The Science of Alcohol

Breweries, wineries, and distilleries are always fun to visit. We’ve visited enough we should be able to make our own alcohol but we are certainly not going to do it in an RV. The tours are interesting. Some are free with free drinks but push you to buy at the end (of course after a few drinks I’m really happy to buy). Most are a minimal cost with a drink included and sometimes a glass to take home. A few don’t include samples when they are in dry counties. But they are all enjoyable.

Recently we visited the Pensacola Bay Brewery in Florida and the George Dickel Distillery in Tennessee. Pensacola Bay sells only locally while Dickel makes a limited amount of whisky. Some distilleries make a big deal about their water like Dickel with the water coming from a spring. At Pensacola Bay, it’s just city water and they say it works fine.

The Pensacola Bay tour was a bit laid back but I enjoyed the beer!

 

On previous tours of distilleries we heard that moonshine stills were found by looking for black trees (Bourbon Trail). The alcohol in the air causes a certain type of fungus to grow.  We noticed that even the road signs have this black fungus on them. It turns out there is a class action suit in Kentucky about the damage to houses and property values. I read where the distilleries at one point said it wasn’t related to their operation which is funny since we’ve heard two tour guides discussing the black fungus.