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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nYou don\u2019t have to squint to see the mule-powered roller mill pressing the juice from the stalks or the steam hovering over the syrup boiling over cedar slabs. Head brewmaster Hollis Paschal has stood over the evaporator pan every year of the squeeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe cooker is just one guy. Everybody does what he tells them to do, and nobody gives him any lip, because he knows what he\u2019s doing. It\u2019s an art, and he started out 20 years ago, and he\u2019s still good at it. The assistant brewmaster is Randy Davis. He can cook, but he\u2019d rather have Hollis around to hold his hand,\u201d Crowell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Halls Mill Sorghum Bottom Gang members are Harry Locke, Lance Paschal, Byron Paschal, Quinton Howard, Daphne Motes, Wayne O\u2019Neal, and Danny Ray Davis. Still, many others contribute their time and energy, usually 15 to 20 workers, on work days leading up to Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019d be no brewing without spring planting. Crowell said, \u201cI probably have the only sorghum patch in Bedford County, and I do everything except cook. I raise it and furnish the equipment, but I don\u2019t cook. The same people supply all the labor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fresh sorghum syrup is sold at the event, and the first batches are processed in early September to be available at the show. The Chattanooga No. 13 roller mill, which Boyce, who is now deceased, inherited from his grandfather, is only used on show day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe make about 50 gallons, [and] bottle it all in sealed bottles. It stays good for several years. There\u2019s no sugars or other additives added. Ten gallons of juice yields about one gallon of syrup,\u201d Crowell explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crowell has lots of history to share. \u201cMy dad\u2019s dad, my granddad, was a constable of the area down here. I understand they had a whiskey still here before Jack Daniel\u2019s got cranked up in Lynchburg. They had a well, they called the still well, that supplied the water for their whiskey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For history like this, and more, bring your lawn chairs and plan to spend the day. Live music every year adds to the festivities, and cloggers remind you of simpler times. Their steady rhythms tap out reminders of days when work and play were synchronized and naturally executed with friends and family. And you won\u2019t have to leave for lunch. The Halls Mill Sorghum Bottom Gang offers plenty of choices for your meal and dessert. Demonstrations of other arts and crafts from the past are often present, and you can get a jumpstart on your Christmas shopping from the variety of treasures offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The show is not to be missed, and your chance won\u2019t come again for another year if you miss it. The fact that it\u2019s also free fits every budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s on your biscuit? GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every October, Randall Crowell and Clyde Elvis Boyce demonstrate sorghum milling and the making of sorghum syrup. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-7322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-october"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/241749781_4641440095908662_1250974566281855451_n-768x1024.jpg\")
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