IRON FISH DISTILLERY
MANISTEE, MICHIGAN
THIS IS IRON FISH
Iron Fish Distillery was founded in 2016, as Michigan’s first farm distillery. Located along the Betsie River watershed, home of the Steelhead, we are “Returning Spirit to Its Origin” by creating a line of estate spirits, distilled from the ground up on our 120-acre farm.
Every step of our soil-to-spirit process, starting in our farm fields where we grow and harvest our own grain to milling, mashing, fermenting and distilling and barrel aging occurs on site. Iron Fish also sources bourbon for finishing in barrels from around the world. To date, our library of barrel aged spirits exceeds 1,000 barrels, consisting of carefully sourced farm barrel finished whiskies and estate whiskies distilled from grain grown on our farm and from nearby farms.
RETURN TO THE RIVER
Come tour Iron Fish for a taste of exceptional spirits, locally harvested and passionately produced and distilled in small production runs. We take our inspiration from the powerful, determined and strikingly beautiful Steelhead fish that run the Betsie River nearby. As the Steelhead return each year, we bring back the heritage and unique flavors of American small farm distilled spirits.
The two-generation farm along the Betsie River watershed went quiet for over two decades. Having grown up vacationing nearby, we knew the spirit of the landscape and wanted to do what we could to preserve it. We purchased the farmland in 2011, without purpose until 2013, when a trip to Northern Scotland changed our course. There, we drew inspiration from distilleries generations old and from a farm distillery on the Island of Islay. From this inspiration, Iron Fish Distillery came to life – and vitality has come back to this farmland through our long-shared family passion of craft spirits. Beyond family founders, our success lies in the hearts and skills of our team and in our shared commitment to give back to our community and protect the land.
~ Heidi Bolger & David Wallace, Sarah & Richard Anderson
