release was a one-year-old bourbon called “Young Gun,” sold in a 375 ml bottle that Dan purchased at a discount from a glass plant. At the time, he didn’t have enough money for a custom bottle. The distillery didn’t have any employees to bottle the bourbon they were making, so Dan recruited neighbors and friends from nearby Stonewall, Texas, to help with the bottling. He paid them in free BBQ, Beer, and of course, Bourbon. Now there is a long wait for volunteers who want to help dip the top of the bottles in wax. In addition to bourbon, the brand also has a 501(c)(3) charitable organization called “Good Bourbon for a Good Cause” that has raised over 1 million dollars for important causes, such as veterans with PTSD, health care for hospitality, workers, Texas state parks, and Covid-19 relief.

Production

The mash bill for Garrison Brothers Bourbon is 74% Corn, 15% Red Winter Wheat, 11% Malted Barley. The corn is food grade # 1 white corn, sourced from a farm in South Texas, with a larger kernel which will produce more starch and more sugar. The non-GMO Red Winter Wheat was grown on Dan Garrison’s 90-acre farm. The brand uses some barley sourced from Texas, but most of the barley comes from colder climates in the Northern United States.

Water & Fermentation

The water source for all aspects of the product comes from filtered rainwater. Each building on the property is equipped with rain catchers. Garrison Brothers use a sweet mash fermentation method, which means the distillery does not use a sour mash*, or backset, technique during fermentation. This is one way Garrison Brothers creates a stylistic differences between their product and the main stream Kentucky Bourbon brands, since this practice is the standard for the big Bourbon distilleries in Kentucky. Fermentation takes about four days to complete and produces a wort with 22% ABV, which is exceptionally high compared to other producers. The higher alcohol comes from, the larger grains, which will have more starch to convert into alcohol. The production runs 24/7 and 365 at the Garrison Brothers Distillery, and it only takes four days to go from grain to barrel.

*The sour mash technique adds “backset,” or the highly acidic residue that comes out of the base of the beer still after distillation to the next round of fermentation. This acidic residue maintains the PH levels during fermentation, provides consistency, and adds flavor.

Distillation

The first still at the Garrison Brothers Distillery was a small 100-gallon (378 L) Vendome pilot still that Dan Garrison purchased from Elmer T. Lee, the former Master Distiller at the George T. Stagg Distillery, now Buffalo Trace. Supposedly, this was the pilot still that Elmer T. Lee used to develop Blanton’s, which was the first commercially available Single Barrel Bourbon. The distillery now has four different copper stills made by the world-famous Vendome Copper & Brass in Louisville, Kentucky. The newest and main still is a 2,000-gallon, 16-foot heigh, copper pot still, with eight rectification plates, nicknamed “Big Johnson.” The other two stills are 500-gallon copper pot stills, nicknamed “Fat Man” and “Little Boy.” In keeping with their tradition of doing things differently than the big distilleries in Kentucky, the Garrison Brother’s Distillery does not use a Thumber. It completes their distillation in a single run. Dan and Donnis feel that this creates a bourbon with more texture and body. Finally, the distillery does not filter the wort before distillation, and the proof off the still is between 125 and 138 (62.5 - 69 % ABV).

Maturation

The aging, or maturation process, is one area of production that truly separates Garrison Brothers from other Bourbon brands, especially those made in Kentucky. The distillery is in Hye, Texas, located about an hour and a half by car west of Austin. This part of Texas has much more very intense temperature swings than Kentucky. The climate here is scorching with temperatures that can reach 115°F (46°C) in the summer, and 40°F (4°C) in the winter. These temperature extremes put enormous strain and pressure on the aging Bourbon barrels.

In the beginning, Dan Garrison purchased his first barrels from Kelvin Cooperage. These were smaller barrels with a 3-minute toast and # 4 char. He filled these barrels completely full of new make spirits, or white dog, not wanting to waste any space in the barrel. At the time, the distillery didn't have their aging facility barns, so Dan kept the barrels in used shipping containers, which only increased the heat. Eighteen of these barrels "popped in the first summer," which meant the staves cracked from the heat and pressure and spilled the aging spirits everywhere. Dan sampled what little product was left and realized he was onto something if he could figure out what type of barrels would work in that climate. He continued to use smaller 15 (57 L) and 30-gallon (114 L) barrels but worked with the cooperage to create thicker staves, which are about one and a quarter-inch (3.17 cm) thick. In addition to the thicker staves, Dan also left more headspace in each barrel, only filling each barrel about 90-95% full. This would allow more room for the bourbon to expand and minimize the pressure on the wood. The customer is paying for the liquid in the bottle and all the lost juice. Eventually, Dan began to understand the aging process in Hye and how he could use that to his advantage to make great bourbon.

The brand continues to purchase barrels from Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville, Kentucky, made from American Oak sourced from the Ozarks, and Barrel Mill in Avon, Minnesota, which are made from American Oak sourced from Minnesota. Both kinds of wood are seasoned 36 months before being used to make barrels. These barrels receive a 3-minute toast, then a 53-second char. Master Distiller Donnis Todd uses multiple barrel entry proofs depending on the cooperage, product, and barrel size. The general range is 111 to 124 proof (55.5 – 62 % ABV). There are five one-story aging barns on the property. The brand still uses transatlantic shipping containers to create microclimates or different aging environments. The shipping containers are 40 feet by 8 feet, and each can fit 36 barrels. The angel's share, or evaporation rate, is between 13-15 %. To put that into perspective, the angel’s share in Kentucky is between 5-7 %, and in Scotland, it's only 2-3 %. All expressions of Garrison Brothers have aged a minimum of 4 years and are non-chill filtered.

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Note

Please visit the Garrison Brothers website for more information about the Laguna Madre or Hye Rye expressions. I did not include them, because at the time of writing, they’re distillery exclusive items.

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©2021 Garrison Brothers Distillery

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