Owner Matt Zitrick started Whiskey Crusaders to share his passion, knowledge and extensive whiskey collection with the community. Sommelier Erik Fortmeyer joined him at the adult education center in Hurst where they offer group classes, private events and training for the whiskey industry.

In this Q&A, Zitrick and Fortmeyer spoke with Community Impact about what Whiskey Crusaders offers, their passion for whiskey and the unique environment they have created. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

What exactly is Whiskey Crusaders?

Fortmeyer: We are an adult education facility. We are, very importantly, not a bar. We do not sell alcohol. Wine has its sommeliers and has its places where you can go and have glasses of wine and learn all about it at different vineyards. We've come to realize that unless you're on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail or the Whisky Trail in Scotland, you can't do that. Our goal was to bring both trails together in one place here in Texas where you can come learn about it. We're not tied to any particular distillery or product or anything like that. Our goal is just to educate people. This really evolved out of our own personal involvement helping other people to learn about whiskey. People are hungry to know and we're happy to teach.

Where did your passion for whiskey come from?

Zitrick: The day I turned 21, I went to a liquor store and bought the cheapest whiskeys I could find on the shelves. Then it kind of evolved, and now I have about a 4,500 bottle collection. I like history a lot, and whiskey and history kind of go hand in hand with each other in the last 500 years. There's nothing better than teaching history and whiskey together.

Fortmeyer: A lot of people started doing what they called ‘driveway drinking’ during COVID. We sat out there and socialized and had the brisket going, sort of like tailgating, except at home. I kept getting invited to a lot of these things from Total Wine, and Matt had a similar thing happening ... We started helping people out and telling people about the whole story of all these bottles. [We talked about] the whiskeys, the distilleries, the legends, the lores, how they tasted, what their tasting characteristics were, how they were made and people just went bananas. They absolutely loved that stuff.

Can you talk about some of the different events you offer?

Fortmeyer: We do a lot of classes that are oriented toward the individual person, but we don't limit it to just the individual person. We had a group come in that was a bunch of guys who were Shakespearean actors, and they wanted to do a class on Balcones, so we did a higher level in-depth class, specifically on Balcones whisky.

We also have people come in, and they don't know a lot about whiskey, so they just want to learn the basics. What we typically do for them is an around-the-world tour where we do, a bourbon, a rye, a Texas whiskey, a Peruvian whiskey, a couple of different scotches, a Japanese whiskey and an Irish whiskey.

A lot of times when people come in, they're overwhelmed when they see the 3,000 bottles on the shelves. First, we listen to the group and hear what they're curious about. Then, we'll go and pick out the bottles based upon what they've mentioned.

What makes Whiskey Crusaders a unique environment?

Fortmeyer: The goal is to have fun, have a great conversation, maybe do a little networking and then walk out of here completely sober and not make a fool out of yourself. We're trying to bring that concept back. Part of why we format the place like this and why we call it the whiskey castle is we want to have the great hall in the middle here where people can come sit down, have a conversation with people, enjoy themselves ...The castle back in the old days was where you would go to for safety and to have some libation.

Zitrick: We have these big masterclass events where we’ll have 30 to 60 people in here. One of the things that they'll do after they finish the class is bring some of their own bottles to share to build that community. Now they've got lifelong friends they've made here. Every time we have an event, they'll come hang out for another hour or two after we're finished.

Learn more

Whiskey Crusaders is located at 173 W. Harwood Road, Hurst. To sign up for a class or learn more, visit https://whiskeycrusaders.com.

The above story was produced by Multi-platform Journalist Mary Katherine Shapiro with Community Impact's Storytelling team with information solely provided by the local business as part of their "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.