Programming made possible by Team Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, Shepherdsville, Bullitt County Tourist and Convention Commission, Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, Danville Tourism, Historically Bold and Harrodsburg Mercer County Tourist Commission.

This production was proudly produced in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Thank you for your support.

Did you know Kentucky has more navigable miles of water than any other state in the U.S. except Alaska?

Is Alaska still a state?

There's 90,000 miles of streams and dozens of rivers.

It's also quite famous for some other liquids, those which flow from a barrel.

That being beers, bourbons and wine.

Many of the world's best known distilleries can be found right here in the Bluegrass State, and interestingly enough, pretty darn close to many of our lakes, rivers and streams.

We're here to take you on an expedition of the secrets and histories of our intricate waterways while visiting Kentucky's distilleries, breweries and wineries.

I'm Carrie.

And I'm Kyle.

And we're two Kentuckians who are pretty proud of our state.

We share a sip of what the Commonwealth has to offer.

Kyle.

Ha ha ha.

I like the hat.

You.

I do.

I do.

I do, too.

It's not itchy at all.

And I've been told this is very specific to this period as we are in frontier country.

We are.

This is the beautiful Fort Herod.

It was founded in 1774 by Captain James Herrod.

And you know, Kyle, this is the very first permanent settlement in the state of Kentucky, and it represents the original expansion of Americans west of the Alleghenies from the 13 original colonies.

You know, Harrodsburg, other than this fort, which is pretty neat, has other things going on, too.

It's grown a little bit since 1774, but it is still a quaint community with lots of history.

And and.

There's always an and.

A brewery, a cidery.

I don't even know if cidery is the term, but I like cider.

We've never done a story on cider.

We haven't.

And you know, I bet you the Pioneers made cider along with their corn whiskey.

I think they should have, because.

Why not?

You got apples.

And when you have apples, make cider.

I think there's a saying or something about.

So I'm going to go check those places out to make sure I know that information's correct.

Old Beaumont Inn is also here, which has a really cool history and a tie in with some bourbon.

So I knew there had to be a tie into.

Or tie something in.

There's a way to tie it in and tie it on and all that good stuff.

So what are you going to do today?

Well, I am going to go explore the Shaker Village here and learn a little bit more about their history.

I know you've heard of the Shaker Village.

Yes.

And then because you know how much I love to be on the water, I'm going to meet up with some friends.

And I'm not paddling my yellow boat today, but I'm going on a motorized craft on Herrington Lake.

And Herrington Lake.

Yes.

Well, it is a pretty nice day.

It is gorgeous.

Like the weather, Kentucky weather at its finest today.

You can see why people wanted to come here.

Oh, I think exploring is going to be lot fun today.

It will.

Well, you know what?

Do your thing motoring around and shaking and all that stuff.

I'm going to be at Beaumont and I heard there's some delicious cuisine there from the old Owl Tavern.

Why don't you meet me up at that spot when you get done out there, motoring we█ll have some food.

I'll save you a bite.

Sounds good.

And maybe glass.

That bourbon.

We'll have some food.

I'll save you a bite.

Well, would you like to go explore before you head?

Absolutely.

This place is pretty neat.

The sheep.

The sheep right behind it.

I saw it.

Let's go.

All right.

Wow.

Jay back in Harrodsburg, downtown Lemons Mill Brewery.

Holy cow.

A lot has changed since we were here in 2016 when this was just getting going.

Wasn't even open yet.

I see.

Not only has the environment changed and evolve, but there's choices right behind me and in front of me have changed a lot, too.

You guys have been busy brewing.

Yes, we have.

It's a complete transformation since the last time you were here.

In a good way.

It really is.

And you all are still having fun, I assume?

Oh, having fun is at the heart of everything we do.

You can't have fun.

You might as well.

Exactly.

I love it.

Since you are here last, we've opened the tasting room, the taproom, which you can see.

And we started with 12 taps.

And now we've quickly expanded to 24.

We've got the patio.

So basically what you see here was not here.

It was just a few drums in the back.

And so and some gas and a fire and a lot of fun.

A lot of hope and hard work.

Yeah, that's right.

Some of the beers you're brewing come way back from.

Right.

From family here?

Yeah.

We found some.

Some recipes in Lemane█s parents when we were cleaning out, and they were natives around the prohibition area.

So we were able to take those and in kind of update them and modify them to to make some of our original brews.

Well, what up?

What do we have here in front of us?

Let's talk about what's what's being canned now and these are things that folks can come out and they can pick these up in stores or they can pick them up.

You know, we have them in here in our taproom and then we're starting to self distribute.

So we, we've got our OG here, which is a citrus blond ale.

It's one of my summer favorites.

It also happens to be a gluten free beer.

That's right.

For me.

And I'm the kind of the inspiration for that is I have celiacs myself.

Okay.

So that was kind of how we got introduced to the market is I couldn't find a beer that I liked.

So Keith and I just decided, well, let's try and make one.

Then we have one of our mainstays is our Jalopeno Ale.

That's one of our top sellers.

Spicy.

Then our next is we have just one ‘mo and that's the name speaks for itself.

Then our one of our mainstays is the Bollocks.

It's a dark amber.

It's probably our number one seller.

We sell a a lot of the ballocks in the taproom and out.

And then the last one is it's a kind of a unique beer, and that's just a label that we put on.

It's called The Eliminator Lemonade or Bohemian the Bohemian Pilsner.

And we were the only craft brewer that we know of that makes that pilsner.

Jay its been fun, as always.

Get back.

We got to come back again.

Who knows how you get 24.

Next time we're back.

I like 48.

Okay.

We█ll do our best.

Right.

We'll try every one of them until then.

Sir, a pleasure.

Yes, sir.

As always.

Billy, where exactly are we right now?

Well, we're standing in the middle of Kentucky's largest national historic landmark, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

Oh, okay.

And there are so many gorgeous buildings around me and I've noticed that each of them have two doors on the front of them.

They do?

Well, the Shakers were a celibate society, and I believe that God was both mother and father, male and female.

So they had gender equality from their earliest times, and that's reflected in their architecture, which can be split right down the middle.

Two equal halves, including one door for the men and one door for the women.

So gender equality in the early 1800s, that's really progressive.

It was pretty radical from a social standpoint, as was their acceptance of many different immigrants and people of color.

Black shakers were living side by side in these buildings.

From the earliest time of this community here at Pleasant Hill.

I really like this history.

And how many folks lived here at Shaker Village?

Well, it ranged to different amounts over the course of the 100 years that the Shakers were here.

100 years they were here.

Years from about 1805 until 1923, when the last shaker at Pleasant Hill passed away and there were over 2000 people that lived their lives as shakers here at Pleasant Hill.

But the peak population was actually in the 1820s when they neared nearly 500 people.

Oh, that's that's a lot of people to live here, especially.

In the 1820s.

Yeah.

You were telling me before about this beautiful structure behind us over here that they had some of the cleanest flowing water of the early pioneers.

They did.

They were really ingenious in their design of their community and the layout of this community as community planners.

They were second to none in Kentucky in the 1820s, and by the 1870s they had actually built a working water works.

It was one of the first west of the Alleghenies, and it did provide clean drinking water in taps in their kitchens.

This was about the same time that the White House got indoor plumbing.

The Shakers here in Mercer County, Kentucky, had it.

Just looking at the lifestyle, the quality of life of the Shakers would have been an attraction to some people who wanted to be members, especially for women, for immigrants, for black Americans who might have felt disenfranchized in other ways of life.

Absolutely.

Well, tell me, where did all the shakers go?

Well, that's a big topic because the Shakers were celebate.

They weren't reproducing more shakers.

For the Shakers to survive as a society, they needed to be able to recruit.

And I mentioned the second Great Awakening was a great time for recruitment.

But post-Civil War, as the nation became more industrial, it was not a very good time for recruitment and children that were coming into the community as orphans or with their families were growing up given the choice whether to stay or leave.

And in the second half of the 19th century, they were all leaving.

So by 1910, there were only 12 shakers left here at Pleasant Hill.

Oh!

Billy, Tell me, who were the Shakers?

The Shakers were a religious community that formed first in England in the mid 1700s.

All nine shakers that remained in the world in 1774 sailed from England to New York, and then they were able to recruit other members of their society.

They had 11 villages across New England, New York, by 1800.

And then they sent three missionaries out to Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio in 1805.

And that's how Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill came to form.

Okay.

What year was Shaker Village found?

So the first convert to Shaker ism in Kentucky was in 1805.

There was a man named Elijah Thomas and he.

Lived just.

Off the hill down by Shawnee Run Creek.

Then, as more people converted, it started to live at his farm.

They purchased the property where we are now and what they called Pleasant Hill and began constructing their community here in 1809.

Well, it is very pleasant up here.

We have a gorgeous day.

How about you take me to see some of the other parts of the village?

There's so much to see.

You've got your walking shoes.

I do.

Let's go.

Let's explore.

That was a wonderful hike down here.

It's a beautiful walk down to the fulling mill waterfall, isn't it?

It is.

And I understand this is a really special waterfall.

Tell me a.

Little bit about it.

It is not only is it a beautiful waterfall fed by a natural spring, you can see it popping right out of the hillside.

But there's a great history here, too.

The Shakers had built a fulling mill to process wool at this site in 1822, and they used the water from that waterfall to power the water wheel at the mill.

There's that.

Ingenuity we were talking about.

Earlier.

That's right.

They built over a dozen mills across the site and most of them were water powered.

Were there other really neat.

Places you can hike to here and Shaker Village?

I understand you've got a lot of hiking trails.

That's right.

With 36 miles of trails, there are so many places to hike.

There's natural wonders like the waterfall.

And there's historic sites like some of the foundations of those old mills that are still left.

Some of our trails like this one, we're on the Shawnee Run Trail, run alongside of Creek, the Shawnee Run Creek, aptly named.

And others will take you down to the Kentucky River and some other beautiful locations across our 3000 acre property.

And with our 36 miles of trails, there's all kinds of options for taking a fall loop or a quick out and back hike.

Most of them are very family friendly, so you.

Really are a destination for history.

And for outdoor recreation.

Now tell me, can I put my boat into the river down there?

You can.

At the Kentucky River, you can launch your personal watercraft.

So canoes and kayaks are welcome.

Nice.

And I know that we are just downstream from where the Dix River comes into the Kentucky River.

So you get two rivers in one day.

That's right.

A lot of our guests paddle up to Kentucky and they turn right and they head up to Dix River and they go to some beautiful settings along that river, including other waterfalls.

All right.

Well, I think I'm going to go to the lake and then I'll check out downtown Harrodsburg and see what I can find.

Well, the lakes are a good place to start.

All right, well, let's go head back out and We are here in downtown on Main Street.

Right here.

Harrodsburg.

You're serving some cider.

Cider.

This was a hotel up and up until about fifties.

Then it became lots of other things.

The last thing that it was, here it was.

The county had records all here.

The walls are blocked.

Fireproof.

Six or eight or ten.

hour burn rating in that.

So that's where all the records were tested.

I should add this, though, that sometimes when she burns bacon, you never know.

So that's I mean, that's why they call it the vault.

That's why we embrace the vault right here in Harrodsburg.

You've got your own concoction.

We do.

And I think that's just fantastic.

Tell me a little bit about how you got this place started and why, rather than make yet another beer, have another brewery, yet another brewery, we thought.

Try to think about what can we do that's a little different.

Sure.

Because shoot for $117 in and a five gallon bucket in an empty garage.

You can start your own brewery.

And we want it to be a little bit a tip for you folks.

We want to be a little bit different than that.

This is a fairly straightforward process of taking a juice or some sort of a sugar product, putting it in a vessel, clean vessel, making sure that wild yeast is eliminated from the process, introducing a fairly predictable yeast to that juice, in this case, apple juice.

Add a nutrient and have the right temperature, have the right timing.

Then within ten days to two weeks, you're going to have something that has produced alcohol.

Wow.

From my standpoint, it's historically accurate for us to not use carbonation.

Carbonation changes the flavor, change the taste of it.

It changes what happens from a gastric standpoint.

You've got games all over the place.

So like, tell me about the games.

This is a fun spot.

I mean, every room you've got some sort of game going on really literally in this place, just about you kind of do.

Our philosophy here is the place to hang out.

It's a place to sit and have a beer or cider.

But rather than just sit, get up off your tookus and go and do something.

true.

You know how many carbs are in one of these?

Quite a few.

So that was our idea.

A place to hang out.

A place to drink?

Yes.

Place to eat?

Yes.

But a place to do stuff.

So we have sort of stationed different activities that encourage you to get up, go do things that are a little more active and engaging.

So bum duty.

Tell me about the bum.

Diddy from Diddy Bum.

Did you ever hear of bum Diddy?

I think it was a song by Kid Rock.

I so I don't know for sure about that.

bum diddy is a is a banjo playing technique.

When we when we banjo banjo when we moved move from Ohio 20 years ago, I said, honey, you think they'll let us in Kentucky without a banjo?

And she said, Probably not now.

So Bum Diddy is a technique of playing old timey or or or trailing or clawhammer banjo.

So I was like that name.

So I wish it was more romantic, but that is I think that's very romantic.

I Just like to gaze in your eyes And you tell me that you like to.

Well, you know, we need to go try some of this now, because it looks like there's a good variety here.

And I think it's just a very cool story.

And I think the spot everyone, should check this out.

you come downtown, you better come in here and and grab a bite, grab a drink, play some games and go and meet the folks in Harrodsburg.

There is so much to do on Herrington Lake, encompassing nearly 3600 acres from fishing in a quiet cove to heart pumping water.

Sports.

There is something for everyone who enjoys spending a day on the water.

Boyle, Garrard and Mercer County share the reservoir, which was first created in 1925 by Kentucky Utilities to provide water for a hydroelectric dam.

Although the Dix Dam is still in operation, Herrington Lake is best known for its fantastic fishing and as a playground for recreational sports.

Don't worry if you don't have your own boat.

There are plenty of different types of water crafts available to rent from all the marinas, from small runabouts for the fishermen to larger pontoon boats and houseboats for larger parties.

You can also try out a jet ski or rent a kayak for a non-motorized day of paddling.

There are lots of other amenities on the lake too.

Three marinas, Pandora Royalty's and Chimney Rock, which I visited, offer food and drinks, as well as the chance to experience the camaraderie of a close knit boating community.

There are poker runs for charity on the weekend.

Live music and celebrations on the water for holidays, including a 4th of July fireworks show.

Any time is a fun time to be on the water at Herrington Lake, and if a day trip just won't do rent one of the many lake homes perched on the shore or cliffside above the lake, if hooking into a feisty bass or just spending the day boating and floating in the cool waters isn't enough activity.

Try to climb up and leap from the top of chimney Rock.

Like my travel companions, I really enjoyed my day touring Herrington Lake, waving at all my new friends and watching all of the other watercraft go by.

I can't wait to do it again.

Milward We are in the salon of a very interesting, unique and historic in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, that I think you have a little something to do with.

Tell me about the Beaumont Inn and what its history is all about.

Well, the history goes way back and to the 1800s, it was a women's college, actually.

My great great grandmother attended Beaumont College.

And she and her husband and her daughter purchased the property at auction.

And three years later, in 1919, they opened Beaumont.

And so for 103 years, the Goddard and Dedman family have been running.

Beaumont inn.

this place is just living history.

Everything about this screams this history and the story of Harrodsburg.

Tell me about just what all people can see when they come here.

Well, it's.

Very unique because it is an inn, but we have three restaurants.

We serve breakfast to our our inn guests.

And then we have our old Owl Tavern, which is a tavern bar.

And then Owls Nest is more of a pub.

It's more of a bar setting.

So.

So what are you doing on right here on this property?

This is pretty big property.

How large is the land out here?

33, 33 acres.

And it's it's not it's what's crazy is it's not even just this building.

There's another beautiful building on the property here.

And there's probably a story behind that, I guess was part of the the school as well.

We actually have three different buildings.

There's the main inn, then we have Goddard Hall across the across the street and then we have Greystone.

And the neat thing about it is it's generations of people, people that came when they were young and now they're coming and bringing their kids and their grandkids.

And that's fine.

So that's a neat part of.

It really is.

You kind of feel like you're walking back in time a little bit.

We have the Kentucky Owl Bourbon Whiskey.

It looks like I see your last name on this bottle.

My great great grandfather was given a distillery back in the 1800s for a wedding gift.

A distillery as a wedding gift.

I got knives.

How did you get that?

I mean, is that a good thing or a bad thing to receive a distillery as a wedding gift.

That's why I think it was a good thing.

But then Prohibition came along so bad that many years later, my cousin Dickson Dedman, who his family is, who we purchased it from a few months ago, he brought Kentucky Owl back to life and he so this is from batch number ten of Kentucky Owl.

And that's a ten year let's get try this.

It's like drinking history as well.

Sitting in history.

Drinking history, talking about history.

I am really Diggin Harrodsburg right now.

Come back all you want.

Hey, Kyle.

Hello there, Carrie.

This is a beautiful place.

Isn't this pleasant?

It is nice.

And what delicious food do you have here?

You can't say I don't take care of you.

I mean, this two signature dishes right here from the Beaumont Inn, we've got the fried chicken with country ham and of course, the Kentucky hot brown.

You got to have a turkey.

How about.

You do?

So, you know, before I'm going to let you dig into that, though, I am really curious about your adventure today and especially at the Shaker Village.

I did they recruit you because I've heard they need some members now.

Not quite there.

Could I have to stick with the ones they have?

But I did learn a lot of history about the Shakers and about Harrodsburg.

This place has so much history, it's impossible to learn it all.

And anyways, while you were out doing your history lessons, I learned a few things myself.

First of all, starting with our friends at Lemons Mill Brewery, they've gone from like four beers to 12.

And I'm.

Sure you tried them all.

Twice.

That led me over to the vault, where for the first time on downstream, we learned about cider and one of their ciders.

I'm surprised you didn't find this out there.

Shaker Village comes from the apples that are grown in Shaker Village.

You know, I'm going to spend the night in this beautiful hotel, and I think I will do some reading out on this wonderful porch.

It's a great idea.

You read your book, I'll drink my bourbon.

And until next time.

We'll see you.

Downstream.