while empowering family members

Kennay Farms Distilling uses own local crops, empowers family

‘It’s all done by a member of the family’

By Jeff Helfrich For North Cen tral Illin ois Ag Mag ROCHELLE — When a Franklin Grove farmer saw a former theater sitting empty in downtown Rochelle a few years back, he didn’t see a glass half empty, he saw one half full.

And it was full of homemade spirits. The building presented the perfect opportunity to diversify his farm operation and turn a former hub of downtown activity into the largest craft distillery in Illinois.

Before that, growing and selling crops had been a way of life for Rick Kennay.

Continued on page 9

Kennay Farms Distilling owners Doris and Rick Kennay post in their Rochelle facility — the largest craft distillery in Illinois.

Alex T. Paschal/ For North Central Illinois Ag Mag

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The sixth-generation grower and his wife, Doris, ran the family farm with fields in Ashton and Rochelle, growing corn, feed corn, and soybeans as well as running a hog operation.

But he was looking for other ways to empower and secure a future for his family. The answer? Opening a distillery and making spirits with crops from the family farm. Today, he and Doris are just two of the Kennays behind Kennay Farms Distilling in downtown Rochelle. It’s all uncharted territory for Rick, running a distillery and dealing with distributors, marketing and sales.

“It’s like drinking from a fire hose,” he said. But he’s learning, and so is his family. The couple decided to get into the distillery business when their children, Kaleb Kennay and Aubrey Quinn, and their nephew, Adam Kennay, returned to the farm.

Rick and Doris own the business. Aubrey handles marketing and logistics and oversees daily operations at the farm and the distillery. Kaleb is the dayto-day production manager at the farm. Adam is the head distiller.

“It’s all done by a member of the family,” Aubrey said.

Continued on page 10

Alex T. Paschal/For North Central Illinois Ag Mag The large tap room at Kennay Farms Distilling overlooks the distilling and brewing plant.

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“My brother plants it and harvests it, then takes it to the farm and we mill it there. Then we transport it to the distillery and my cousin distills it.”

The distillery is located in the former Hub Theater, a first-run movie house in downtown Rochelle that opened in 1931 and closed 80 years later. The family bought the historic theater in 2016 and undertook a massive 2 1/2 year renovation before opening in March 2019.

The distillery makes vodka, gin, and beers, including ales, lagers, stouts, IPAs, as well as premium and seasonal beers. Bourbon and whiskey are on their way – when the time is right. Right now, the spirits are aging in the Rick House just west of the distillery, and it’ll be a few more years before they’re ready.

Quinn said the family is working on additional products for the future.

Even though it would be “much cheaper” to order grain in bulk and have it shipped in, Quinn said the family’s homemade spirits set Kennay apart from other distilleries.

“It’s been really well-received in the area,” she said. “Craft distilleries are really a popular thing right now, and people enjoy learning where their food and spirits come from. Obviously, people like

Head distiller Adam Kennay collects spent grains from the distilling process. The grains will go to feed cattle.

Alex T. Paschal/ For North Central Illinois Ag Mag

the farm-to-table movement, and there’s nothing more local than our own corn right there on the farm 10 miles away from the distillery.”

“As long as you run it through your still, it’s legally yours to put your name on it,” Quinn said. “We certainly don’t do it the cheapest or most efficient route, but certainly it’s a much better process when we use our own corn to do it.”

When the Kennays took on the project, they didn’t set out to open the largest craft distillery in Illinois. But laws changed as they were renovating the building — allowing distilleries to pump out more product, from 30,000 gallons to 92,000 — and the family decided to think bigger. After all, it’s easier to do something all at once than to build something and then expand later.

Today, the distillery has five full-time employees and 13 part-timers.

Its opening lined up with a downtown revitalization movement in Rochelle, and the city was happy to support the business and helped get the startup going.

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The distillery is a startup business — it isn’t fully functioning on its own yet — but the family hopes it will be in time. “With great risk comes great reward,” Quinn said. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Diversifying his farming business is important to Rick, especially in times when weather, commodity prices, trade wars and tariffs make it tough for some to prosper and grow in the industry.

“Diversifying is tremendous,” Rick said. “It’s everything to have feed corn, we have field corn, we have soybeans, we have hogs and we have the distillery. It’s everything.”

Working together as a family makes for an interesting dynamic for the Kennays. Rick said everyone is working toward a common goal — success — since they each have a stake in the company.

Everyone also is cross-trained. Each family member can work at the distillery or on the farm, wherever they’re needed. “We all have a mutual respect for the different roles we play, and I think that helps us to get along and still do our jobs,” Quinn said. “But it’s still nice to know that your cousin or your dad is still right there to help out whenever you need them.”

Alex T. Paschal/For North Central Illinois Ag Mag Bartender Molly Petry mixes up a Country Sunset Martini at Kennay Farms Distilling in Rochelle.

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