Castle & Key Distillery: A Behind the Scenes Tour of this 129 Year Old Startup
…The Sounds of Distillation
Now getting down to business perhaps the best sound is that of a test batch of limestone water pouring into the cooker and then on to one of the 11,000 gallon fermentation tanks that hasn’t seen a drop of water (except maybe through a once leaky roof) in 44 years. There are a total of 15 fermentation tanks. Six of these tanks have been refurbished with fresh stainless steel linings, coils to control temperature and an impeller that will soon move a cooked mixture of water, yeast, corn, rye, wheat and malted barley. Master Distiller Marianne Barnes has been testing small batches of mash for bourbon, gin and vodka distillation in her lab for many months.
The stills are patiently waiting their turn for testing. The collection of brand new Vendome Copper and Brass Works stills are mostly covered by the shrink wrap that has protected them since the day they were delivered. The two new stills replace the old 72″ diameter column still that used to generate 400 to 1,000 barrels of bourbon a day. The new stills include a 50′ tall by 24″ diameter copper still with 20 plates for making bourbon along with a 40′ tall by 17″ diameter stainless steel still that will be used to make vodka and gin along with a 375 gallon copper pot doubler. Looking at the stills it kind of looks like your little sister couldn’t wait for Christmas and she just had to peel back part of the wrapping paper that covers her soon to be favorite group of shiny copper and stainless steel toys.
You can’t hear the sound of steam rumbling through the pipes or the thumping of the doubler yet but that day will soon be here….
Read the Entire Article and see incredible photos on the Distillery Trail Blog
