This Friday, Crawford Brewing Equipment, a division of the Crawford Company in Rock Island, Illinois, will deliver and install a new 1,400 gallon mash tank at the distillery.  The new mash tank has been custom built to specifications from MRDC and will nearly triple the distillery's brewing capacity.

"When we started, we brought most of our equipment over from Germany."  said co-owner and distiller Ryan Burchett.  "It makes it tough to get parts for repairs when you have to go half way around the globe.  We noticed the great work Crawford Company did building the equipment for Front Street Brewery in Davenport.  So we asked them if they could help us as well."

Keith Gerks, division manager for Crawford Brewing Equipment said it wasn't a big stretch for them to build a tank for a distillery.  "The principles are the same as for our beer tanks.  These guys actually need less equipment on the inside than the beer equipment.  It was just a matter of making it big enough so the distillery could continue to grow with it."

"We love to work locally." said Burchett.  "It's what our brand is built on.  All of our spirits are made from grain sourced from farmers within 25 miles of the place.  We thought why not use equipment made locally too?"

The growth is part of a large scale push to increase production at the small distillery.  "Our spirits continue to turn heads in the marketplace." said co-owner and distiller Garrett Burchett.  "We've been winning awards across the country and now our products are available in 25 states.  So with more people asking for it, we need to make more of it."

The distillery just finished the addition of a 1,500 square foot barrel storage room.  The new barrel room triples the whiskey storage capacity of the small distillery.  "We have to make the whiskey now that we plan to sell in a few years because of the aging process." Burchett added.  "This new mash tank will allow us to distill a lot more whiskey and the new barrel room gives us the storage to have more aging than ever before."

Mississippi River Distilling Company is entering their 5th year of operation in LeClaire.  Along with the growth of the distillery, construction is underway on the new Green Tree Brewery business next door to the north.  Local restaurateur Barrel House is planning to begin construction on a new restaurant this spring as a neighbor to the distillery on the south.  "It's really exciting to see this end of downtown LeClaire coming together."  said Burchett.  "This is becoming one of the premier places in the entire region for tourists and locals alike to enjoy shopping, dining and to enjoy a good drink!"

Our Exclusive Private Chef Dinner Menu is ready! Now Dining Out with Your Vegetarian and Gluten Free Peeps won't be so hard!

Don't forget to book your Valentine's Dinner

Celebrate the Food Hub Local Market starting year three at the Freight House on Saturday January 17^th with complimentary delectable mini cupcakes, fresh hot coffee and other bakery samplings from our kitchen and store.

We will be launching our first Hot Soup Saturday featuring two options - Tuscan Soup and a Vegetarian Carrot Soup.

We'll have a store full of special activities, demos and samplers throughout the day.

Also at the Freight House, award-winning ice-sculptor Dawson List returns to Davenport from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for IceStravaganza to amaze attendees with hand-made ice sculptures carved live on site with pieces that celebrate our QC and river heritage.

With whiskey sales on the rise, more people are discovering there are plenty of ways to drink the distilled spirit than just straight on the rocks.

Drink mixologists enjoy finding more and more ways to complement the whiskey flavor with a plethora of other ingredients, whether its syrups, fruit juices, vermouth or even tea.

A growing willingness to experiment with whiskey and bourbon as the primary ingredient in a variety of cocktails is just one of several ways consumer habits have been changing, says Steven Earles, CEO of Portland-based Eastside Distilling (www.EastsideDistilling.com).

"People are drinking less wine and more whiskey, and women have become more inclined to give whiskey a try," says Earles, whose company already experiments with a variety of flavors in its drinks, such as Cherry Bomb Whiskey and Oregon Marionberry Whiskey.

The trend of finding more ways to include whiskey in cocktails also may be just one of several factors helping to add to the bump in whiskey sales. As of November 2014, Whiskey sales were near $4 billion, in contrast to $3.5 billion in 2013, according Nielsen research.

For distilleries, those numbers may mean a toast is in order. For consumers, that toast may involve a mix of flavors made just to their liking - but definitely is still on the rocks.

Recipes For Mixing It Up Yourself

Perhaps the classic whiskey cocktail is the Old-Fashioned, around since the late 19th Century. But for those looking to add even more variety to their whiskey and bourbon selections, Eastside Distilling offers these cocktail recipes:

• Earl's Demise
25 oz. Cherry Bomb Whiskey (one 750ML bottle)
12.5 oz. Burnside Bourbon
75 oz. Smith Teamaker Earl Grey Tea (chilled)
25 oz. Orange juice
25 oz. Simple syrup
12.5 oz. Sweet vermouth
5 tablespoons Peychaud's Bitters

Mix all the ingredients in a large punch bowl, then add ice or ice ring. Serve in small punch glasses. The mixture serves 10-12 people.

• The Sideburn
1 ½ oz. Burnside Whiskey
¾ oz. Aperol
½ oz. Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
1 oz. Fresh lemon juice
½ oz. lavender simple syrup
13 oz. Old Fashioned glass over ice

Fill a 14 oz. rocks glass with ice, add all the other ingredients and stir.

• Eastside Civil War
1 ½ oz. Burnside Bourbon
½ oz. Cocchi Torino Sweet Vermouth
½ oz. Cynar
2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashion Bitters
Amarena cherry

Add all the ingredients, except the cherry, to a 16 oz. mixing glass (pint glass). Fill to within 1 inch of the top with ice. Stir until chilled and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an Amarena cherry.

• Marionberry Beret
1.5 oz. Marionberry Whiskey
.5 oz. Dry Curacao
2 oz. Fresh Grapefruit juice
Served on the rocks

Fill glass with ice, add Burnside Bourbon and recipe ingredients.

About Steven Earles

Steven Earles is the CEO of Portland-based Eastside Distilling, (www.EastsideDistilling.com), a producer of handcrafted spirits created from local ingredients and focused in small batches to ensure unparalleled quality. He is responsible for Eastside's day-to-day operations as well as overseeing the company's brand development and financial strategy. Earles, who joined Eastside in 2009, has more than two decades of executive experience and orchestrated the development and building of one of the largest land-development companies in southern California.