Temperature, humidity and air pressure all can affect the production and taste of whiskey. Distillers are hoping to harness these elements to make the drink better.
BBC article here A bit of a long read, but I reckon whiskey aficionads are patient
A distillery in Waco, TX? I wonder if the late Absalom
knew about this?
BBC article here A bit of a long read, but I reckon whiskey aficionads are patient
A distillery in Waco, TX? I wonder if the late Absalom
knew about this?The Texan summer is long and hot. This year, particularly so. In some places, people have taken refuge in public libraries just to enjoy the air conditioning. And among those closely tracking the weather, besides overworked meteorologists, is a whiskey distillery in downtown Waco.
Perched on the roof of Balcones Distillery is a complicated bundle of instruments. There's a thermometer, barometer and humidity sensor. One component that measures wind speed spins freely in the breeze. The system can quantify rainfall. Each of the distillery's warehouses at other locations in the state, where the spirit lies maturing in casks for years, also has one of these rooftop weather stations. There are temperature sensors on each floor, too.
...The distillery is relatively young, having been launched in 2008, but has been making a name for itself producing American single malt whiskey and other spirits..
"It's a little bit of really throwing the kitchen sink at the problem and reverse-engineering which barrels turned out the way you wanted," [head distiller] Himstedt says.
...Higher temperatures can induce a stronger interaction between the spirit and the wood of the cask in which it ages. And tracking temperature is perhaps particularly important in a place like Texas because the difference between the bottom and top of a warehouse, as confirmed by Balcones' data, can actually be quite significant. Conversely, in Scotland, given the country's mild and temperate climate, that within-warehouse difference is far less pronounced...
What a lovely sight Perched on the roof of Balcones Distillery is a complicated bundle of instruments. There's a thermometer, barometer and humidity sensor. One component that measures wind speed spins freely in the breeze. The system can quantify rainfall. Each of the distillery's warehouses at other locations in the state, where the spirit lies maturing in casks for years, also has one of these rooftop weather stations. There are temperature sensors on each floor, too.
...The distillery is relatively young, having been launched in 2008, but has been making a name for itself producing American single malt whiskey and other spirits..
"It's a little bit of really throwing the kitchen sink at the problem and reverse-engineering which barrels turned out the way you wanted," [head distiller] Himstedt says.
...Higher temperatures can induce a stronger interaction between the spirit and the wood of the cask in which it ages. And tracking temperature is perhaps particularly important in a place like Texas because the difference between the bottom and top of a warehouse, as confirmed by Balcones' data, can actually be quite significant. Conversely, in Scotland, given the country's mild and temperate climate, that within-warehouse difference is far less pronounced...
