Meet Keith Speed, the owner of Remedy Distillery in Gainesville. Remedy opened at the end of 2020 and serves, distills and bottles its own brand of bourbon and whiskey. Speed is from Buford and spent much of his career in the finance industry before deciding to to open a distillery.
Remedy serves up three varieties of hand-corked bourbon and whiskey including Remedy Bourbon, Apple Remedy and Red (Cinnamon) Remedy. They all can be sipped and tasted at the distillery (indoors or on their patio) located at 885 Main St. in Gainesville (next to the ever popular Inked Pig.)
The name of the distillery came directly out of the prohibition history books, Speed said.
“During prohibition you had to get a prescription to buy a pint of liquor,” he said, while showing original liquor prescriptions hanging on the wall. “The pharmacies filled the prescriptions and it was about $7 back then; $3 for the doctor and around $4 for the pharmacy, today that would be about $95 for a pint.
“One day, I was listening to the Black Crowes in my car, when the song ‘Remedy’ came on, I said, that’s it.”
One nice surprise, Speed added, are the local bourbon clubs that have visited the distillery and appreciate Remedy’s locally made bourbon and whiskey.
“A lot of people that drink bourbon don’t know the difference of what bourbon is and what whiskey is…I’m amazed at how many people drink bourbon all their life and don’t really know the difference. Bourbon is a class of whiskey and whiskey is all from grain and bourbon is a corn base,” added Speed, who also said his bourbons and whiskeys will be found in local stores soon, with plans to expand distribution even more.
The Grand Opening celebration at Remedy will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. April 10. Everyone is invited! There will be live music from Engine 209, a food truck, drink specials and more. Follow Remedy on social media to keep up to date with news and events.
