Rare Find; old sour mash yellow whiskey jug
Kenneth Burk dug up a large, yellow whiskey jug on his farm East of Hawesville recently. The writing on it reads: C.F. Breidenbach, Distiller of sour mash, handmade liquor.
C.F. Breidenbach’s family and friends called him Charlie. He ran a riverboat out of Hawesville and had a distillery under the river bank, in a cave.
Charlie’s brother, Samuel Breidenbach, farmed and owned a coal mine out Hwy 69. Samuel and his wife built a big, tall brick house on a hill in Hawesville across from where Bill’s on the Hill is now. Samuel’s father was Jaken Breidenbach.
Linda Tongate, local retired HCHS teacher, is Samuel’s granddaughter. Her “Uncle Charlie” as family called him, passed away before she was born.
History of Sour Mash: The sour mash technique is a particular approach to fermentation that dates to early scientific breakthroughs in whiskey making during the 19th century. At the dawn of the Industrial Age, scientific-minded people like Dr. James C. Crow and contemporaries were discovering breakthroughs in the field of chemistry — unlocking the keys to mysteries that surrounded the fermentation, distillation and maturation processes. To learn about sour mash history more about sour mash whiskey, go to; www.gentlemenranters.
