One night we went out to dinner at a yummy mexican place right on the Ohio river.
There was a huge play area outside so we let the kids play after dinner. There was a little water park area that I could NOT keep Jarett away from. I figured I'd just let him play and change him before we headed home. He was having a ball.
When it was time to head home, someone had other plans. He was NOT ready.
I was annoyed when Jeremy asked me if I had a diaper and change of clothes for him. Of COURSE I did. Why would I let him get soaking wet if I didn't?
Right?
Right? Wrong. No diaper. No change of clothes. Really, Allison? All I could do was laugh. So there we were with a naked baby and a 30 minute drive home. Fantastic. Luckily I had a random burp cloth in the car that I attempted to use as a cloth diaper. HA. Everything was soaked when we got home but I suppose it could have been worse.
On Wednesday (I think) we went to Woodford Reserve. We went on a private tour of the distillery and learned all about how bourbon is made. It really was SUCH a neat experience. Not to mention the drive up there was gorgeous. Tons of winding back roads and mountains. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere we pull up to this. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere yet here it was. The views were breathtaking.
In the basement of the house above is where all the tiny little test tubes of yeast are stored. They will soon be used to make bourbon.
This is one of the storage warehouses.
And so the process starts. If I remember correctly this is malt, rye, and corn.
The malt, rye, and corn, along with yeast and barley go in to these 7,500 gallon fermenters along with limestone filtered water from the underground reserves unique to the Woodford Reserve Distillery.
This stuff is boiling hot.
They let us taste a little sample of this 'distillers beer'. It was different, to say the least.
From there the 'beer' goes in to the distillers. Our guide took us in to this tiny little room that looked like a science lab. This is where the process truly starts. They thaw out tiny test tubes of yeast and slowly feed it with barley until its ready to be added to the fermenter. You can see some of it starting there on the shelf.
He showed us how the distillers work using this miniature model of a distiller. The 'beer' goes in when its done fermenting and as it heats up it starts to boil. The vapors rise to the top and the condensation is collected as it drips out the back. What comes out is like moonshine, or High Wine. I can't remember what proof it is at this point but its STRONG.
We got to sample that too. YUCK. This is also where they test the corn that is delivered from local farms to make sure that it's good and not spoiled or contaminated. A guy literally puts some corn in a little microwave that's sitting on top of a refrigerator (that's holding the thawing yeast). If it smells like popcorn after a few seconds, it passes the test. Pretty high tech, huh?
On to the real distillers. They're made of copper and there are three of them. First is the Beer Still, then it gets distilled a second time in the High Wine Still, then a third and final time in the Spirit Still. The alcohol gets stronger and stronger each time its distilled.
When all the distilling is done this is what is produced.
Again we were offered a sample and I was the only one to decline. I'm glad I did too because I was told it burned allllll the way down.
Now it's time for the spirits to be stored in the charred oak barrels.
The barrels can only be used once for this process but they get sent all over the world to make other forms of alcohol. If you ever see this embossed 'B' on a barrel somewhere you'll know it originated at Woodford.
The barrels are filled and then rolled out on this barrel run because they are way too heavy to lift.
They roll down to the barrel warehouse where they are stored for an average of 7 years, or until the tasters deem it ready.
The warehouse smells like alcohol. Surprise, surprise. The call the vapors that are emitted, Angel Share. ;) There's a cat that lives there too. His name is Pepper, after the original founder of Woodford.
The barrels are checked periodically to see if the bourbon is ready. If it's not, the whole is plugged up and it sits longer. Once its ready, it goes to the bottling house.
Using what is called a 'whiskey thief', our guide provided a sample of bourbon straight from a barrel.
The most amazing part of all of this was how small the whole operation was. We probably saw a total of 50 (if even that) employees there across the whole distillery. The room where the bourbon is bottled wasn't big at all and this bourbon is distributed all around the world.
It really was an interesting experience for all of us. And the grounds were just breathtaking. I came across these flowers and almost got really sidetracked.
We took a different route home to see all the horse farms. Gorgeous.
I love Kentucky.
There was a huge play area outside so we let the kids play after dinner. There was a little water park area that I could NOT keep Jarett away from. I figured I'd just let him play and change him before we headed home. He was having a ball.
When it was time to head home, someone had other plans. He was NOT ready.
I was annoyed when Jeremy asked me if I had a diaper and change of clothes for him. Of COURSE I did. Why would I let him get soaking wet if I didn't?
Right?
Right? Wrong. No diaper. No change of clothes. Really, Allison? All I could do was laugh. So there we were with a naked baby and a 30 minute drive home. Fantastic. Luckily I had a random burp cloth in the car that I attempted to use as a cloth diaper. HA. Everything was soaked when we got home but I suppose it could have been worse.
On Wednesday (I think) we went to Woodford Reserve. We went on a private tour of the distillery and learned all about how bourbon is made. It really was SUCH a neat experience. Not to mention the drive up there was gorgeous. Tons of winding back roads and mountains. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere we pull up to this. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere yet here it was. The views were breathtaking.
In the basement of the house above is where all the tiny little test tubes of yeast are stored. They will soon be used to make bourbon.
This is one of the storage warehouses.
And so the process starts. If I remember correctly this is malt, rye, and corn.
The malt, rye, and corn, along with yeast and barley go in to these 7,500 gallon fermenters along with limestone filtered water from the underground reserves unique to the Woodford Reserve Distillery.
This stuff is boiling hot.
They let us taste a little sample of this 'distillers beer'. It was different, to say the least.
From there the 'beer' goes in to the distillers. Our guide took us in to this tiny little room that looked like a science lab. This is where the process truly starts. They thaw out tiny test tubes of yeast and slowly feed it with barley until its ready to be added to the fermenter. You can see some of it starting there on the shelf.
He showed us how the distillers work using this miniature model of a distiller. The 'beer' goes in when its done fermenting and as it heats up it starts to boil. The vapors rise to the top and the condensation is collected as it drips out the back. What comes out is like moonshine, or High Wine. I can't remember what proof it is at this point but its STRONG.
We got to sample that too. YUCK. This is also where they test the corn that is delivered from local farms to make sure that it's good and not spoiled or contaminated. A guy literally puts some corn in a little microwave that's sitting on top of a refrigerator (that's holding the thawing yeast). If it smells like popcorn after a few seconds, it passes the test. Pretty high tech, huh?
On to the real distillers. They're made of copper and there are three of them. First is the Beer Still, then it gets distilled a second time in the High Wine Still, then a third and final time in the Spirit Still. The alcohol gets stronger and stronger each time its distilled.
When all the distilling is done this is what is produced.
Again we were offered a sample and I was the only one to decline. I'm glad I did too because I was told it burned allllll the way down.
Now it's time for the spirits to be stored in the charred oak barrels.
The barrels can only be used once for this process but they get sent all over the world to make other forms of alcohol. If you ever see this embossed 'B' on a barrel somewhere you'll know it originated at Woodford.
The barrels are filled and then rolled out on this barrel run because they are way too heavy to lift.
They roll down to the barrel warehouse where they are stored for an average of 7 years, or until the tasters deem it ready.
The warehouse smells like alcohol. Surprise, surprise. The call the vapors that are emitted, Angel Share. ;) There's a cat that lives there too. His name is Pepper, after the original founder of Woodford.
The barrels are checked periodically to see if the bourbon is ready. If it's not, the whole is plugged up and it sits longer. Once its ready, it goes to the bottling house.
Using what is called a 'whiskey thief', our guide provided a sample of bourbon straight from a barrel.
The most amazing part of all of this was how small the whole operation was. We probably saw a total of 50 (if even that) employees there across the whole distillery. The room where the bourbon is bottled wasn't big at all and this bourbon is distributed all around the world.
It really was an interesting experience for all of us. And the grounds were just breathtaking. I came across these flowers and almost got really sidetracked.
We took a different route home to see all the horse farms. Gorgeous.
I love Kentucky.
No comments:
Post a Comment