Hello, friends. April here again, with another blog post to catch you up on the last two years #downonthefarm. Today, I’m going to talk about the water Engineered Spirits uses. Specifically, the farm’s delicious springwater.
The farm has had a reliable springwater source at least since the mid 1800s, possibly even earlier. We don’t know who or when it was that someone first dug down a few feet and tapped into it, all those decades ago. But at some point after that, they or someone following them built the farm‘s historic springhouse out of local stone.
Those who followed after, including the Moore Family, used this same spring as their main water source until sometime in the 1980s. Over time, since the family now had water piped in from the local utility, the springhouse slowly fell into decay, while the spring itself still ran strongly beneath its crumbling walls.
Fast forward to 2020, when we first started planning our distillery business in earnest. Chip had the farm’s springwater tested and the results showed that it was “a distiller’s dream.” But we knew it would take time to find a stonemason who would take on the project we began to refer to as our “Springhouse Revival.” We didn’t just want to repair the building, we wanted to restore it to the way it might have looked over 100 years ago, with stone walls above ground, as well as below. But our immediate concern was just preventing it from falling in completely.
On the southern side, a pecan tree in the orchard had dug its roots into the stone wall, shoving it slowly but steadily inward. On the north side, water and weather had done their worst and that wall too was sagging inward, directly over the deep sump containing the springwater we needed. The concrete block our grandfather had put on top of the original stone structure had completely separated at the base and there were broad cracks in every section. It was only a matter of time until it all toppled in completely.
So, in December 2020 and into February of 2021, we worked hand-in-hand with Chip’s uncles and father to stabilize it. We first brought in a steel tower and steel beams, from which we suspended two 400 lb. steel plates that were held in place up against the two most damaged walls. Then, we added oak posts and a series of six house jacks, which we put up against them at either end, bracing the walls apart. Or at least, we hoped they would.
Luckily, our efforts paid off. Every few months, Chip would go down a ladder into the springhouse and tighten the jacks keeping the walls apart. Since we were going to need twice as much stone as before to rebuild it above ground, we began salvaging old cut stones from a fence that had been shoved off into our uncle’s field, just two miles away. We interviewed several stonemasons, too, but, for one reason or another, no one took up the project.
Then in 2023, we met Sammy, who’d been helping out some contractors working on Papa and Granny’s house. He had some skill at working stone, he said, and was willing to take on the job. He had done several stone walls around town and had spent some time apprenticed under an elder stonemason. We checked out some of his work and offered him the job.
This was probably one of the best decisions we’d made so far, although, given the amount of backbreaking work required, we’re not entirely sure Sammy would agree!
He began work the week of July 4, 2023. Within two weeks he’d removed all the concrete block and had begun taking the original stone walls down to be rebuilt. The third week, Chip and Sammy met to discuss the next stage of work. By then, he and his team had already remortared the lower part of the western wall, re-laid and re-mortared the lower section of the southern wall, and begun excavating the northern wall. His plan was to bring all four walls back up together.
Nonetheless, by December 2023, he and his crew of helpers had not only revived our springhouse; they had made it even more beautiful than we could have imagined. Our very own Christmas miracle. Sammy hadn’t just given us what we asked for; he had improved upon it in so many ways. If you’ve been following our social channels, you’ve probably heard about that.
Earlier this year, Sammy completed his last few tasks at the farm’s springhouse: black slates around the sump, a rustic door, and a screen for the window, so visitors can look in from the outside. It is truly a feat of craftsmanship and we look forward to the day when you can see it for yourself.
And, of course, best of all, now we have both our corn and our springwater. It’s another huge step toward getting all the main ingredients for making our own whiskey directly from the farm. Our corn, our water, our wood. 100% our whiskey.
Guess what I’m going to tell you about next.
Until then.