DANE COUNTY, Wis.— Wisconsin has long been known as a beer state, with breweries being a part of tradition for more than 150 years. However, production of distilled spirits like whiskey and brandy are also growing, and one distillery is taking a big step towards growing the industry in the state.

Dancing Goat Distillery, based in Cambridge east of Madison, just completed construction of the state’s first open-air rickhouse. The massive structure can hold up to 7,800 barrels of whiskey. A rickhouse is a building designed to hold and age distilled spirits.

“When you are talking about rickhouses, you are talking about in the state of Kentucky there are a few, you can count them on one hand, Tennessee, and eight or nine in the state of Indiana, all at one distillery and then none outside of that,” says Nick Maas with Dancing Goat.

It is a project that has been in the works a long time. Maas says it took nearly seven years of planning, in large part due to the unique nature of the structure as well as the complex safety and permitting protocol necessary for a building which carries a significant fire risk. The building has a complex fire-mitigation system and was built far away from other structures.

So why undertake such a significant project? Maas says it has to do with keeping up with demand. In less than a decade since opening the distillery he has seen the industry grow in the state. He says it has a lot to do with the kind of ingredients available.

“Tons of fruits here so you can make brandy, tons of grain that grow here so you can make whiskey, byproducts of those things like lactose is a huge source of spare sugar that can be used to make alcohol,” says Maas.

Dancing Goat Distillery makes products like Limousin Whiskey, brandy, as well as Death’s Door gin. Maas says they plan to build three additional rickhouses on the property in the near future. ​