Rice is obviously readily available locally, and Kris sees a future in the distillery's volume of rice whiskeys and bourbon not only to sell locally but export to other countries.

It was here that planting rice by plane was invented, right over in Willows, by Nolta Flying Service. Northern California was a prime location for rice fields in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. Although rice was predominantly used by Asian countries to make beer and spirits, it was never readily available to the US until after WWII. The spirits, An additional goal of the distillery is to develop the standard for American-style rice whiskey. This liquid is then distilled and refined into a more pure product by going through Harold and then Maude for the double-distillation process. At this point, yeast is introduced that consumes the sugar and secret alcohol into the mix. The cooking exposes all the starch in the rice where enzymes are used to convert it to sugar. So, what is the distillation process? A simplified version includes the following steps: You take a starch, (in this case, rice sourced from Far West Mills here in the valley), mill it into a flour, add it to water and cook. You have to see for yourself the still and its eight-step glass-jar process, as it progressively infuses the alcohol. In this particular case, the result becomes the famous Golden Beaver Moonshine. It is a multiple-retort still, that's a series of Mason jars, which infuses flavor into alcohol. In the end, the belle of the ball very well may be Tina, the Tennessee Thumper, developed by Rick Gibson of Moonshiner fame. Collectively, the trio of stills are vital to the multi-distillation process that helps refine and develop the various spirits. Next in line is Eileen, so called because she has a slight lean to her approximately 14-foot frame.

The newfound couple is alive and well, distilling their hearts out. So there can only logically be one name, right?” They paid a great tribute to the 1971 cult film “Harold and Maude,” an eccentric piece about a love affair between a young man and an older woman.

Kris relays the story of still number-two, “We acquired Maude in November of last year, and when she came in here, of course, we already had Harold. “I made a promise we would keep Harold’s name on the still.” True to his word, if you take a tour, you can see the name prominently displayed. “They had named the still ‘Harold,’ after the owner’s wife’s father,” said Kris. The first still was purchased from a company called Liberty Pole Spirits in Washington, PA. Center of the process remains the stills.

Golden beaver farms