ASHRAE Journal- September 2008

Photo 1 (left): Bourbon Barrel Railroad. The shape of the barrels allows them to easily roll on parallel rails. Photo 2 (right): Charring of Barrels. Uncharred, medium charred, heavily charred barrels. The charring leads to distinctive flavors. The charring changes the color of the clear liquid spirit to a deep amber color and changes the taste and smell into a unique American experience. Some Old Lessons Distilled By Joseph W. Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE T he reason we go to Kentucky for bourbon and not to Pennsylvania is because of the Revolutionary War debt. The new republic started off in a lot of debt because of the Revolutionary War. I know it is hard to believe, but war is expensive. How do we deal with the debt? Today, we just print more money (that is how we get inflation), but the republic hadn’t figured that out yet. In those days, taxes were the only way to deal with debt. What was taxed? Old politicians, just like new politicians, like to tax sin. The fastest way to pay off the Revolutionary War debt was to tax whiskey—or so it was thought. Not everyone was happy about that, especially the folks being taxed. Ever since, avoiding paying taxes on liquor has been a national tradition. It’s how we got bourbon in Kentucky and NASCAR. NASCAR’s roots are in running moonshine in fast cars on back roads to avoid the revenuers.* The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 was about taxes and the distillers in Pennsylvania not wanting to pay them. George Washington sent in the army to collect the taxes. The folks making the whiskey moved lock, stock and barrel out of the government’s reach.† They moved out of Pennsylvania to Kentucky. At that time, Kentucky was a rugged, wild place where even the army wouldn’t go. As the name indicates, a lot of bourbon was made in Bourbon County, Kentucky. I have loved bourbon for a long time. I like the history. And, I like the independent spirit of the folks who make it, their sense of tradition, and their willingness to continue to experiment. Even now after 200 years of history, they experiment mostly by trial and error rather than by computer simulations. I have often thought that if engineers were in the liquor business, they would make bourbon. There is a great deal about making bourbon that I do not understand, but I do know that the barrels are a big deal. The unique flavors of bourbon come from the barrels. Without aging the liquor in a charred oak barrel, all you have is a clear liquid spirit, fermented grain that is distilled, or moonshine. I am not into moonshine. It makes you want to drive very fast and constantly make left turns. It seems to me that the conditions the liquid “sees” in the barrel makes the bourbon. The barrel, how it is made and stored, is the key to bourbon.‡ Contrary to popular belief, the unique shape of oak barrels used to make bourbon has nothing to do with flavor and everything to do with mobility. Barrels are easy to rotate around their bulging middle§ and are easy to roll on tracks (Photo 1). *Moonshine gets its name because people typically made it at night under the moonlight to avoid being spotted by tax collectors. †“Lock, stock, and barrel” actually refers to muskets. A musket has a flintlock, stock, and barrel. But, I often use the phrase incorrectly, as I did here, to refer to all of one’s possessions, especially the barrel reference, because it sounds cool. Call it literary license or just making things up. I am a consultant after all. ‡In the opinion of this engineer, who has absolutely no qualifications to make such a statement, the proportions of corn, water, wheat, rye, and malted barley do matter, but not as much as folks seem to think. 82 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org September 2008 http://ashrae.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal- September 2008

ASHRAE Journal- September 2008 Section: Contents Contents Section: Commentary Options for Sustainability Section: Industry News The Silk Route for Energy Solar Thermal Is Unrealized Opportunity Industry Groups Sue City of Albuquerque Section: Letters Letters Section: Meetings and Shows Meetings and Shows Section: Feature Articles Article-Radiant Floor Cooling Systems Article-HVAC Design for Sustainable Lab Article-Mixed Mode Ventilation Article-Single- Design Considerations For Active Chilled Beams Article-Acoustic Design In Green Buildings Article-Teams, Contracts & BIM Section: Building Sciences Some Old Lessons Distilled Section: Washington Report Energy in Federal Buildings Section: Products HVAC&R Product Showplace Section: Emerging Technologies Toplighting & Lighting Controls For Commercial Buildings Section: Special Products Fans & Blowers Section: Classified Ads Classified Ads Section: Advertising Index Advertising Index

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