Redhead Creamery Spirits

03/16/2026

Part Four: Dayton Bourbon
The Dairy Solution — Why More Cows Mean Better Water
There is a common misconception that more agriculture means more pollution. In reality, for Minnesota’s water quality, we actually need more cows.
Dairy cows are the economic engine that makes water-protecting crops like alfalfa and clover viable. Because cows eat these perennial forages, dairy farmers keep more "living cover" on the land. If we had more cows in Minnesota, we would have more acres of alfalfa acting as a permanent filter for our lakes, rivers, and streams.
By utilizing manure as a natural, slow-release fertilizer and keeping the soil covered, dairy farms actually improve the health of the North Fork Crow, the Crow Wing, and the Mississippi. Dayton Bourbon is a product of this cycle. It is the result of a landscape where cows and deep-rooted plants work together to keep the water clear. When you drink Dayton, you’re supporting a system that values the river as much as the harvest.

03/14/2026

We’ve got distillery tours at 11 and 2 today, come see where and how your spirits are created -

03/09/2026

Part Three: Dayton Bourbon
The Alfalfa Filter — Nature’s Purifier
If the rivers are the veins of this story, the crops we grow are the kidneys. To keep the water in the Crow and Mississippi rivers clean for our whiskey (and our neighbors), we rely on a humble but powerful plant: Alfalfa.
Alfalfa is a perennial with roots that can reach 15 feet deep. Unlike annual crops that leave the soil bare for months, alfalfa keeps living roots in the ground year-round. These deep roots act as a massive filter, "scavenging" nutrients before they can reach the groundwater or the North Fork of the Crow. When we plant alfalfa to feed our cows, we aren't just growing forage; we are protecting the watershed. It prevents erosion and ensures the water flowing toward Dayton is as clean as the day it fell.

If you're interested in learning more about Dayton and our other bourbons and whey spirits, take a distillery tour with us! Next distillery tour dates are March 21st at 11, 2 & 3.

03/02/2026

Part Two: Dayton Bourbon
The Grand Loop — From Lake Ida to the Crow
Whiskey is, at its core, a conversation between grain and water. For Dayton Bourbon, that water follows a massive "Grand Loop" through the Minnesota landscape.
It starts with us in Padua, where our water enters the North Fork of the Crow River. It winds through the rich soils of central Minnesota, gathering minerals before reaching the confluence at Dayton.
But look at the map on our bottle and trace the Mississippi North. You’ll reach the Crow Wing River, and eventually, the Long Prairie River which carries the overflow from Lake Ida. This is where our friends at Ida Graves Distillery operate. They use that clear, northern water to proof the bourbon that eventually returns to us. Whether it's the working water of the Crow or the deep-lake purity of Ida, it all meets at Dayton.

If you're interested in learning more, follow along with our four-part series on Dayton, or take a distillery tour in March! Multiple dates and times available.

02/24/2026

Part One: Dayton Bourbon
The Meeting of the Waters
We’ve talked a lot about Bernadotte lately, and we will certainly get back to that story... but we also have our more everyday and original bourbon that deserves its time in the sun: Dayton.
There is a common mistake made in Minnesota history, but it’s an important one to correct: our Dayton Bourbon is not named for the department store family. It’s named for Lyman Dayton, a railroad executive and St. Paul investor who arrived in Minnesota in the 1850s. Platted in 1855, the city of Dayton honors the man who was instrumental in building the state's early infrastructure.
While Lyman Dayton was focused on the iron rails, the town was built on the water. Located at the northernmost point of Hennepin County, Dayton sits exactly where the Crow River meets the Mississippi River. On our bottle, you’ll find a literal map of these paths meeting—a tribute to the geography that defines the spirit. This bourbon is a celebration of that meeting of the waters, a journey that begins with us and flows through the heart of the state.

If you're interested to hear more, follow along, or take one of our distillery tours! Next tours are March 21st at 11, 2 & 3.

02/20/2026

So excited for our friends at Little Round Still on their opening announcement. Post-covid construction was an adventure for us, too. Consider the quadruple visit (from east to west) of Redhead Creamery LLC-Panther Distillery-Little Round Still-Ida Graves Distillery on your next trip to the lake! Bring a driver and grab a hotel in Alexandria or Sauk Centre!

IYKYK

01/10/2026

Farm tour at 12:30 and Distillery Tour at 3:00 p.m. today. Come enjoy a burger, pan fried curds, deep fried curds or a panini for lunch - kitchen open 11-4. Bar open the same.

We’re worth the drive. Tucked away in the countryside, our little creamery offers a full day of experiences all in one place. Enjoy a burger made with our own farm-raised beef, sip a cocktail crafted with whey spirits from our cheesemaking process, and savor cheese straight from our farmstead creamery. Add in a farm or distillery tour- all on site- and you’ve got the perfect day out. Sustainable, attainable, and absolutely worth seeing for yourself.

01/07/2026

Whether its guys or gals, we know life is more than flowers - simultaneously with the Galentine's Bouquet and Brunch on February 7, we'll have early distillery tours at 10 and 11:30, then 2 and 3 later in the day. We also have the tours this Saturday, the 24th of January, and beyond. Check them out in the comments.

It’s finally January, which means we’ve got February on our minds. The annual cheese and flower event you love is back! Get your tickets for Galentine’s Day with Rustic Designs Flower Farm. Grab your girls, sip, snack, and build a flower bouquet to take home.

Tickets are limited! Get yours here: https://redheadcreamery.com/collections/events/products/galentines-bouquet-brunch-with-rustic-designs-flower-farm-2026

12/27/2025

Thanks to some family togetherness bottling sessions, we are back in stock of all our spirits! Open 11-4 tomorrow, or order online.

https://redheadcreamery.com/products/bernadotte-bourbon-spirit-bottle?_pos=1&_psq=Bernadotte&_ss=e&_v=1.0w owions

Our story begins in Bernadotte, a tiny Swedish village in southern Minnesota that has been home to the Sjostrom family since 1885 - the middle of nowhere, yet the middle of everywhere. Amid German settlements, it was a small Swedish hamlet where tradition and perseverance thrived. On July 3, 1885, C...

12/26/2025

Part Five: Bernadotte Bourbon
The Cooper and the Collector

To be honest, bourbon didn’t historically "matter" to a place like Bernadotte. This was a Swedish settlement, and the Swedes who built it were often as dry as the July heat. Between the Lutheran church’s influence and the strict temperance movements of the late 1800s, Bernadotte was a place where a bottle of whiskey was more likely to be hidden in a barn than displayed on a sideboard. In fact, Bernadotte never even had a bar—just a church and the general store once owned by my great-grandparents.
Yet, when you uncork a bottle of this bourbon, there is a scent that pulls you right back into those church pews. It’s a distinct, resinous note—the smell of old pine emanating from the organ and the polished wood of the sanctuary. It’s the smell of a place built to last, a scent that bridges the gap between the Sunday morning service and the Monday morning labor.
Even if our ancestors didn't drink the spirit, they understood the math of it. On the frontier, whiskey was an "economic battery"—a way to condense a massive harvest into something portable and valuable. It was wealth you could move.
But where there is wealth, there is the tax man.
In 1791, Alexander Hamilton pushed through the first domestic excise tax on whiskey. To frontier farmers in western Pennsylvania, this was a tax on their currency. The resulting Whiskey Rebellion saw farmers tarring and feathering tax collectors and eventually forced President George Washington to personally lead 13,000 troops into the field to prove the federal government had the power to collect.
Washington won the field, and that legacy sits on my desk today. For over a century, the federal government maintained a high barrier for entry with a steep excise tax of $13.50 per proof gallon. It wasn't until the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that the "Revenue Man" finally gave small producers a seat at the table. By lowering the rate to $2.70 for the first 100,000 proof gallons, the federal government finally acknowledged the "craft" distiller.
Even at this lower rate, the oversight is intense. We are, by law, unpaid tax collectors. We file reports and pay excise taxes as much as bi-monthly—twice every single month. Every barrel we fill is tracked, and every drop is accounted for under a system born from that 18th-century rebellion.
That brings us to the barrels themselves—the physical vessels that hold this "liquid currency" while it matures.
In Minnesota, we rely on craftsmen who understand that the wood is the final ingredient. For our spirits on the farm, we use The Barrel Mill in Avon, Minnesota. They work with Northern White Oak that has survived decades of brutal winters. Because the growing season here is so short, the trees grow slowly, creating an incredibly tight grain. Our partners at Black Frost also looked to the North Woods, choosing Black Swan Cooperage in Park Rapids. Their "honeycomb" technology grooves the interior of the staves, increasing the surface area where the whiskey meets the wood.
Whether it is the traditional excellence of The Barrel Mill or the innovation of Black Swan, the result is a slower, deeper conversation. The liquid has to work harder to move through those tight Minnesota rings, pulling out the delicate vanillins and the earthy, pine-like notes that feel so familiar to anyone who grew up in a Bernadotte pew.
It is a beautiful irony: we are using a tax system born from an American rebellion to regulate a spirit named after a Swedish King, aged in wood shaped by Minnesota winters, and produced for a community that wasn't supposed to be drinking it at all. We pay the tax, we keep the records, and we sign the forms—carrying on the "honest toil" Charles Sjostrom believed in, even if he might have raised an eyebrow at the contents of the barrel.

Pictured is my trip to The Barrel Mill around Thanksgiving 2024.

12/25/2025

Thank you to everyone who chose Redhead Creamery Spirits this year to help make your holidays a little more special. From cocktail sippers at the bar to distillery tour guests, bottle shoppers, online orders, and corporate gifts, we’re incredibly grateful for each and every one of you. Your support means the world to our small, rural Minnesota distillery.

Good news for the days ahead:
🍸 The bar is open during our posted holiday hours
🥃 Distillery tours on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Reservations aren’t required, but we do recommend booking ahead—tours can sell out.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a spirited New Year. 🥂

12/24/2025

Part Four: Bernadotte Bourbon
Why Swedes Came to America — And Why Bernadotte Exists

To understand Bernadotte — in Minnesota and in Bernadotte, Illinois — you have to understand the pressure Sweden was under in the second half of the 19th century.

Between 1820 and 1880, Sweden’s population nearly doubled, growing from about 2.4 million to over 4.5 million people. That growth outpaced available farmland. Inheritance practices divided farms again and again, until many families were left with plots too small to support another generation. For rural laborers, opportunities narrowed quickly.

Then came crisis years.

From 1867–1869, Sweden suffered one of the worst crop failures and famines in its modern history. Tens of thousands required emergency aid. Entire regions, especially rural and forested areas, were pushed to the brink. These years marked the first major surge of Swedish emigration.

At the same time, Swedish society was undergoing deep reform — including strict moral and social controls tied to the Lutheran state church.

One of the most important (and often overlooked) factors was alcohol regulation.

By the mid-1800s, Sweden had some of the highest per-capita alcohol consumption in Europe, largely driven by home distillation of spirits. In response, the Swedish government enacted sweeping reforms:

• 1855–1865: Sweden sharply restricted home distillation
• 1865: The state and municipalities took control of spirit production and sales through a regulated monopoly system
• 1870s–1900s: Alcohol licenses were limited, profits were redirected to public good, and consumption was actively discouraged
• 1917: Sweden introduced the Bratt System, a rationing program where adults needed a booklet to purchase alcohol
• 1922: Sweden held a national referendum on full prohibition — it failed narrowly, but strict controls remained
• Full deregulation would not occur until 1955, when the modern Systembolaget monopoly was established

(It’s worth noting that even as Sweden tightly restricted alcohol at home, the Swedish government itself owned and exported spirits abroad — including Absolut and Svedka — through its state company V&S Group from 1929 until 2008, when the portfolio was sold to Pernod Ricard.)

Similar movements existed across Scandinavia. Norway enacted partial prohibition between 1916–1927. Finland enacted full prohibition from 1919–1932.

For many rural Swedes, this wasn’t just about drinking — it was about state control, moral oversight, and limited personal agency. Combined with economic hardship, it reinforced the sense that opportunity and independence were slipping away at home.

America offered the opposite.

Between 1850 and 1930, roughly 1.1 to 1.3 million Swedes emigrated to the United States — nearly one quarter of Sweden’s population at the time. The peak decade was the 1880s, when more than 330,000 Swedes left. The single highest year was 1887, with over 46,000 emigrants.

Most followed a similar route: departing through Gothenburg, crossing to England, sailing from Liverpool, landing in New York, and then traveling inland by rail.

The Midwest became the destination of choice. Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska offered land, wages, and communities where Swedish language, Lutheran faith, and farming skills were immediately useful.

That’s why Bernadotte exists — twice.

Bernadotte, Minnesota and Bernadotte, Illinois were both named after King Charles XIV John of Sweden, founder of the House of Bernadotte. To immigrants, the name represented stability, national pride, and continuity during a time of upheaval. Naming a town Bernadotte was a way of carrying Sweden forward into American soil.

These were not boomtowns. They were places built slowly — around churches, schools, cooperative labor, and family farms. They were places meant to last.

When Charles Sjostrom arrived in New Ulm in 1885, Swedish emigration was near its height. His story fits the pattern exactly: economic pressure at home, opportunity abroad, and the decision to rebuild life around land, faith, and work.

Bernadotte did not happen by accident.

It happened because hundreds of thousands of Swedes made the same hard decision, during the same hard years, and brought with them a shared ethic: thrift, honesty, persistence, community, and belief in the dignity of work.

From famine and reform to farmland and freedom.
From regulation and scarcity to ownership and opportunity.
From Sweden to America.

That is why Bernadotte exists.

Pictured are Charles’ home church, Madesjo; what we expect was his childhood home circa 1915; the small Quay boat taken from Kalmar to Gothenberg; the ship Orlando for the journey Gothenberg to London; the type of train taken in 1885; and an example of the lumber wagon taken for 7 hours from New Ulm to Bernadotte. Information compiled in 2003 and updated in 2024 by my second cousin twice removed, Walt Sirene.