Scott Bush

Scott Bush was born May 2, 1975 and grew up in Western Iowa listening to the stories of his great-grandfather’s illicit whiskey business. He graduated from East Sac County High School in 1992 before earning his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1996 and later completed an MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. He spent six years with JPMorgan Chase in Chicago and New York and then worked for CommonAngels, a Boston investment group. Those years in banking and venture capital gave Bush experience in finance, investment, and business development several years before whiskey became his profession.

Bush was first introduced to whiskey through his great-grandfather, Frank Schroeder, who was born in Templeton, Iowa, and made rye whiskey on the family farm outside Arcadia and Odebolt during Prohibition. Bush’s grandfather passed down stories about the whiskey and the western Iowa farmers who produced it illegally when agricultural families needed additional income. The stories remained with Bush, and in 2002, while attending MIT, he began developing the business plan that became Templeton Rye from his apartment in Massachusetts. Bush returned to Iowa and helped transform the Templeton idea into a booming commercial whiskey brand. Templeton Rye entered the market in 2006, and Bush served as its founder and president during a period of rapid expansion. The brand became a nationally recognized rye whiskey at a time when American rye was beginning a significant commercial revival. Ever the venture capitalist, however, Bush sold his controlling interest in Templeton Rye in 2016, ending his leadership of the company after approximately a decade. The sale gave Bush an opportunity to approach whiskey from a different direction. He began developing Foundry Distilling Company in 2016 with an explicit emphasis on making spirits in Iowa and retaining local participation and production control. The distillery opened in 2018 in West Des Moines’ Historic Valley Junction. Its home was a former Rock Island Railroad car-repair building constructed in 1899. The development combined the distillery with a beer hall and a commercial kitchen, linking beverage production, food, and public gathering space within one restored property.

One of Foundry’s most distinctive programs grew from the relationship between brewing and distilling. Through its Brewer-Distiller Alliance, the company worked with breweries that supplied wort based on established beer recipes. Foundry fermented, distilled, and aged that material, turning familiar beers into limited American malt whiskeys. The program preserved characteristics derived from each brewery’s grain bill and fermentation design while adding the concentration and barrel maturation of whiskey production. Those collaborations produced an extensive sequence of releases. Midnight Ritual, developed with Boulevard Brewing Company, reached the market in 2020. Foundry subsequently created Blonde Fatale Whiskey with Iowa’s Peace Tree Brewing Company, distilling the mash bill of Peace Tree’s Blonde Fatale ale and aging the whiskey in 30-gallon charred American oak barrels. The 100-proof release was limited to 1,000 bottles. Other projects included Sinister Malt Whiskey with Left Hand Brewing, Arrogant Bastard Whiskey with Arrogant Consortia, and Furious and Axe Man American malt whiskeys with Surly Brewing Company.

Bush also developed Foundry’s Private Barrel Club into a major part of the business. Instead of limiting customers to a standard single-barrel selection, Foundry allowed individuals, companies, and groups to taste curated whiskeys and create personalized products. Customers could visit the distillery or receive a tasting kit containing five samples, then select the spirit, bottle, closure, and label design. Foundry handled the regulatory, tax, production, and distribution requirements. By 2022, the company had produced hundreds of private-label barrels, and the program connected Bush’s experience in building whiskey brands with customers who wanted a branded whiskey of their own. Those activities extended the financial and entrepreneurial work that preceded Bush’s whiskey career, although Foundry remained the most visible expression of his second chapter in spirits.

But Bush’s whiskey destiny soon changed again. In 2026, Bush sold Foundry Distilling to Scott Turczynski, who began transitioning the Valley Junction property into “T12 Distillery at the Foundry.” Bush stayed temporarily as a consultant to assist the new owner, later explaining that he and his wife were approaching the point when their children would leave home and that it was again time to make a change. T12 continues operating at the same location while planning a larger, fully accessible distillery project in Bondurant, Iowa. Bush’s departure left Foundry as a completed stage in a career that had moved from banking and venture capital to Templeton Rye, then to an Iowa distillery built around production flexibility, brewery collaborations, and personalized whiskey. In the end, he built two of the most popular names in the history of Iowa whiskey, then exited the businesses at a time when the each of brands were valuable, customers were loyal, and sales were strong.

Sources:

Drake University, “Fall Let’s DU Lunch Series Begins with Talk by Templeton Rye Spirits Founder”, September 7, 2011, drake.edu
Heavy Table, “Templeton Rye of Templeton, Iowa”, Jason Walker, July 7, 2009, heavytable.com
Farm4Profit Podcast, “Farm4Fun—The Foundry Distilling Co.”,Tanner Winterhof, David Kurns and Corey Hillebo, July 6, 2020, simplecast.com
Wine and Whiskey Globe, “So You Wanna Be a Whiskey Maker?” Amy Lynch, June 12, 2023, wineandwhiskeyglobe.com
Craft Spirits Magazine, “Foundry Distilling and Boulevard Brewing Collaborate on Midnight Ritual”, August 13, 2020, craftspiritsmag.com
Cityview, “Scott Turczynski at the T12 Distillery”, Jim Duncan, August 5, 2026, dmcityview.com
T12 Distillery at the Foundry official website, foundrydistillingcompany.com

Contributed by Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee