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Award-winning distillery opens downtown location

Posted at 1:08 PM, Nov 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-24 14:08:09-05

A local award-winning distillery is now open for business in its new location in downtown Waco. 

Balcones opened it's new multi-million dollar facility, a two year project  in the making. The new facility allows fans of the local whiskey better access to the product. 

"It's just a bummer to hear someone [say] they have been trying to get in forever and they love it. They love your product [and] they can't find it. They can't get on the tours...it's like...frustrating," said Jared Himstedt, head distiller at Balcones.  

The new 65,000 square foot facility features a three floor warehouse that allows the distillery to expand production thanks to its new towering copper stills. 

"Even though we quadrupled capacity here, we aren't going to make four times the amount we used to. We might make more 2.5 or 3 times more," said Himstedt. "We could never really give ourselves the luxury to experiment and work on new recipes down there because once the beast got going and gained some momentum any day you weren't working on a product that was tried and true, people have orders in and they are waiting 3 months to get it. Any day not doing that seems silly at the time. When we are making 10 a day and our tanks can hold more in one day, so we have already done a bunch of different things where we kept like 30 barrels worth, put 10 on each floor and dilute them to different proofs. Tweak just that last one or two percent and take something from an A to an A plus."

Despite the larger facility, with bigger and more efficient machines to help, Himstedt and his crew promises the product and the quaintness that has made Balcones so popular will never go away, just as the company has made the same commitment to staying and growing in Waco. 

"I think Waco's culture and personality affects how we work and how we approach this and definitely makes its way through into the final product," said Himstedt. 

The distillery is now giving tours until January. 

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