Today we’re a-whoopin’ and a-hollerin’ with joy thanks to the fine folks at Winters Media, publishers of the The Paper and The Weekly, two local journals right here in Coweta County, Georgia. Last week, they featured Doc Brown Farm & Distillers in the News section of their site, with an article all about how we founded the distillery and the faith, family and fortitude principles that guide us.
A special thank-you to Katie Anderson who wrote the piece, which catches our vibe perfectly in a Georgia pecan shell. (Watch this space for more about nut-inspired spirits!) We’ve included the article below, as it appears on the Winters Media website.
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Faith, Family and Fortitude: Senoia’s Doc Brown Farm and Distillers
February 28, 2024
By KATIE ANDERSON, Out and About
It all started with a magazine on a beach.
Amy Brown, Paige Dockweiler, and Amy’s son Daniel Williams had just bought their Senoia farm. They were sitting on a beach at 30A, reading a Garden and Gun article about an heirloom grain, Jimmy Red Corn.
They decided to give growing the corn a try. Initially, they distilled two barrels of bourbon to share with family and friends. It was so good that they started Doc Brown Farm and Distillers in 2019. Fast forward to October 1, 2023, and their first bourbons were released: Effie Jewel and Uncle Bogue (now sold out.) They also created four flavors of bourbon creams: Butter Pecan, Salted Caramel, Coffee, and Peppermint Mocha.
The founders all come from farming families. Brown has a background in banking and now manages the farm full-time. Dockweiler and Williams have other jobs in healthcare and aviation respectively, but cherish their time spent playing in the dirt.
The farm operates from three foundation blocks – faith, family, and fortitude. Their love of family transferred to their labels, as well. Uncle Bogue was a great, great uncle, and Effie Jewel was a great aunt. Both stood out as examples of their family’s fortitude and tenacity. Effie Jewel Bourbon is dedicated to all women in the distilling industry. “Our desire and hope is that Effie Jewel inspires women to act on their dreams and find courage to sit at tables that maybe have been off limits in the past.
“I will say that we’ve had nothing but kindness and support from men and women alike and even though we are small and just a dot on the map of the bourbon world, we are thankful for those who have helped us get this far,” said Brown.
Their land has proven to be a good match with Jimmy Red Corn. It is non-gmo, produced without chemicals of any kind. This special variety of corn is making a comeback after almost becoming extinct, and is known for its sweet, rich, buttery flavor.
To control pests, the Doc Brown team built houses to attract bats, which help fight the ear worm and other damaging insects. They’ve also brought in bees, which made a difference in their yield and ear size. The farmers use old style methods like cover crops and rotation to take care of their soil.
This approach has brought them full circle with Garden and Gunmagazine, by winning a 2023 Garden and Gun Made in the South Award for their Butter Pecan Bourbon Cream.
“We have subscribed to Garden and Gun now for years and the inspiration for growing the Jimmy Red Corn came from an article published in G&G, so our goal was to ‘make it into G&G’ one day.
“When it was time to enter the ‘Best of the South’ we had the amazing support of Heather Daniel, who recommended us so off we go submitting the 1st round of paperwork … a nd then we waited…and waited…then another email came in that stated we ‘made it into Best of the South’ but we had to keep our mouths closed – that was the longest month of my life sitting on a dream that had come true,” Brown stated.
“We are so grateful for everyone’s support and kindness. Our goal is always to produce products that everyone can enjoy knowing that good old fashioned farming techniques were used and that it’s made with a lot of love for this golden land we all share,” said Brown.
To purchase the award-winning, local bourbon, visit their website at docbrownfarm.com to order, or to find locations where their products are sold.