Medium & Craft Distillery Founders
Midwest States
(NOTE: FOUNDERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
(This page includes Whiskey Founders from the states of Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin).
Below are links to Whiskey Founders Life Stories that have made huge contributions to the growth of the Michigan, Ohio & Wisconsin Whiskey Industry and Midwest Whiskeys in general. These may have been historical figures that lived long ago before prohibition or may be living leaders that have advanced the cause of the industry as a whole.
1
Brian & Renee Bemis
Driftless Glen
By the early 2010s, both Brian and Renée Bemis were accomplished in their separate careers. What they wanted next was something they could build together, a shared endeavor that blended his business experience with her creativity. That search led them toward American whiskey.
2
Joe Bidinger
Echo Spirits
In Joe Bidinger’s role at Echo Spirits, he is involved in distillation, recipe development, and production management, while also helping guide the broader direction of the business. Drawing on his background, he approaches distilling with attention to fermentation variables, distillation cuts, and barrel selection.
3
Ron Call
Green River
Ron Call is a seventh‑generation master distiller whose life seems scripted by whiskey. Born into a storied lineage dating back to Samuel Call, who ran stills in 1790s Kentucky, Ron grew up steeped in bourbon tradition. His early years were shaped by visits to Jim Beam’s Boston plant, where he delivered dinner to his father, Jacob Call, sparking a lifelong fascination with distilling.
4
Joe & Missy Duer
Indian Creek Distilling
Joe Duer had always been fascinated by stories handed down through generations. He was fortunate to meet a woman who shared his passion for old-school craftsmanship, history, and whiskey. His partner, Missy (née Staley), was born into a lineage of distillers at the Staley Mill Farm, which was first founded in 1818 in New Carlisle, Ohio.
5
Larry Ebersold
New Riff
uring his illustrious 38-year career, Larry Ebersold has become known as the “godfather of rye whiskey”. Larry holds a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering. He immediately started working at a small distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, which at the time was under the ownership of Seagrams, but is now known as MGP/Luxco. Larry became the Master Distiller and held that title there for 20 years.
6
Jay Erisman
New Riff
New Riff uses the sour mash technique, where a portion of the stillage (or “backset”) from one batch is returned to the mash of the next batch. Jay and the team view this as a flavor anchor, a tradition that many believe simply makes better whiskey, though opinions differ as to exactly why.On top of that, nothing is chill‑filtered—no additives, nothing removed. Jay sees this as almost a spiritual commitment to authenticity.
7
Nancy Fraley
Magnus & Still Austin
Nancy realized that her sense of smell was unusually acute: she was able to detect faults, nuances, and hidden aromatic signals in spirits when others could not. Her nose is so complexly precise that in 2012, Fraley created the industry’s first “Craft Whiskey Aroma Wheel,” which is still used today.
8
Chris Fredrickson
Traverse City
In 2011, Chris Fredrickson and his father found Prohibition-era patents connected to his great-grandfather. The documents suggested the family had once been very close to whiskey production. The next year, 20 mature barrels were purchased from MGP, and Traverse City Whiskey Co. was founded.
9
Joe Henry
J. Henry & Sons
In the 1980s, Joe Henry shouldered the backbreaking work of keeping his own operation alive while also working for other seed producers. That neighborly resilience and the family’s intricate knowledge of grain quality and selection would later shape the decisions they made about their Wisconsin whiskey
10
Ryan Lang
Middle West Spirits
Ryan Lang was born in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1980. He is the co‑founder, CEO, and Master Distiller of Middle West Spirits, a growing craft distillery based north of Columbus, Ohio. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State,Lang launched the company in 2008, building on a family legacy—he is a fourth‑generation distiller whose ancestors ran small farm distilleries in the early 1900s.
11
J.P. Jerome
Detroit City
As a teenager, JP Jerome was already making alcohol with the same group of friends who would later become his business partners. The early versions were rough, however, but what mattered was not polish, but the formation of habit. Fortunately, Jerome learned from his failures and kept improving.
12
Greg Lehman
Watershed
Greg Lehman was drawn to distillation just as the craft spirits movement began gaining traction across the U.S. At the time, Ohio had very few active distilleries and almost none producing their own aged whiskey. However, changes in the regulatory environment were beginning to open new doors.
13
Kenneth Lewis
New Riff Distilling
After college, Ken taught high school English for 2 years, after which he became an “accidental entrepreneur” when his father, Martin, asked him to run a family-owned liquor store next to one of his discount stores in Louisville. After a year, he found that he really enjoyed the work and kept expanding, eventually leading him to grow to 6 stores.
14
Chad Munger
Mammoth
Chad Munger’s work evolved beyond building a distillery into an ambitious agricultural initiative: the revival of historic Michigan rye. The effort began when he discovered a 1934 advertisement that praised Michigan-grown “Rosen” rye. Intrigued, Munger and distiller Ari Sussman investigated further..
15
Jon O’Connor
Long Road
Jon O’Connor opened Long Road Distillers in 2015, and from the start the mission was to create world-class spirits from Michigan-grown ingredients without cutting corners. The company kept that promise in the unflashy ways by careful ingredient sourcing, smart equipment choices, and process transparency.
16
Guy Rehorst
Great Lakes Distilling
Guy Rehorst is the founder of Great Lakes Distilling, the first distillery to open in Wisconsin since Prohibition. He started the company after realizing there were no local distilleries making high-quality spirits in the state. His goal was to bring craft distilling back to Milwaukee, and he worked hard to change outdated laws that made it difficult to open a small distillery.
17
Brian Sprance
New Riff
Brian Sprance joined New Riff Distillery at its founding in 2014 and is now New Riff’s Head Distiller.. He studied under the guidance of consulting Master Distiller Larry Ebersold, using his background in fermentation and creating his own spin on whiskey using his background in brewing to create new and unique flavor profiles.
18
Bill Welter
Journeyman
In 2010, Bill purchased part of the old “Featherbone” factory in Three Oaks, Michigan, where corsets and buggy whips had been manufactured a century ago. By the fall of 2011, the name “Journeyman Distillery” was chosen, the tasting room was finally completed, and distilling operations were underway.