Paying homage to the Mudlick Distillery, Mudlick Tap House started in a small town with a humble concept: craft beer, scratch foods, and a unique atmosphere. In 1847, Pioneer Christian Rohrer settled in Montgomery County’s Twin Creek Valley and built his distillery on the banks of Mudlick Creek. What made the secret recipe Mudlick Whiskey so tasty was the mineral-rich waters of the Mudlick Springs from which it was distilled.
In its prime, the Mudlick distillery’s 30 workmen turned out 40 barrels of the bourbon daily. That production fattened 400 head of cattle and 1,200 hungry hogs annually with the spent whiskey mash. About 20,000 barrels were kept aging at one time at Mudlick, representing a $1 million inventory. The formula of the bourbon was a secret with the Rohrer family. Christian’s son David took over the distillery and grain mill in 1861 and produced Mudlick Whiskey until about 1914.
The rising flood waters of 1913 in Dayton’s Miami River Valley destroyed much of the distillery, and what was left was burned away by gas leaks that set the buildings on fire. With Prohibition looming and competition growing from distillers in southwest Ohio and Kentucky, the Rohrers decided not to rebuild, and the much sought-after recipe of their bourbon whiskey was taken with them to the grave.