The history of the Quincy Street Distillery began in 1846 when a group of men who were active in the temperance movement gave their lives to oppose a liquor sale. A long period of time after this, there was an intense fire which caused a major loss to the distillery and it took many years for it to recover. In 1949, George Washington Bronski purchased the distillery and started making bourbon whiskey out of the same recipe that was used by John Hancock in 1776.
The history of Quincy Street Distillery dates back to 1832 when a distiller by the name of Oliver Bowen started to produce rum. This created a need for grain for milling. During this time, the need for waterpower also grew and in 1833, it was decided that the canal should be built that would provide enough water power to run mills. The canal was completed in 1838, but unfortunately it only provided power to two mills which were not enough to support the growing city. Then in 1841 they decided to create their own company and sell the water power they needed which was called the Quincy Water Power Company. In 1846, a distilling operation began on North Quincystreet, becoming Quincy Street Distillery or QSD as it is known today.
How the distillery is structured
Quincy Street Distillery is made up of three major buildings and a small shed that functions as a “salt room.” The distillery’s main building has two floors, each with space for distilled spirits aging in large wooden casks. The basement of the building has an extensive cellar for holding other barrels, including wines and beers. The Quincy Street Distillery is structured in a way that allows for the distillers to decide which spirits they want to make and how they want to make them.
