Halle Sullivan

Doundrins Distilling

Doundrins' story starts some years ago while Nick attended the University of Wisconsin for Chemical Engineering. While going to school, Nick took up an interest in craft beer and worked at a local brewpub. That is where he started having dreams of one day owning his own brewery. Abby was also studying Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University. Eventually, Nick decided to study abroad in Spain. That is where he and Abby met. They connected on their family and Midwest values, engineering nerdyness, and it was all a whirlwind from there. Nick graduated, Abby graduated, and they moved to Texas where they both worked as chemical engineers. Time passed, they got engaged, and soon felt it was better to be closer to family. So they both took jobs in Illinois working in an ethanol plant. During their time there they learned a lot about the beverage distillation process. While in Illinois they got married and had their first child. Then it was time to get even closer to family. Madison seemed like the most logical step as it was right in between both Nick and Abby's parents and Nick loved it when he went to school there. Nick still had dreams to one day build his own business and with his love of home brewing and Madison's craft beverage culture, they started talking again about those dreams. That is where the flame was sparked to start a distillery instead of a brewery. They talked about it A LOT, met with other local distillers, did lots of research, and went back and forth for 3 months. Finally, they decided to take the leap in January of 2018 to at least try! Their goal was to produce the highest quality craft product-no skimping on the main ingredients-but at a more affordable price point. Second, they had a desire to enhance the surrounding community by sourcing local products whenever possible, being involved in community events, and partnering with other local small businesses.