Rural Missouri - February 2011 - (Page 27)

Propane torches scorch the inside of bourbon barrels for about a minute. The burnt interior is key for bourbon makers as it gives the spirit a vanilla taste and amber color. ships more than 120,000 After the wood is dried, it is ready to be turned barrels to distilleries and into a barrel. The staves are first planed to have wineries across the U.S. and slightly rounded sides. Each is then cut again with to countries such as France, special saws to produce the same angle on the edge Spain and Australia. and a wider middle than the ends. This gives the To meet global demands, distinctive “bulging” shape to the barrel. Leroy has around 130 emFor wine barrels, after the wood is shaped, the ployees, but you can’t go process is finished for the folks in Cuba, as they ship far without running into a out the barrels in pieces. Coopers, or barrel makers, McGinnis. at cooperages across the world then assemble the Leroy’s youngest son and barrels as they need them. For bourbon barrels, the current president of the production continues at McGinnis Wood Products. company, Don, has been Piece by piece, a worker, commonly known as a in the family business his barrel raiser, begins the assembly. Since each stave is whole life. of a different width, the raiser arranges the wooden “I didn’t mean to be here, slabs like a circular, three-dimensional puzzle that I just never left,” he says. must fit snug each time. Don’s older brother, Jack, The barrel is next run through a steaming process has a similar story. After that allows the wood to be pulled into shape witha life away in his younger out breaking. The hydraulic windlass machine forms Francisco Contreras inserts the heads of the barrel, ensuring a tight fight. None of years, he came back to work the barrel as a worker places a head ring on each end the barrels made by McGinnis Wood Products use glues or adhesives. The barrel for his father temporarily to keep the barrel’s shape during the next steps. The and, like Don, has never left. keeps its shape and watertight seal from the correct fitting of pieces. barrel is then cut on the ends to give all the staves The way McGinnis runs an even length. his business keeps the spirit of those old Ozark stave “Next, we set the barrel on fire with a propane mills alive. Leroy’s wife pays bills at a desk in his torch,” says Jack. “It burns on its own for about a office, two sons and two sons-in-law oversee parts of minute, which gives it the same look as charcoal.” the business and six grandchildren work in various The burning process is a key ingredient to giving jobs in the factory. But McGinnis’ impact spreads bourbon that distinctive vanilla taste and to give the beyond family. liquor a deep, amber color. “Everyone knows Leroy,” adds David Mudd, a A crozer places a recessed cut at each end of the warehouse manager at Heaven Hill Distillery in Kenbarrel. This gives the end caps, or heads, a place to tucky, which buys about 40 percent of sit. A worker then removes the head its barrels from McGinnis. “He’s one of rings and uses a hydraulic driver to the pioneers of the industry.” push down metal hoops that will keep “I didn’t start this company to the barrel’s shape intact. become famous,” says Leroy. “I just “Once the barrel is fully assembled, To watch a video on how wanted to make a good product that we drill a hole in the middle of one a barrel is made, visit the could keep a business running for stave, add one gallon of water and online edition at my kids to make a living at. But to a pressurize the barrel to 25 psi to check www.ruralmissouri.coop. certain extent, every country in the for any leaks,” explains Jack. “If there world gets some of our barrels.” is a bad joint, a knot or hole causing a leak, coopers So, the next time you enjoy a glass of Spanish red can repair most all leaks by inserting a cedar wedge wine, a California chardonnay or a shot of 12-yearand repairing the barrel. If there is a bigger probold Scotch whiskey, consider that you just might be lem, we will remove the problem stave and reseal it. drinking a bit of the Ozarks. Every barrel we produce will one day have whiskey in it.” Hagey is a freelance writer from California. In a single workday, McGinnis Wood Products For more information on McGinnis Wood Products, can turn out 500 to 600 barrels thanks to their A hoop driver properly spaces the metal rings on a new visit www.mcginnisbourbonbarrels.com. assembly-line process. In a year, the Cuba facility barrel. The rings ensure the barrel maintains its shape. FEBRUARY 2011 27 http://www.ruralmissouri.coop http://www.mcginnisbourbonbarrels.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - February 2011

Rural Missouri - February 2011
Table of Contents
Comments
Columns
Life Behind Bars
A Powerful Idea
Mail Bag
Angels Among Us
Out Of The Way Eats
The Store Time Forgot
Hearth and Home
News Briefs
For the Birds
Out With the Old...
World Wide Wood
Marketplace
Around Missouri
Neighbors
Just 4 Kids

Rural Missouri - February 2011

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