Early Times Tour

Share your bourbon related travel stories with us here.

Moderator: Squire

Early Times Tour

Unread postby bourbonv » Tue Sep 12, 2006 7:24 pm

I had arranged with Chris Morris to take a tour of the Brown-Forman Distillery in Shively. For decades this was known as the Early Times Distillery but Brown-Forman has changed the name to reflect the fact that Old Forester is also being made at this location now. The tour was to originaly have been with Mike, JDKnaebel and his wife Kirsten, Brenda, Chuckmick and Gayle Hack. Mike canceled his trip to Kentucky and did not make it and JD has had a career change, which added misfortune to his Chuckmick who works at his place of employment so They all canceled as well. This left just Brenda, Gayle and myself to take the tour with Chris Morris as guide.

Chris met us at the gate and signed us in with the guard. We then went to the main distillery building. This distillery was built in 1935 and started life as Kentucky Distillers Corperation making Pride of Jefferson County and Kentucky Dew. Brown-Forman bought the distillery in the early 50's and started making Early Times there. In the 1980's they closed their downtown distillery and moved production of Old Forester to the Early Times distillery, thus bringing about the name change over a decade later. Nothing changes quickly at Brown-Forman and a lot of debate takes place on anything including name changes.

It was a rainy afternoon and we were happy to get in the building. There are some nice displays of the products made there with a reproduction of a 19th century Early Times advertising piece, but this is a working distillery without a lot of tourist orientated displays and hoopla. We were given a very informative brochure on making bourbon and a nice pen by on of the ladies in the office. Unfortunately her name escapes me, but she was very gracious and friendly while we talked in the lobby.

Chris started the tour with the grain receiving room. This meant we trekked out into a drizzle for a few yards and into the small office. As luck would have it they were receiving a load of corn and we watched as the employee checked it under ultra-violet light and Chris discussed all of the quality control checks they make on the grain. He is quite proud of the robotic system they have for taking grain samples from the truck, allowing the worker to stay in the office (and out of the rain) as a robotic arm is lowered into the truck, the sample taken pretty much the same way as an person with a grain thief would take the sample, but it is then sucked into the tube and deposited in a small bin inside the office. Think of a drive through widow machine in a bank except for grain instead of your deposit!

They were also unloading some corn from another truck as we watched so the next stop was the grain cleaning machine, shaking the corn through a screen to remove bits of cob or pebbles that might be in the grain. From there we went to the mill room. Most distilleries discuss hammer mills or roller mills and claim the other type will scorch the grain. Brown-Forman uses neither. They have what Chris described as a sieve mill with two tubular sieves turning in opposite direction, one inside of the other, to grind the grain. This system was designed to turn limestone into powdered lime so Chris explained that this leaves no chance of over heating and scorching of the grain. Plus it gives them a great variety from very course to very fine when milling the grain into meal. The last line of defense in quality control of the grain before they are milled are a set of huge magnets that remove any metal pieces that might have gotten through the cleaning or broken off from the machinery conveying the grain to the mills. This is very important because you do not want iron in you whiskey.

We then started the trek up, much to Brenda's dismay, many flights of stairs, as Chris literaly gave us a tour from top to bottom of the distillery. The next level up took us to the cookers. They have three mash cookers of a little over 10,000 gallons each. It takes all three of these cookers to fill a single 40,000 gallon fermenter. The distillery makes about 650 barrels of whiskey a day. They make Early Times, Old Forester and do contract distilling for a couple of other companies as well. They run seven days a week but do shut down periodically for cleaning and maintenance. Chris describes the distillery as an old battleship with plenty of cleansing and painting needed to be done all year round. They were cleaning the cookers while we were there and we got to watch the progress on the computer screens. Computers have led to some nice air conditioned offices in the distillery - places that never saw air conditioning before the installation of computers!

After leaving the cookers we went up to the grain bins and Chris explained the sledge hammer laying next to the bins as necessary to keep grain from sticking to the side of the bin when the weather is damp like today. a few slugs on the side with the sledge hammer knocks loose meal sticking to the side of the bin. We then looked at the fermenter room. They have 12 fermenters of about 42,000 gallon capacity with closed tops and the ability to draw off the CO2 for storage to be sold when the market makes it profitable to do so. I am sure this also helps out with local pollution control laws as well. We were able to see fermentation in all stages of completion, from a newly cooked mash to one a couple of days old to one ready to be emptied into the beer well.

We caught a brief glimpse of the two column stills and the tail boxes on our way up to the top level of the distillery. The distillery uses thumpers so there is only the need for two tail boxes since the alcohol is not condensed between distillations. One of the columns is is more narrow than the other and Chris explained that the more narrow still is the Old Forester still whereas the wider column is used for Early Times. I am not sure which still is used for their contract distilling. I will have to ask Chris the next time I see him. On the way to the top we were able to see the grounds outside the distillery and they were impressive views. I always think of Stitzel-Weller as having an air of the quad at a small college with well manicured lawns and lots of trees. This distillery has some of that same air, but it is more park like. It is quite attractive with twin lines of oak trees running off into the distance toward the city sky line. Unfortunately with the rain and a visabilty of only 1.5 miles, the sky line escaped us today.

Once to the top of the distillery we came to two important places in the process of bourbon distilling. The first we visited was the yeast room with an office for starting yeast cultures. Yeast cultures were seen from a single teast tube to a small flask to a larger bottle sitting on the shelves in the lab. Just out side of the lab was a small dona tub, then 2 larger dona tubs and finally 8 large cookers for the yeast to go into the mash. The next important place was the top of the column stills and beer pre-cooker. Chris explained that the beer has to be preheated before going into the still or else it changes the flavor of the whiskey. He stated that as little as a 5 degree change in this temperature can change the flavor of the distillate. The beer then enters the top of the column and distillation begins. The vapors also return to the top of the distillery from the thumper to begin their condensation on the way back down to the tail boxes. On a more sobering point, Chris also pointed out the skylights at the top of the tower. These are designed so that if there is ever an explosion the force will blow upward, blowing the skylights away and saving the structure of the building. Distilling can be a dangerous business and that is one reason there are so many reminders of saftey procedures posted around the distillery. There were many places with ear plugs available to the workers before they enter an exceptionally loud area. No smoking signs are everywhere and the employees seemed to take all of this seriously. They do not want another disaster like the Heaven Hill fire in Shively. Heaven Hill was really lucky in that nobody was killed, but there have been many distilleries in the past that were not so lucky with their fires.

We then went down the stairs (Brenda convincing Chris to let me take her down the elevator) and into a quality control room to check some samples of white dog. We compared Early Times white dogs (one of my favorite white dogs) with a bourbon made on contract and a corn whiskey made on contract. They were quite nice products. They make quality whiskey there for themselves as well as others.

We then tromped out into the rain to visit the cistern room. They were filling barrels of Early Times Kentucky Whiskey. The used barrels were quite evident, but Chris explained that they had all been examined for leaks, worm holes and other problems, so only the best of the used cooperage is re-used. The rest, I guess, go to Scotland. They had four lines working with a single person working the automated conveyors feeding the lines with barrels, filling the barrels, placing the bung, stamping the government head and sending them out to the truck to be warehoused. In the cistern room itself there were four huge tanks sitting on their scales. Each tank hold one day's production from the distillery.

Back out into the rain and to the lobby. We then piled into vehicles to drive over to the warehouses. The barrels being filled in the cistern room beat us there and the barrels were being loaded using a conveyor system that took them up the outside of the building to their proper level. Inside of the warehouse, we saw Early Times Bourbon, Early Times Kentucky Whiskey and Old Forester all being stored side by side. The warehouses are brick and concrete with a sprinkler system and lots of fire doors. They are cycled with heat in the winter - the whiskey heated up to 70 degrees before being allowed to cool. Chris states that this makes for a larger angel's share, but a quicker maturation of the whiskey.

Our tour ended with the warehouses. It had already been over an hour and a half of tour. This caught me by suprise because it did not seem that long. We are going to have to go back to see some other points of interest such as the prototype stills for Woodford. The gates were already closed when we got to them and Chris headeed back to the office downtown. I gave Brenda and Gayle the distillery tour of Shively. I have done this before for John Lipman and if you want to know more about this tour, see his website. He has anexcellent description of the tour there. I will note here though that some things have changed. They tore down the distillery building at Glenco and the iron clad warehouses at Hill and Hill and all but one of the warehouses at Yellowstone.
Last edited by bourbonv on Wed Sep 13, 2006 9:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mike Veach
"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
User avatar
bourbonv
Registered User
 
Posts: 4086
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Louisville, Ky.

Re: Early Times Tour

Unread postby Brewer » Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:03 pm

bourbonv wrote:One of the columns is is more narrow than the other and Chris explained that the more narrow still is the Old Forester still whereas the wider column is used for Early Times. I am not sure which still is used for their contract distilling.


Mike,

Thanks for the excellent review of this tour of which a number of questions come to mind, but I'm only going to hit you with 1 for now. Did Chris give any indiciation as to the rationale for using the narrow still for Old Forester/wide still for ET? I'm sure their surface size has a lot to do with the ultimitate distillation process they want for these 2 products, similiar to the Scots thoughts on the size/shape of their pot stills. So, any further clarification on this point would be appreciated. Then there will be another question...or 2! :roll:
Bob
User avatar
Brewer
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 1481
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2004 11:44 am
Location: LI, NY

Unread postby bourbonv » Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:15 pm

Bob,
I am glad you like the review. Since most people don't get to tour this distillery, I wanted to make a fairly descriptive review of the tour. Brenda and Gayle should add some photos later.

The Old Forester still came from the Old Forester plant on Dixie Highway and Breckinridge. I assume that they keep using it for Old Forester because they did not want to change the taste profile to much (changing location will change it some). By the way each still has its own DSP#. Chris said what they are but I don't recall exactly what he said the numbers are. Maybe Gayle or Brenda remember what they are.

The products are already distinct through their mash bills and yeast. The seperate stills simply makes them that much more distinct.
Mike Veach
"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
User avatar
bourbonv
Registered User
 
Posts: 4086
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Louisville, Ky.

Unread postby Brewer » Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:23 pm

bourbonv wrote:Bob,
I am glad you like the review. Since most people don't get to tour this distillery, I wanted to make a fairly descriptive review of the tour.
The products are already distinct through their mash bills and yeast. The seperate stills simply makes them that much more distinct.


Mike,

Hopefully, if I'm lucky enough, possibly Chris would be generous enough to do another small tour again in the future. I feel like I missed out on 2 rare opportunities this year...this one and Barton's in the spring. And I'll be looking forward to seeing the pix.

My thoughts on the still size/shape is exactly what I was getting at in my question, as I knew the mash bills would be different between products. I'd guess that there's something about this that further influences the final product that they're lookin for.
Bob
User avatar
Brewer
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 1481
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2004 11:44 am
Location: LI, NY

Unread postby bourbonv » Wed Sep 13, 2006 10:36 am

Bob,
Anytime you are in Louisville, let me know and I will arrange a tour with Chris. Since they don't do regular tours, it has to be a small group of no more than 6 to 8 people. Also be prepared to climb over some pipes and climb lots of stairs.
Mike Veach
"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
User avatar
bourbonv
Registered User
 
Posts: 4086
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Louisville, Ky.

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:35 pm

Sorry, because of the rain, I didn't get any shots of the outside of the building. Maybe Gayle clicked off one or two.

Here's a shot of the grain scale. Pretty cool. They weigh the entire truck. Chris said they're accurate to a bushel.
Attachments
grainscale.jpg
grainscale.jpg (45.69 KiB) Viewed 10789 times
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:39 pm

And here's where we watched as the employee checked it under ultra-violet light and Chris discussed all of the quality control checks they make on the grain.
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:47 pm

This is a cool shot of the grain cleaning machine that Mike described. Its shaking the corn through a screen to remove bits of cob or pebbles that might be in the grain. You can see the blur of the moving bed.
Attachments
graincleaner.jpg
graincleaner.jpg (30.93 KiB) Viewed 10776 times
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:04 pm

The grain mill...
Attachments
smallgrainmill.jpg
smallgrainmill.jpg (61.38 KiB) Viewed 10771 times
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:09 pm

And the mash cookers and control room...
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:28 pm

The fermenters...
Attachments
fermenters.jpg
fermenters.jpg (57.67 KiB) Viewed 10755 times
fermenters2.jpg
fermenters2.jpg (53.12 KiB) Viewed 10755 times
fermentersgayle.jpg
I just had to add this one, its such a cute shot. Gayle looks like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar...lol.
fermentersgayle.jpg (20.18 KiB) Viewed 10755 times
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby Bourbon HQ » Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:15 pm

It was an excellent tour and Mike described it very well. I shot the same pictures Brenda did and her's look great! So, I won't add any more. I also did not shoot an outside picture of the building because of the rain.
User avatar
Bourbon HQ
Registered User
 
Posts: 533
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:21 am
Location: Louisville, KY

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:43 pm

Here's what Mike was describing when he said "We caught a brief glimpse of the two column stills and the tail boxes on our way up to the top level of the distillery. The distillery uses thumpers so there is only the need for two tail boxes since the alcohol is not condensed between distillations. One of the columns is is more narrow than the other and Chris explained that the more narrow still is the Old Forester still whereas the wider column is used for Early Times. "
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:05 pm

And, on to the yeast room...
Attachments
yeastroom1.jpg
yeastroom1.jpg (29.79 KiB) Viewed 10730 times
yeastroom2.jpg
yeastroom2.jpg (26.56 KiB) Viewed 10730 times
yeast.jpg
Sorry about the fuzziness of this one. I shot it thru the window.
yeast.jpg (29.82 KiB) Viewed 10730 times
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Unread postby brendaj » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:09 pm

Here's the cistern room. Like Mike said, "They had four lines working with a single person working the automated conveyors feeding the lines with barrels, filling the barrels, placing the bung, stamping the government head and sending them out to the truck to be warehoused. "
As a Kentuckian, I consider it my civic duty to drink Bourbon, smoke and bet the ponies. Its a tuff job, but someone has to do it...
User avatar
brendaj
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Next

Return to Bourbon Expeditions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests