Proudly based in Scottsbluff Nebraska
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A brief history of distilleries in Nebraska.
On Jan. 16, 1920, prohibition became the law of the land. Nebraska had gone dry two years prior, but many in the rural Nebraska Panhandle were undeterred, keeping barn stills and bathtub bootlegs hidden in order to maintain their own stash of hooch. However, when the 18th Amendment was overturned in 1933, the Great Depression made it difficult for any sort of commercial distillery to return to operation. Today, only seven micro-distilleries operate in the state. Only one exists in the Panhandle. It's the first of its kind. -Courtesy Spike Jordan, Star-Herald
Humble Beginnings
Phil Mitchell and Austin Propp started Great Plains Distillery with a single 15 gallon beer keg that was converted to be a still. Phil spent the next couple of years experimenting with different ingredients and component configurations to get the mixtures just right.
Growing Pains
In 2017 they upgraded to a much larger 120 gallon reflux still. Even though the recipe was finalized, upscaling production to 105 gallons of mash was a challenging task. There have been a lot of growing pains and testing done in order to scale the same recipe at larger volumes, but they've figured it out.
More to Come
Vamoose Vodka is really just the beginning. GPD has plans for producing Gin, Rum, Whiskey, along with other flavored Vodkas. The best way to keep up to date with the latest offerings is to follow Great Plains Distillery on Social Media sites like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.