From Barrels to Beakers: The Evolution of American Whiskey

What do you get when you take rye and ferment it with yeast, concentrate that yeast urine into a liquid, take that liquid and stick it in a burned barrel for two years?  If you said ‘whiskey’ you would be correct!  Yes that golden brown drink of the wild west is basically old barrel juice, but a very influential juice indeed.  This week I discuss the historical significance of whiskey with Dr. Harris Cooper, and we explore quite a few interesting areas, including how neo-nerds are taking whiskey out of the barrel and putting it into a lab, how ‘Popcorn’ Sutton embodied the modern bootlegger spirit, how the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is once again involved in the story, and how NASCAR has it’s roots in running moonshine.