After more than 200 years of many challenges, the Beam family is considered one of the 7 generations and pursues one goal - to make the best bourbon in the world. In 1740, when the United States was still 13 colonies, the Bohemian family arrived in America for the first time to resolutely realize the colonial dream. After moving to America, they changed their German name to Beam. The mild weather was ideal for growing corn. By the late 1700s German, Scotch and Irish settlers were already making rye whiskey in Western Pennsylvania with recipes they brought over from their homelands. But when the U.S. government began offering incentives to move West and grow corn, many packed up their families and relocated to the Kentucky region of Virginia. Among these farmers was Jacob Beam, who, like others, used his father's whiskey recipe to make a sweeter whiskey bourbon. Perhaps the best decision Jacob Beam ever made was to sell his bourbon. He sold his first barrel of Old Jake Beam Sour Mash in 1795, just three years after Kentucky became a state. His bourbon quickly became the local's favorite. This was a great achievement, considering that there were about 2,000 bourbon makers in Kentucky in the early 1800s.