For generations people learned how to distill whiskey and other spirits by the traditional apprentice method: Go to an established distiller and learn the trade from them. In Kentucky, the tongue-in-cheek (but not entirely inaccurate) answer to “How do I become a master distiller?” was “Be born with the last name Beam.”
Now that name is attached to the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits at the University of Kentucky in Lexington where students of varying backgrounds (and surnames) can enroll to acquire the skills necessary for a wide range of disciplines in the state’s signature industry as well as to distilleries beyond its borders. It is largely the brainchild of Institute Director Dr. Seth DeBolt, an Australian who earned his doctorate in plant biology at the University of Adelaide describing a physiological chemical pathway in wine grapes.
Ilka Balk is the Associate Director of the Beam Institute and on the morning that I visited the campus recalled its origins, “I think it may have started over bourbon,” she said with a knowing smile.
“Seth DeBolt, our director, is a horticulture professor here. He came [from Australia] to Mondavi (Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley), settled in at UC Davis, and did more of his wine work there. For him it was just the most normal thing in the world that, of course, the industry would support research at an academic institution.”
When DeBolt arrived at UK he saw the prominent role of bourbon in the culture and economy of the state. According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, the bourbon industry has a $9 billion dollar imprint, directly employing more than 7,000 people. but there was not a university program for bourbon in Kentucky that parallelled the wine education program at the Univerisity of California, Davis.
Balk recalled, “He started teaching a basics course, a foundational course, started the certificate program in 2015, and we awarded the first certificates in distillation, wine and brewing from the university.”
The faculty for the certificate were from a variety of departments scattered across the sprawling UK campus. Balk said that DeBolt got some very odd looks as he carted around a wagon loaded with liquor from building to building. So, he started advocating for a physical home for the Institute and that’s when his idea of a bourbon industry and university partnership started to take shape.
Balk again, “In 2019 Beam Suntory (now Suntory Global Spirits) made a $5 million donation to fund a building housing a distillery, labs, and classrooms. Then COVID happened and construction was delayed and became more expensive.” Suntory increased its dollar donation and donated distilling equipment. Independent Stave Company, the largest barrel makers in the world, donated $1 million to build a small warehouse next to the distillery that holds just over 660 barrels.
The James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits finally opened its doors in 2024 and is part of the university’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. It also draws faculty from the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Communication and Information, the College of Education, the College of Design, the College of Medicine, the College of Public Health, the Gatton College of Business and Economics, and the James W. Marton School of Public Policy and Administration with the goal of preparing students, both from the university and from the community, for the jobs that the spirits industry wants to fill.
While the university does not offer a degree in distillation, it does offer a certificate in Distillation, Wine and Brewing. Students from a variety of majors across the university (as well members of the public not pursuing a degree) can tailor the certification to their particular professional interests. Completion requires taking 12 credit hours or four 3-hour courses. Half of those courses are mandatory, with the other two courses selected from 15 electives.
Distillation, Wine and Brewing Science combines the chemistry, biology, and technology of making alcoholic beverages with hands-on production. The second requirement can be chosen from Spirit Chemistry - which is even more focused on using the equipment as applied to making beer, whiskey, or other spirits – or Wine Appreciation or Brewing Science and Technology.
Electives allow students to follow particular specialties such as brewing, wine, spirits, hospitality and communication, and food science. Internships and study abroad, which has included trips to Scotland and Japan, are options, too.
Dr, Kevin Baldridge is the education coordinator who helps students navigate the combination of courses that best fit their professional goals. “Right now my focus is growing more offerings, explained Baldridge. “Currently, we have apprenticeship program that's a Department of Labor registered program with Jim Beam. We're looking at trying to bring that in-house so that we can have a UK sponsored one that would hopefully be able to serve everyone in the industry. I just started a project [to provide] small, modular, offerings that can serve individuals that want to enter the industry.”
Those classes would be for individuals not enrolled at the university.
Institute faculty member Dr. Harmonie Bettenhausen has degrees in food science and horticulture. “I came on about a year ago again as a faculty lecturer and teach a number of different courses, including our distilling, wine and brewing science class, which is the requirement for the certificate program. I also teach wine appreciation. This semester with Dr. Czarena Crofcheck [Professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering] we are teaching a little more of a technical sensory course.” Bettenhausen also guides both undergraduate and graduate students’ research, which is a major component of the Institute.
Dr. Brad Berron, a professor of chemical engineering, is the Beam Institute’s Research Director. “My main role with the Beam Institute is to coordinate the research program. So, my big job really is to go out and interact with distillers, try to figure out what their biggest needs are, and then find the academic experts that can really work collaboratively with the distilling industry to solve those challenges. I spent a lot of time working with professors, trying to develop the scientific plans, and also a lot of time working with distillers, trying to really understand what their most critical needs are.”
Several papers that resulted from Beam Institute research appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals last year. Among the topics were production of bio-methane (i.e. biofuels) from stillage, the effects interaction of certain wood sugars on interaction of liquid aging in oak barrels, barley varieties and malting techniques, and white oak conservation.
The Institute also holds a conference on campus each March that attracts speakers and attendees from across the globe. In 2024, 1,170 people came to Lexington from 40 states and 11 countries to hear more than 65 presentations on the technical, business, and sustainability aspects of spirits production. Ilka Balk, who is charge of organizing the conference, noted that this year’s attendance grew to more than 1,450.
There are also smaller meetings, such a recent Spent Grains Summit looking at new uses for the mash left at the end of distillation. Traditionally, this had been used as a high protein livestock feed, but there’s now more spent mash produced in Kentucky than pigs and cattle to consume it. Several companies working with distilleries to convert the stillage to biofuels took part.
Even with the importance of research, practical experience is emphasized. That was clearly demonstrated with the commercial release this year of the program’s first product, Wildcask Bourbon, a play on the name of the university mascot Wildcats.
Even though students work with the Institute’s head distiller Glenna Joyce-Welsko to learn how to run a still, this was a sourced bourbon blended from donated barrels. One was an 8-year-old 78% corn/13% rye, 9 % malted barley bourbon from Freddie Noe’s Fred B. Noe Distllery. It made up 35% of the blend.
Also comprising 35% of the blend was a 5-year-old 68% corn/20% wheat/18% malted barley bourbon from Bardstown Bourbon Company that was provided by Herb Heneman, vice president of brand sales and marketing for the distillery, who taught the class in order to give students experience in commercialization of a product. He also donated a four and a half year old 39% wheat BBC bourbon to make up the balance of the blend.
As part of the course, students created the blend, designed the label, got approval of the name and label design from all of the necessary government agencies, and worked with the three tier system to sell about 2,500 bottles of their 100 proof whiskey for $54.99.
Bardstown Bourbon Company has also been among supporters of the Beam Institute, which current has about 260 enrolled students, by providing scholarships. Others have been Suntory Global Spirits, Hank and Kathy Thompson, the Bourbon Women Foundation, and the Brewing Club of Central Kentucky. A new scholarship this year has been endowed by John and Elizabeth Koko, the co-founders of Horse Soldier Bourbon.
Suntory Global has assured the growth and the continued success of the Institute by following up its initial contribution with even more funding that in nine years will result on a $9.2 million endowment. Associate Director Balk explained this commitment, “The industry obviously recognizes the importance of having training, proper training for, you know, not everybody can be born into the Beam family.”
