Rob and Tavia Hopfensperger started the business to honor the fire service. Rob joined the volunteer fire department more than 20 years ago because joining was part of becoming part of the community. Now his son Alex volunteers too, and works at the distillery.
The tasting room doubles as a museum. It holds artifacts and memorabilia honoring local departments and the firefighters who gave their lives. The family keeps a 9/11 memorial, and Tavia said they climb the stairs at Lambeau Field every year. The badges they get there name firefighters who died on 9/11, and the family has started a collection.
Everything is made grain to glass, and right now that means four vodkas and two gins. Each month, the distillery picks one department, sells a drink for it and donates the proceeds to that department. For a small town, that turns a night out into a fundraiser for the crew that answers the call.
Visitors drop in with their own stories. Tavia said firefighters who walk through the door feel "a brotherhood."
She has already heard hundreds of fire station stories inside those walls. The family's own whiskey is still about five years away.