Guide: Josh, I want you to catch as much as you can. I don't want you to spill a drop.
Not one drop
Josh: Not a drop guys!
Hey there everyone, so we have made it to Jim Beam, as you can tell it is really
clouded over - it has rained on the drive here - actually it absolutely down poured -
like to the point where I almost thought I was going pull over, it was
raining so hard, but it just stopped long enough first least get in and begin the
tour. So we have about 20-30 minutes before the tour begins, we're doing it at
2 o'clock today, we're not sure exactly what to expect of this one. This facility
looks fairly big. Jim Beam I believe is pretty well known, so they may have a
bigger facility here, I'm not sure yet. Anyway, hope you guys are looking forward
to watching this video, we are looking forward to going on the tour!
The Jim Beam family has been making whisky since 1795. The took a short break during the prohibition, but have been going strong ever since.
To be called a bourbon, it must be made within the United States of America.
It must be aged in a new, charred, oak container.
A lot of work goes into making barrels.
To begin, logs are cut into barrel length blocks called staves and allowed to dry. Staves are then used in building the "rose". Most barrels have 32 staves per barrel. No nails or glue are used when making the barrels.
The wood is taken to a steam chamber where it is bent into place. Once the barrel is the correct shape, it is burned (charred) on the inside for up to 1 minute helping to give bourbon its flavor.
Wooden tops and bottoms (called heads) are then fitted. Steel hoops are added around the barrel to maintain share. A "bung" hole is drilled into the side of the barrel to allow for filling and the capped and stored before shipping.
So I was just speaking with the guy at the front desk, and if that's you, thanks for watching -
you said you would - so thank you, yeah so I was just speaking with him and he says
that this particular tour at Jim Beam is going to be a lot more interactive than
some of the other ones that we experience that Woodford Reserve and
Wild Turkey. So if you haven't checked out those
videos yet make sure you check out the link, and I'll put that up there for you
guys just to check those out, and you too can see the difference. So I'm looking
forward to seeing what exactly is going to make this one more interactive but
I'm hoping that's true because it would be a lot more enjoyable to kind of
become part of the process a little more than just standing and listening to it.
Guide: He bought this property two years into prohibition because he thought it was not going to be a big deal.
He was like "5 years tops"
Does anyone know how long prohibition actually lasted?
Yeah, 13 years!
So Jim was a little off.
That's alright, that ok. So he takes this property and turns it into a rock quarry.
He starts digging into that limestone beneath us.
which ends up being really important to our bourbon.
I'll tell you why in just a second.
The whole theme of our tour today will be the 5 rules of bourbon.
I'm going to teach them to you.
And then I'm going to quiz you over them.
And however you do on your quiz, will determine how much bourbon you get!
Pull out your cameras, pull out your note books...
Whatever you need ok!
I'm here to help you succeed.
Rule number one of bourbon - where do we have to make it to legally call it a bourbon?
Oh! Interesting!
Ah, there's a legal side to this, and there's a moral side to this.
Alright legally, we can make bourbon anywhere in the United States.
However...
95% of the world's bourbon is made right here in Kentucky.
There are a couple reasons for that. One of those reasons is the limestone.
We sit on a limestone shelf, so we get to use naturally limestone filtered water.
That's going to give you a sweeter bourbon rather than a bitter bourbon right.
Alright, so where do we have to make it?
USA! USA!
You're going to take it and throw it right on top.
Woohoo! We are making bourbon today guys!
Alright, your turn.
Josh: My competition is the only one cheering for me!
Guide: I love it
Oh see, he's getting artsy with the way he's throwing it in.
So ya'll ever made a sourdough bread?
Same kind of process, but we are making a sour mash.
What that does is gives the yeast a nice small controlled environment to start multiplying
And that live yeast from yesterday is going to condition this yeast to make sure it's nice and consistent!
So that the Jim Beam you're drinking is the same Jim Beam your grandparents drank.
Once I have enough of it, I can start adding it to the fermenter with the rest of my mash.
That's a 500 gallon fermenter behind you.
How many barrels of bourbon do you think I can get out of a 500 gallon fermenter?
Wild guess?
3?
10?
You ready for this?
1.
Just one.
So when I told you all we scaled it way down to show you the beginning to end of the entire process
I mean we really scaled it down!
Ok, we're making one barrel a day here at craft distillery.
Anybody taste it yet?
What you want to do is stick your finger in there and swirl it real fast.
so you're not getting just the grain on top.
I do want you to try a little bit of this.
You're going to get a lot of alcohol (flavor)
Oh no!
So what did we smell the first time and what did we smell the second time?
That's right, but once we got rid of the alcohol...
A lot of people say tortilla chips
Akane: Corn!
Josh: Corn?
Akane: Smells like corn!
Alright, now I mentioned that 95% of the world's bourbon is made here in Kentucky.
And it's because of that limestone,
We're nice and close to our corn,
but there's a third really big reason.
Anybody here from Kentucky?
Now here in Kentucky...I've lived here my entire life ok,
We do experience all four seasons...very distinctly...
sometimes all in one week.
It's awful, hate it... but
It's doing something really beautiful to this bourbon.
because on a really hot day, like we've been having the past couple days here,
it's forcing the distillate into the barrel, and it's picking up all those yummy sugar's along the way.
That's where we're getting the caramels and vanilla's, all that good stuff.
Now as the temperature drops...the next day...
It's going to pull it right back out of the barrel, so it spends it entire aging process doing just that - going in and out of the wood.
This whole row...is a 2004.
So that means it's a 14 year old bourbon.
And we've been dumping 14 year old's for the past week, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's in on the line as well.
Either a 14 year old, or probably a 10 year old.
The only problem is, when we filled it on that porch, we put about 53 gallons into it.
After it aged that long time, we'll be lucky if we get 29 gallons.
We lost a lot of it. Ya'll ever heard of the angel share?
Yeah, the angels get a big share!
It's a bummer.
Roll this barrel toward him, and I mean really roll it down to here.
Josh, I want you to catch as much as you can. I don't want you to spill a drop.
Not one drop.
Josh: Not a drop guys!
Guide: You did too good of a job! Try it again!
Really roll it!
Go, Go, Go! Yeah!
You know what? You get to keep that.
You can all ask Josh if he feels like sharing.
Ya'll say hi to our T-line operators for me.
Everyone: Hi! Hello!
Guide: What do i clean this with?
Yeah, bourbon. What kind of bourbon?
Knob Creek Single Barrel.
That's right.
You're going to bring it over to this bucket and you're going to push down.
And make sure it's nice and clean, and then you're going to let all that drain
in the bucket. alright?
Just in the bucket.
Actress Mila Kunis has her own barrel aging here.
Over time just based off the Kentucky climate. So after a year, down to 90%
of what we originally put in, after four years, down to 78%
nine years, so we're thinking like a knob creek single barrel, we're down to just 61%.
If you look at this wall, up close, all you're going to see is individual decanters.
But if you step back, and pull your camera up
on your phone, or whatever you've got,
and point it at this wall,
You're going to see something else entirely.
Yeah!
That is T. Jeremiah.
So you can see his face right through your camera, and folks, if you drink enough, he'll talk to you too!
Not that I know, I've just heard that.
Alright, so we just finished the Jim Beam tour,
and, what do you think? I thought it was the best one yet!
Akane: I think so too! And we got souvenirs!
Yes, so at the end of the tour you get...so you get your tasting at the end, and get these little
oh they're bigger than a shot glass, but they're little cups, anyway, you get to
keep them at the end, and as you saw this one was a lot more interactive which was
really good, was fun being able to be part of it, so hats off to the guy that
works at the front, he was so right when he said this was interactive, and this one
is much much better! Also, the thing that is awesome too if you've noticed, no
rain! So that's nice! And it's actually really hot right now, really sunny. So
that's really good. Today's turned out to be a much better day than I had thought!
So that's really good! Alright, so if you guys liked the video
just let me know - hit the thumbs up - and as always please subscribe to the channel
if you want to see more stuff like this, more travel videos, more hiking, we do
pretty much everything under the sun that's related to travel. So hopefully
see you guys next time! Bye!
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Filmed May 2018