The city of Collinsville is best known for two things: The world's largest ketchup bottle and as the "Horseradish capitol of the world".
"We grow about 70%, roughly of the world's supply of horseradish down here in the river bottoms," said Derik Reiser who is owner and chief distiller at Old Herald Brewery and Distillery, right along the historic Route 66 corridor.
"We've been here about 8 years. This was the original home of the Collinsville Old Herald newspaper. It was built for housing printing presses. It turned 100 years old last year."
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Resier brews craft beer, and distills whiskey, rum, and gin.
"I home brewed beer in the early 90's. I got into whiskey's in the late 90's. I wanted to make something when I grew up. In 2018, we got this going and it then snowballed and it turned into the restaurant experience. That is the first step in distilling anyway. We didn't have a local brewery here in town. I wanted to take that craft brewery approach to distilling to make new and interesting things," he said.
He also uses the city's signature root for his signature spirit.
"It's a crop that goes into the ground and it grows and looks leafy green on top and the roots get pretty large. This is what you take out of the ground after a year. It's a manually intensive crop. It's hand planted and cultivated. They plant early spring and harvest a year later. A lot of what gets cultivated here goes on for sauces and even medicines. Wasabi is made from horseradish."
Reiser says he likes experimenting with things and it's the most notable crop in Collinsville.
"People put horseradish into Bloody Mary's to spice it up so why not go directly into the vodka itself. I take my vodka, I redistill it, I shred up fresh horseradish. Throw it in the still and it sits with the vodka overnight and then I fire it up the next morning and the vapors come off of that so you get the flavors and the aromas but you don't get the burn from it."
On site, a giant room with massive steel, steam kettles and barrels. Downstairs is a room for blending and packaging.
He says he makes about 200 gallons of the vodka a month.
"I do this probably three times a year. I make a big batch of it. I would love to have to make more of it," he laughed. "We just started getting into distribution in the local area and we are still looking for partners to do some direct to consumer type of things, working with shipping retailers." he said.
Horseradish? In vodka?
Resier says trust the process.
"It's a little scary to some people. It's fun to watch when people do sip it, it's much smoother and sipable than what you would expect. It has a very savory note to it." he smiled.
Farmers in Collinsville ship ten to twelve million pounds of horseradish roots a year to destinations around the world.
At Old Herald, its a liquid tribute to the crop that put Collinsville on the map.
"Every region has the things that are unique to that region and being able to celebrate that and utilize that in a local product, I hope we do more and more of that." smiled Reiser.
There's even an International Horseradish Festival that takes place annually on the first full weekend of June in Uptown Collinsville on Main Street.
It's the one time of the year people can purchase fresh ground horseradish directly from the growers. People can get horseradish samples, buy horseradish products and buy you own roots to make your own creations.
Old Herald also offers in-house distilled spirits, including rye and wheat whiskies, smoke suit bourbon, coffee-infused vodka, limoncello, and house-made Old Fashioned cocktails. Resier offers house-made selections including IPAs cream ales, wheat beers, dunkel, Oktoberfest, and local favorites like SIUE Cougar Red Ale.
Reiser even made a special Route 66 Kicks Cream Ale—a special craft beer created to celebrate the Route 66 centennial, brewed in collaboration with Mississippi Culture, which sold old quickly.
For more information about The Ardent Spirits Horseradish Vodka and the Old Herald Brewery you can click here.
