Susan Spagnuolo

When Susan Spagnuolo founded Bear Wallow whiskey distillery, her venture became one of the few female-owned craft distilleries in the United States. Spagnuolo also played a direct role in helping create the legal framework that allowed craft whiskey distilling to take root in Indiana. Her work still combines entrepreneurship, local history, and a strong commitment to producing whiskey from only Indiana-grown products.

The idea for Bear Wallow began unexpectedly during a vacation to North Carolina in February 2012. There, Spagnuolo encountered a small craft distillery located near a brewery. The sight of a copper still sparked an idea that would soon become a business plan. The concept resonated partly because of the history of the place she called home. Brown County, Indiana, had long been associated with moonshining and illicit distilling dating back to the 1800s. The limestone water, wooded hills and remote valleys of the county once provided ideal hiding places for illegal whiskey-making, and stories of those operations became part of local folklore that she often heard as a child. Spagnuolo realized that a local legal craft distillery could celebrate that history while also creating a new agritourism destination for visitors to her hometown. The region was already known for its art colony, scenic landscapes, and tourism that is entered around the small town of Nashville, Indiana; a distillery rooted in local grain and historical storytelling could fit naturally into that environment. But turning the idea into reality required overcoming a major obstacle, because craft distilling was not legal in Indiana at the time.

Once she returned home to Indiana, Spagnuolo quickly began contacting state officials and other entrepreneurs who were interested in opening distilleries. She soon joined a small group of future distillers that included the founders of other now well-known local distilleries, all of whom worked together to change the state’s alcohol laws.  The effort took roughly two and a half years, but the group eventually succeeded, and in July 2013, Indiana passed legislation creating the Artisan Distiller’s Permit. That law allowed small distilleries to produce and sell spirits directly to consumers, and opened the door for Spagnuolo’s long-planned distillery.

With the legal framework in place, Bear Wallow Distillery was officially formed, and after a year of permitting, construction, and equipment installation, production began in May 2014. The distillery opened to the public on August 1, 2014, in the small community of Gnaw Bone. Community is so important to the Spagnuolos that the name “Gnaw Bone” was given to their most popular bourbon. Similarly, the name “Bear Wallow” itself refers to a real location in Brown County where, according to regional stories, moonshiners once used the area’s dense forests and rugged terrain as hiding places from law enforcement during Prohibition.

From the beginning, Spagnuolo envisioned Bear Wallow as more than a distillery. She designed it as an agritourism destination, where visitors could learn about the history of moonshining while seeing modern whiskey production firsthand. Although the distillery produces several styles of spirits, whiskey remains the central focus of the operation. Bear Wallow’s whiskeys are made entirely from Indiana-grown grains, reflecting Spagnuolo’s commitment to supporting local agriculture. These grains are milled locally and delivered fresh to the distillery each month. Production follows traditional methods. The grains are mashed, fermented, and distilled using a custom copper pot still, then distilled a second time before aging. 

Over time, Bear Wallow has developed a lineup of distinctive whiskeys, including Gnaw Bone Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Liar’s Bench Straight Rye Whiskey; Wolf Creek Four-Grain Whiskey; and Hidden Holler Corn Whiskey (moonshine). Each is produced in small batches using traditional manual techniques rather than automated systems. Spagnuolo’s products have also gained recognition, and Bear Wallow’s maple-finished bourbon won 2019 Spirit of the Year at the Indiana State Fair.

Spagnuolo emphasizes that the distillery’s approach relies on craftsmanship and family rather than technology. The equipment is operated by hand, and each stage of production from mashing to bottling takes place on site. Mike Spagnuolo, Susan’s husband, was an important supporter of the distillery venture from the beginning and continues to help with operations. The couple share several children, and the distillery eventually became a multi-generational family enterprise. Spagnuolo’s youngest son, Adam, has taken on the role of head of production and distiller, while another son, Jon, handles the company’s graphic design and marketing materials.

Spagnuolo’s role in shaping the state’s craft-distilling industry has also drawn attention. Her determination to build a distillery in Brown County reshaped the region’s relationship with whiskey, transforming a landscape once associated with illicit moonshine into a true destination for legal craft distilling. Through Bear Wallow, she helped write a new chapter in Indiana’s whiskey history; one that honors the past while creating a sustainable future for locally produced spirits.

Sources:

  1. Bear Wallow Distillery official website, “Our Story,” www.bearwallowdistillery.com/our-story

  2. WRTV ABC-TV Indianapolis, “Female craft distillery owner helped change Indiana law,” Lauren Casey, March 25, 2022

  3. Indiana Artisan, “Susan Spagnuolo–Bear Wallow Distillery”, indianaartisan.org/artisans/susan-spagnuolo

  4. Our Brown County Magazine, “Bear Wallow Distillery”, Paige Langenderfer,  November-December 2014, ourbrowncounty.com

  5. Whisky Advocate, “Indiana’s Growing Crop of Distilleries”, Julia Higgins, January 2, 2025

  6. Indiana University ScholarWorks | Vol. 17, no. 1, “Distilling Tradition: Craft Distilling in Southern Indiana”, Caroline Hundley Miller, scholarworks.iu.edu

  7. Greenfield Reporter / Indiana Capital Chronicle, “Indiana craft distillers see fast-growing industry”, August 12, 2024, greenfieldreporter.com

  8. WRTV ABC-TV Indianapolis, “Indiana family takes drinking local to a new level”, Lauren Casey, January 1, 2016

Contributed by Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee