11. Enslaved brewers and distillers made Virginia plantations major producers of alcohol
Virginia’s larger plantations shifted away from tobacco and toward wheat, rye, barley, corn, and other grains in the late 18th century. Though better for the soil, those crops did not generate the same profits per acre on a consistent basis as had tobacco. Some Virginia planters, George Washington among them, recognized that wheat and rye converted to whiskey were more profitable than sold as flour. At Mount Vernon, Washington used slave labor to build a distillery. Prodded by his farm manager, James Anderson, a Scotsman with distilling experience, Washington built what was at the time the largest distillery in Virginia. His enslaved people quarried stone for the foundations, hewed the lumber for walls and floors, and erected the building which eventually housed five pot stills. Completed in early 1798, Washington’s distillery was one of the largest in the young United States.
Washington assigned six slaves to work full time at the distillery, which operated 12 months of the year. The enslaved workers performed all of the many diverse tasks required in the preparation of whiskey. When distillation was complete the whiskey was poured into barrels of roughly 30 gallons capacity, though not for aging. It was sold for immediate consumption to merchants and tavernkeepers. Much of the waste, including the spent mash, was used to feed hogs, and Washington relocated a hog pen to nearby the distillery. Slaves carried the mash to the slop troughs. Distillery workers were housed nearby. In 1799, the year of Washington’s death and after less than two full years of operation, Washington’s enslaved distillers produced over 11,000 gallons of whiskey. The average Virginia distillery that same year produced less than 700 gallons.