Yes.It’s hard not to respect the work that the Garrison Brothers are doing out in Hye, Texas. The people and the ambiance are terrific, and we were introduced to some "damn good" Texas bourbon!Īmple parking at the distillery via dirt road Come for a tour or come for the tiki-like Whiskey Shack. Garrision Brothers Distillery is a must see on the Texas Bourbon Trail. Most are sold in stores, though a few are distillery only. Garrison Brothers currently bottles 7 different expressions. We made the short drive back to gift shop area where of course a purchase of their Single Barrel Bourbon was made. After the glasses were empty, we thanked Toni and Meghan for their time and for their amazing hospitality. Toni wrapped up our tour with a little history behind the brand. The taste for the tour was Garrison Brothers Small Batch 2019. Yes, you can actually party with the bourbon. The bar is used for tastings after each tour and also serves as part of Rickhouse Uno’s event space. While it houses plenty of aging barrels, it’s the first we’ve seen to house a gorgeous hand made wooden bar. And over time even the angels took a little less, although their share is still an insatiable 13-14 percent. Also storing the barrels in single story barrel houses help to avoid extreme heat fluctuations. A little wider stave, for example, helps to keep the chaos to minimum. Working with several different cooperages, Garrison adapted their own specs for barrels. Those days, according to Donnis, are in the past. Between the leaking, cracking, or even the occasional barrel head explosion, many, many gallons of bourbon never made it out alive. The searing Texas heat caused chaos in the barrel house. In the early days for Garrison, barrel aging was problematic. Garrison’s uses a variety of custom made barrel sizes: 10, 15, 25, 30, and 53. This tri-pot duty system pumps out enough white dog to fill about 60 barrels a week. The proof of the new make that fills the barrels is generally 121-124. According to Donnis the distillate from all 3 stills will be blended together and then barreled. With three stills, two 500 gallon pot stills and one 1000 gallon pot still, running 24/7, this is one very busy space. Our next stop was the Stillhouse with Master Distiller Donnis Todd as our guide. Working hard so at the next phase, distillation, there’s plenty of alcohol to retrieve. Bags of ice are added directly to the fermenter to maintain proper temperature, keeping the yeast alive and working. According to Justin, should the fermenters reach too high of a temperature in the dogged Texas summer heat, which would cause the yeast to die, they execute a simple solution, ice. Distilleries in general are not climate controlled. Yeast is added once the liquid cools to around 78 degrees. Lastly, once mashing is complete, it’s time for fermentation. The limestone acts as a natural filtration system removing undesirables, mostly iron, while adding certain desirable minerals. Garrison’s uses well water for their mash. Second, similar to Kentucky, much of the Texas hill country sits on limestone beds. This is reminiscient of Maker’s Mark in Kentucky. First, Justin explained that currently only 1 mashbill is used for their line of products, 74% white corn. Garrison’s operates pretty much the same as most distilleries do in this particular step. Mashing(cooking) and fermenting is what it is all about under this roof. Cooking expert, Justin, took over tour duty and began to explain what takes place in here. Our first stop inside was the Cook House.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |