The James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits welcomes its first class of interns this summer. The group is a mix of students from different programs and majors at the University of Kentucky. Head Distiller Glenna Joyce-Welsko has been leading the students through production training and encouraging their research outside of the distillery. 

“Over the last two months, we’ve trained the interns to run cooks and distillations with our supervision,” Joyce-Welsko said. “Tasks include starting the boiler, loading grain into the cooker, maintaining batch logs and records, and making cuts on the still.” 

Outside of production training, each intern is tasked with a research project. Project topics range from investigating heritage grains and updating standard operating procedures to barrel char co-products to age beer. 

“The goal of the internship is to allow students to have a greater appreciation for bourbon production and gain hands-on experience working in a distillery,” Joyce-Welsko said. “They’re able to appreciate every section of production, but also everything else involved with running a production floor: troubleshooting, writing records, cleaning and coordinating as a team.” 

The Distilling, Wine and Brewing (DWB) Certificate offered through the Institute is not a requirement for admission to the intern program; however, it is a valuable prerequisite. Most of this year’s interns are certified, while others are either working towards their certificate or deciding if it’s the right next step. 

“Being in the DWB certificate program has already taught me great things about the alcohol industry,” said Zachary Lockhart, a Beam Institute intern studying chemical engineering. “My favorite part of the internship so far is that no days have been the same.” 

This year’s interns are: 

• Zachary Lockhart:  chemical engineering, graduates May 2026 
• Benjamin Lin:  biosystems engineering, biotechnology and violin performance, graduates May 2026 
• Duncan Gregory:  chemical engineering, graduates May 2026 
• Charlee Dolin:  food science, graduated May 2024 
• Parker Noe:  community and leadership development, graduates December 2024 
• Emma Browning:  food biosciences, graduates May 2025 
• Jett Stewart:  business management, graduated May 2024 
• Tyler Mattingly:  finance, graduates May 2025 

“Our DWBS certificate provides students with a range of electives to learn more about spirits, wine or beer in the classroom,” Joyce-Welsko said. “The internship allows students to gain a better understanding of spirit production by allowing them to be an integral part of the distilling process. They can get of taste of what it’s like working in a production facility, while building upon their knowledge and skills they learned from the DWBS certificate.” 

For more information about the DWB certificate or the internship program, visit https://beaminstitute.ca.uky.edu. 

Writer: Grace Sowards, grace.sowards@uky.edu 

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