State College’s Barrel 21 to hold viewing event for distiller’s national TV debut

Barrel 21 and its lead distiller have waited for more than a year for their national television debut, and will mark the event on Tuesday with a celebratory viewing.

Erica Unruh, the first female distiller in Centre County, filmed the Discovery TV show “Moonshiners: Master Distiller” in fall of 2022. Barrel 21 planned a viewing party in February, but posted on Instagram that Discovery postponed the release date of the episode.

The new air date for the show is Tuesday, with Barrel 21 hosting a celebratory viewing at 7 p.m. “Moonshiners: Master Distiller” is a reality show that puts America’s top distillers against each other in a competition to make the best spirits. The challenge for Unruh’s episode is to make a spiced rum using exotic ingredients and spices.

Unruh’s journey to national TV began with a simple Facebook message — the television show’s official page reached out to her to see if she’d be interested in competing.

“It was an incredible, albeit challenging, experience to be put on the spot in front of the judges and a ton of cameras and compete against actual moonshiners,” Unruh told Happy Valley Industry last year.“That was definitely unique compared to what I’m used to and appealed to my naturally competitive side, especially when it came to the limited amount of time we had to complete the tasks, knowing that one person was going to be eliminated at each challenge.”

Those going to Barrel 21’s celebration can try the distillery’s new spiced rum cocktail and will have the chance to meet and talk with Unruh in person about her experience on the show. Barrel 21 is located at 2255 N. Atherton St., State College.

This story was originally published April 15, 2024 at 2:33 PM.