DEKALB, IL (Chambana Today) – Jim and Jamie Walter, father-and-son farmers who grow mostly corn and soybeans near DeKalb, Illinois, started using their crop to make whiskey. Due to Chicago’s urban sprawl, available land was becoming scarce, and they needed to find a way to make extra money.

While acknowledging whiskey takes years to age properly, they figured out a way to produce a wide range of distilled products, using corn, barley and red winter wheat grown on their farm. Named “Whiskey Acres,” it includes several types of bourbon, rye and even vodka.

Their bourbon recently won a double gold medal at the San Francisco International Spirits Competition, among a number of other awards they have won since they started this endeavor.