Evansville-area principal has a side job: forming a distillery with his brother

MONTGOMERY, Ind. – After three slow but steady years, a new distillery has popped up to provide quality spirits and a strong sense of community with each sip.

McCracken Curve Distillery is a family "farm-to-glass distillery," founded by brothers Jeff and Steve Kavanaugh on their family farm in Montgomery, Indiana.

"It's a way to keep our family growing together and start a business together and leave a legacy for the young ones to follow," said Irma Kavanaugh, their mother and biggest support system.

A few years ago, as Jeff was living in Texas, a friend showed him the process of distilling. He realized that it was something he and his brother could do, he brought the idea to Steve, who lives in Evansville and works on the family farm when he's not serving as North Posey Junior High's principal. Steve’s wife Trish Kavanaugh – also an Evansville-area educator – is also active in the distillery.

Together, the brothers gathered the necessary paperwork and ingredients. They used corn, wheat, and spring water from their farm that has been in the family for six generations, as well as a few ingredients from outside sources, including barley from Southern Indiana and barrels from Kentucky and Missouri.

After many experiments, the brothers were able to create their four main products – Homeplace Bourbon, Ballyloughan Castle single malt whiskey, Star 19 vodka, and McCracken Curve Apple Pi Moonshine. All are now being sold around Evansville at Liquor Locker and Frontier Liquors locations.

Let's get distilling

For the most part, they followed the universal recipe for creating whiskey, but added their own spin. Whenever there was a problem, the pair would sit together with their mom to work out their process.

Liking their bourbon a little more stout, they made it 100 proof instead of the typical 90. When creating their moonshine, which they really don't want to categorize as a moonshine, they wanted something that even at 140 proof would be great if it was not put into a barrel.

"That's our first indication that, 'oh My God, it's going to be really good stuff,'" said Jeff: when you take one sip and you know you're on the right track even before it's aged in a barrel.

"So just imagine what it'll taste like in a few years," the brothers said.

Paying homage to the family, from Ireland to prohibition

Each item, in its own way, pays homage to the family or state.

"McCracken Curve is a real place. It's a curve in Daviess County where the road goes through and it honors the family that donated some land for the first highway through here," Jeff said.

The Homeplace Bourbon embraces the six generations of the Kavanaugh family with the roots of limestone aquifer and local grains from the family farm handed down from their great-great-grandfather, which is the logo on the bottle.

Ballylough Castle's namesake image on the bottle is the ancestral home of the Kavanaughs in Ireland, where they held court from 1300-1650.

As native Hoosiers, they also wanted to create something that honors the state. Star19 vodka does that, taking its name from the fact that Indiana was the 19th state admitted to the union. The brothers decided not to add artificial ingredients or sugar to the vodka, and it's filtered through activated charcoal to give it an old-fashioned taste.

Then there's McCracken Curve Apple Pi Moonshine: which, like its name lays out, is an apple pie moonshine that honors their great-grandfather, who ran a Prohibition-era still in the woods. Trish Kavanaugh is the inspiration and perspiration behind it, cooking the ingredients that transform the 40-proof spirit into memories of applie pie.

Both the farmhouse on the bourbon and the label of the moonshine were sketched by their mother.

Balancing work and family

For both Steve and Jeff, this distillery is a passion, not a full-time job. At least not yet.

Steve has worked as North Posey Junior High's principal for the last 13 years. Jeff, meanwhile, also works in education in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"We were raised to be service-oriented, " said Steve. "It's not just what we can get out of something; it's that we should be a part of something bigger than ourselves."

When the two aren't busy with their careers, like during the summer or on random weekends, the brothers are able to work together to maintain the farm and distillery. Some of the work, they said, can be done remotely. But it took them a while to find a good balance between the two.

As the products start to sell in Southern Indiana, Jeff's connections with Texas have also taken McCracken Curve to the Lonestar state, where they perch on shelves throughout the northern part of the state.

But with the growing support of the community and inventory, the pair are looking to do more.

The brothers hope in the future to open the distillery for tastings, complete with a gathering room and gift shop where they can invite family, friends or members of the community to sit around and enjoy their products.

With no outside investments or loans, they hope to attract more family members who want to join them, as this is something that they can always do together.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville-area principal forms a distillery with his brother