Wild Turkey

My parents and I toured the Wild Turkey Bourbon Distillery while I was in Lexington for the holidays. Why, you may ask? (1) it was free and nearby (2) I was interested in the fermentation and distillation procedures and (3) my dad has collected decorative Wild Turkey bottles for years (if you scroll down to the group Christmas shot, you can see three of these decorative bottles in the upper right corner).

The tour was very interesting. We saw them unloading grain from a truck, got a good look at the fermentation tanks and the distillation tower and saw the storage rooms. The fermentation facilities were especially interesting for me because it is so similar to my own research. Here, they were using yeast and grain to make ethanol. At work, we use E. coli and sugars to make ethanol. Just variations on a similar process. They even let us taste the "sour mash" in the fermentation tanks - that is something that I would NEVER do at work. Here is a video of a mid-stage fermentation. The bubbling is the carbon dioxide production by the yeast as they ferment the grains; it is the same process that makes bread dough rise.




And in the distillation room, they let us each sample some of the product (called "high wine") coming off of the final tower. It was 130 proof and VERY strong. You could feel it evaporating from your lips as soon as you took a sip. Overall, it was a great tour. I was surprised how much we were able to interact with the actual process. It was really neat to experience the different smells in each processing area as well. There are more pictures here.