(LEX 18) — With such a wide range of bourbon options in the Bluegrass, how cold weather affects production could be front of mind for some.
"On the aging side, the cold's a big part of it," said Cody Giles, Head Distiller at James E. Pepper in the Lexington Distillery District. Giles particularly refers to temperature gradients.
"You're pushing the whiskey into the wood and then during the cold weather, that would contract, and it sort of pushes its way back into the interior of the barrel," Giles explained.
After being closed on Monday, James E. Pepper is back up and running for the second day in a row, with distilling and fermentation not taking too much of a hit.
However, Giles said, "If we got really, really cold, maybe sub-zero for extended periods of time, it would probably hurt us a little more."
For now, the head distiller says they're on schedule. From the stillhouse to the fermenter room, with frigid temperatures outside, Pepper Distillery works to keep the aging process consistent and quality the same.
"My philosophy on the fermentation and distilling side for flavor is a clean fermentation is going to be most important," Giles noted.
Moving barrels to their storage facility in Midway, Giles cannot overstate the importance of the next few days.
"Extreme, extreme cold. Always run the risk of pipes freezing, pipes bursting," Giles said.
Giles and six full-time distillers are watching the forecast closely as operations continue.
Operations assistant Katherine Foley told LEX 18 Wednesday afternoon that Pepper Distillery does not temperature control their warehouses or pump heat into them.
"Our warehouses are built to experience natural temperature fluctuations throughout the year. When it's cold outside, like it is now, the aging process does naturally slow down, but this is not detrimental to the quality of our bourbon. These seasonal changes allow each barrel to develop its own distinct profile based on its placement in the warehouse and exposure to varying temperatures over time. Hopefully this cold weather pattern will result in some unique single barrels in a few years," Foley said.
Pepper Distillery has about 7,000 barrels at its storage facility in Midway.
