- We gotta nail down that distillery, very simply.
That's your hub.
Let's get out that map,
make sure they're in the right location.
Let's get that done.
- Alright, I'm on it.
(thoughtful music)
- Meeting with Gary went great.
His recommendation is lock down
that manufacturing, which in my case,
is the distillery.
Thanks for giving me a call back.
Actually, a spirit made from whey.
I know it sounds crazy but it's good. (laughing)
When I started looking for a distillery,
the biggest thing was finding someone
who could actually ferment and distill,
like a true craft distillery.
So, had to map out all the options.
So I started making some calls.
- Okay.
- And I found one distillery that's worth talking to.
- Okay, where are they?
- Like, right where we want 'em.
From Gary's background, and he's see it firsthand,
every mile that I have within my supply chain
is a mile that I'm paying for,
'cause I know at least 10 whey supplies within this circle.
I know Robin's here
and that's definitely within scope
so I think it's worth talking to her.
- Yeah, okay.
(friendly music)
- Even though there's plenty of options of whey,
I knew I had to do due diligence
to understand their operations
to make sure I could get it from them.
So it it pretty much the smaller the cow,
the more concentrated it is?
(laughing)
Is that like a rule of thumb?
- Well, people want the brown cows
to have chocolate milk, but.
(laughing)
- The first question I had for Robin
was just how much cheese does she make?
How much whey does she have available?
- We always have excess whey.
We produce twice a week, givin' 1,800 pounds of whey.
- So, how much whey on those production days could I get?
- 1,800 pounds.
- 1,800 pounds, you're like
I want it to go. - And if you take whey,
then I can make more cheese.
- Robin can't be my only supplier.
She's small but when I'm running very small runs,
I think Robin's gonna be an excellent person to work with.
Your whey, can I get a sample of it?
Can I try it? - Yeah, yeah.
We can send you off with a sample.
- Okay.
Can I come here every day, Robin?
- [Robin] You bet.
- Robin was located right by OSU
so I wanted to pop in and talk with Zak
and the pilot plant who deals with this stuff every day.
- These tanks we have are three barrel tanks.
If you're gonna look for a distillery,
that's gonna produce this product for you
on a commercial scale, that may be far less than you need
to do a production run.
- This distillery up in Portland I was looking at--
- Oh yeah?
- I'm gonna check out, yeah.
- Which one?
Trail Distilling.
I'm visiting tomorrow and they said they can do it.
I think as an entrepreneur
you have to keep your hopes in check.
If this distillery doesn't work out
I need to go back to the map and start planning again.
It would definitely be somewhat of a step back,
'cause I'd have to rethink my entire supply chain.
It's like moving a chess piece back.
Looks pretty cool.
I think the biggest thing is, this is something
they haven't done and this is something I haven't done.
So it sounds good on the phone
but when the rubber hits the road,
is the infrastructure there
to be able to do it?
It's beautiful.
- [James] Yeah, looks great.
- Yeah, it does.
It smells good.
- [James] Yeah, what's it smell like they've been making?
- Gin.
- [James] Gin.
- Yeah. (laughing)
Look at those columns, that's perfect.
- [James] Yeah, they're huge.
- When I walked in, I was really excited for what I saw.
And look at all these tanks to ferment in.
They can actually make it.
And IBC totes, so that's always a good sign.
- Yeah, and a forklift so
get it off the truck. - Forklift, yeah.
- [James] That's killer.
- This looks fantastic.
This is a great distillery.
They've done a great job building it.
They've thought through a lot of those pieces
and it has everything that I need to start Wheyward.
Step one, right?
And then you have a bunch of fermenters.
Okay.
And you would be able to bring in whey in a tote?
- [Sara] Yes.
- Okay.
- Through the door.
- So, because it looked good and it was a great option
I took what Gary said and wanted to commit
to a trial right away.
(giggling)
- It smells really good.
Now, I'm looking forward to coming back
and doing a trial, seeing how everything works.
You pumped?
- Yeah, this is good.
I'm happy. - Yeah, it's a good still.
- I think entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster.
There's ups and downs and you need to be able
to at least, buffer the ups and manage the downs.
I think having an mentor like Gary,
who's gone through the unknown before
is a great person to have as a sounding board and a mentor.
- It's very simple.
It's all about determination.
That ability, when it's dark,
when it's cold, when things aren't working out,
when the cash is tight, when your heart is in your throat,
it's the ability to stay with it.
(hopeful music)