Rural Missouri - April 2022 - 41

Made-In-Missouri Product
Winery, Distillery or Brewery
1st: Cherry Mash, St. Joseph; cherrymash.com
This delicious, Missouri-made candy has been a contest staple
for Rural Missouri readers for years. The fi rst Cherry Mash
was made more than a century ago inside a plant on 2nd
Street in St. Joseph. Demand for the tasty treats skyrocketed
and four short years later, the company built a brand new
plant with 400 employees. The candies start out with a mix
of white fondant cream and maraschino cherries to create
the inside mixture. That is coated with chocolate and ground,
roasted peanuts then the chocolate again. The ever popular
candies are still made at a factory in northwest Missouri
today.
2nd: Backer's Chips, Fulton; 573-642-2833,
backerchips.com
Backer's Chips fi rst started hand-cutting potatoes and cooking
them without electricity in 1931. Now located in Fulton,
they produce their lip-smacking chips a bit more effi ciently
than those early days, which included delivery in the family
car. Today they produce more than 7,000 pounds of chips per
hour, fi ve days per week.
EC: Burger's Smokehouse, California;
800-345-5185, smokehouse.com
Whether you're looking for that perfect country ham to put
on the Easter table, Thanksgiving turkey or just thick-cut
bacon to go with your Saturday morning eggs, you can't go
wrong getting it from Burger's. Ever since E.M. Burger built
his fi rst Ham House on the Burger family farm in 1952, discerning
eaters have taken notice of the delicious food. The
operation has scaled up considerably through the decades,
but remains a Moniteau County staple.
1st: Piney River Brewing Co., Bucyrus and
Waynesville; 417-967-4001, pineyriverbrewing.com
Piney River Brewing is a celebration of the Ozarks region
where Brian and Joleen Durham call home. They began brewing
and canning their fl agship brews in 2011. Cans were the
only option for them as glass isn't allowed on some Missouri
waterways and they wanted to make sure brews - such as
their Float Trip Ale - could accompany fl oat trips throughout
the state. Their brewing operation in Bucyrus includes
Piney River's BARn, which is packed with craft beer lovers on
weekends. Feel free to bring your kids to the BARn and they
can enjoy Andy's Root Beer, handmade by the Durham's son.
2nd: St. James Winery, St. James;
800-280-9463, stjameswinery.com
The Hofherr family started making wine in St. James more
than 50 years ago. Today, their production has increased from
8,000 gallons annually to 500,000. Stop by their tasting room
and enjoy your glass in The Gardens, an outdoor space full
of games shared with The Public House Brewing Co. For a
unique experience, join them on May 21 for their Grapes &
Grains 5K. The run/walk through St. James vineyards features
beer and wine samples during the race.
3rd Place: Sweetwater Distillery, Monroe City;
573-406-4051, www.sweetwater-distillery.com
Andy and Heather Utterback use a 1950s grinder from
Heather's family to grind the local grain which will become
their signature vodka in stills Andy constructed. Stop by their
tasting room for a cocktail made with one of their three vodkas
or for something sweeter, get a drink made with their
Apple Pie Moonshine.
APRIL 2022 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 41
http://www.cherrymash.com http://www.pineyriverbrewing.com http://www.backerchips.com http://www.stjameswinery.com http://www.smokehouse.com http://www.sweetwater-distillery.com http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP
Rural Missouri - April 2022

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