Ohio Shine Co., Richland County’s only legal craft moonshine distillery, offers a modern take on traditional moonshine, featuring flavors such peach, blackberry and butterscotch, alongside vodka.
Two 1993 Lexington High School graduates and friends, Scott Palmer and Jeff Nupen, opened the new business in downtown Mansfield in February at 126 N. Franklin St.
Both Palmer and Nupen work full-time in the steel industry in sales traveling weekdays. On top of that they are operating their new business with their wives, Holly Palmer and Stacie Nupen, respectively, putting in about 70 hours a week altogether.
From 4-8 p.m. Fridays and 12-7 p.m. Saturdays, they serve up moonshine at Ohio Shine Co.
The new business has a tasting room where customers can sample and purchase spirits, as well as branded merchandise like hats and shirts.
Under its state license, the distillery can offer samples only, then sell bottles for off-site consumption. Tasting samples are available for $2 for four 0.25-ounce pours, which is the maximum allowed by state regulations.
Both men explained there is also a daily purchase limit of four bottles per person.
The two business owners are always looking for more partnerships; currently, their moonshine is sold nearby at downtown’s Hudson & Essex and The Phoenix, the latter of which has two cocktails on the menu using their moonshine.
“Martini’s and Phoenix both are using our vodka,” Palmer said.
Their inspiration came from moonshine culture in Tennessee, where he and his family would frequently visit, Nupen said.
The friends make 25 gallons at a time, which produces 125 jars. They decided to make their products clear, while competitors add artificial colors and flavors.
“We have made the conscious decision to not color any of our products artificially,” Nupen said. “If there’s a color in it, it will only be from a natural source. We will not put artificial dyes in there.”
Palmer said their apple pie moonshine has a little bit of a color, but that comes from the brown sugar they use to sweeten it.
“When we get at some point into a bourbon, which is in the plans, obviously that’s going to come from the wood and aging process,” Palmer said.
Their red-brick building is located in what was the brewery district in the late 1800s.
On a recent Saturday morning, they could be found cooking a malted rye batch of moonshine in a big stainless-steel pot.
“Our traditional recipe is 100% corn and this will be the same clear moonshine, but with malted rye, which is something pretty unique that I don’t think anyone else is doing,” Palmer said as Nupen stirred.
Palmer said butterscotch moonshine is their best seller.
He said 80% of Ohio Shine Co.’s customers are between 35 and 65 years old, and 59% of customers are women.
The business partners said their moonshine is not, like one friend said, “the punishment shot for your drinking game<” but it is very smooth to the taste.
When the moonshine comes off the still, it comes off north of 160 proof.
“We’re filtering a batch right now. We do a slight charcoal filter at the end that helps give it that smoothness and takes some of that bite out of it that people associate with, that scares them away from moonshine,” Palmer said.
All their flavored moonshine is about 50 proof, making it smooth and drinkable.
It’s about a six-week process to make a small batch of moonshine. The flavors can be out in a week or two if need be, Palmer said.
There’s a lot of rules and regulations to operating a distillery.
“Right now you can only buy our product in the bottle shop,” Palmer said.
“Funny enough. You’re actually not buying from us. You’re buying from the State of Ohio,” he said.
“There’s this delineation between the federal bonded area and the state area up here (in the tasting room),” Palmer said.
“In order to move any of this product, in order to bring it across the wall, we have to send Ohio a request for them to purchase bottles from us … Every dollar we collect up here, the state takes it. They’ve already paid us,” he said.
The duo said they have had a lot of help from friends and support to get their business started in Mansfield.
They are seeing a lot of people coming from all over Ohio to try their products.
Flavors are $25.95, signature corn is $34.95 and vodka is $19.99.
Contact Lou Whitmire at 419-521-7223. She can be reached on X at @lwhitmir.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ohio Shine Co. opens in Mansfield’s brewery district
Reporting by Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
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