Still Austin opened at 440 East St. Elmo Road in South Austin on 23 September 2017.1,2,3 It mills, mashes, distills, ages and bottles all of its own whiskey, using only grains grown in Texas.2,4
In 2012 Cleveland Seals wanted a retirement project and asked his son Chris, an economist and risk manager, to help him start a whiskey distillery.2,5,6 Texas eased its distillery laws in 2013, letting distillers sell to visitors and offer tastings.2,6 Three families founded Still Austin: the Seals, Andrew and Lisa Braunberg, and Sal and Joanna Salinas.3
By 2014 the founders had broken ground in St. Elmo.2,3,9 Master distiller Mike Delevante designed the plant, with a 42-foot continuous column still, Nancy, made by Forsyths in Scotland, and a sister copper pot still, The Queen.2,3,9 An existing metal warehouse in The Yard was renovated from 2016 to 2017 to house the whiskey plant.5,10 By 2017 head distiller John Schrepel, who had run operations at New York's Black Dirt Distillery, had made its first spirit.1,2,3
Its main grains are white corn, Brasetto rye and Wildfire malted barley, grown in North and West Texas, mostly by Lonestar Family Farms.2,4 In 2018 it used limestone-filtered water.1 It ages whiskey in warehouses called rickhouses in the Texas Hill Country, where it says rapid temperature swings make whiskey expand and contract in the barrel more.2,9,11 Its distillers add very small amounts of water to ageing barrels over several months, a slow water reduction method from Cognac and Armagnac brought by master blender Nancy Fraley.2,9,11
In February 2026 Still Austin signed a $20 million working-capital deal with FERO, a funding firm for the drinks industry, to help it scale up production.7,12 Still Austin keeps full ownership, and plans have been discussed for a larger distillery that would raise output from 8,500 barrels a year to 58,500.7,12
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