Founded in 2012 by Natasha and Ryan DeHart, Bendt Distilling produces 1,200 barrels per year of straight whiskeys and whiskey blends using traditional distillation methods. Grains including wheat, rye, barley malt, oats, corn and triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye) are ground to the consistency of coarse flour, then mixed with water, cooked, mashed and fermented. After fermentation, the strip run (first round of distillation) separates out the alcohol from the fermented mash. The remaining grain/water mixture, called stillage, consists of water containing 5% to 10% grain solids.
In its watery state, the stillage is a waste product to the distillery but contains enough grain and nutrients to be useful to farmers as livestock feed. Originally, Bendt pumped the stillage into a 20-cubic yard disposal container for pickup by farmers at no charge. This saved the company disposal costs as long as the stillage was collected. If it wasn’t, the company had to pay to have it hauled away.