Dairy Team Webinar to Focus on Fermenting Whey to Produce Spirits

By Fred M. Hall

Using dairy whey to produce alcohol will be the focus of the May 15 dairy webinar with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

The program, from noon to 1 p.m., will will feature Curt Basina, from Copper Crow Distillery, discussing the fermentation and distillation of lactose sugar found in whey to produce alcohol. Basina will also focus on certain issues faced using whey in distillation, including legal requirements associated with distillation.

Basina, and his wife Linda, are the owners of Copper Crow Distillery in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Copper Crow is located on the Red Cliff Indian Reservation and is the first Native American-owned distillery in the United States.

Copper Crow is well-known in the industry for being on the cutting edge in the fermentation and distillation of whey, a byproduct of the cheese making industry, to produce award-winning spirits including vodka and gin produced from whey permeate. Whey spirits are also used in the production of their amaretto and aquavit.

Producers, dairy consultants and industry representatives are encouraged to attend the free webinar live from noon to 1 p.m. on May 15. Registration must be completed at least one hour prior to the program.