Burning Bourbon
Booze from busted barrels pollutes Kentucky River:
A fire that destroyed a massive Jim Beam rickhouse filled with about 45,000 barrels of aging bourbon in Kentucky has sent runoff into nearby waterways, which has state officials worried about a massive fish die-off.
Firefighters from four counties responded to the blaze that erupted late Tuesday. It sent flames shooting into the night sky and generated so much heat that firetruck lights melted.
A “rickhouse” is a warehouse for aging bourbon in barrels. The bourbon isn’t bottled until the end of the aging process. Given a large wooden structure, filled with wooden barrels containing flammable liquid, this was a difficult fire to control. The initial “guess” is that lightning caused the fire.
4 comments
At least the fish will die happy 🙂 .
As will more than a few fishermen 😀
I’ve seen a few aging warehouses here for scotch, rum & brandy. They are always old stone buildings (usually bluestone), especially in QLD. Lighting does strike twice in QLD! Not just to fireproof them, but also better control the temperatures. I know of one here that’s actually built underground. 😉 😀
In Germany, the best gasthauses (taverns) are those with a cellar that has the correct temperature for their beer and wine without using any refrigeration. The cellars maintain a constant temperature, something no refrigerator can match.
Yes, I think a wooden aging warehouse is weird. It has to get hotter than hell in the summer, which is not considered good for spirits. It’s their system and it seems to work for them. There is certainly enough stone in Kentucky to build and caves are available.