Bill Simpson
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Once again it is the time of year when a man's fancy turns to the Bourbon trail. A friend & I have been enjoying taking the Kentucky Bourbon trail and touring several of the distilleries throughout Kentucky. Very interesting and each is unique in its own was (especially the tasting sessions)
One thing that struck me as odd was one of the Warehouses we visited had a fine powder on all the timbers and pilings. (I had seen this last year but this year we had a tour guide that seemed more knowledgeable so I asked what was the powder) Powder post beetle he said as a mater of fact and was not at all concerned that they were eating the timbers and that each of those timbers supported several tons of Kentucky's finest aging away. considering each barrell weighs in around 500 pounds and they are stacked 3 high per floor and some warehouses have as many as 5-7 floors, the bottom timbers are holding a great deal of weight (so much so that they have plumb bobs hanging all about so that if barrells are removed or added to one side, an equal amount are added or removed to the other to prevent the building from toppling)
In my experience with powderpost beetle they do a considerable amount of damage and can weaken the structure. I wonder if the guide was just trying to prevent a panic or do they really feel it is not a problem. I know they cannot spary any insectacide as it may damage the Prized taste of the Bourbon , but it seems they should do something about it.
Or am I over cautious? Don't want another batch of my favorite passtime to go to ruin by a callapse of the warehouse. It was bad enough when (7 years ago) one caught fire and the contents flowed down the hill into Kentucky River and killed all the fish as the slug of Alcohol enriched water flowed toward the Ohio. Both Fishing and celebrating suffered from that ordeal.
One thing that struck me as odd was one of the Warehouses we visited had a fine powder on all the timbers and pilings. (I had seen this last year but this year we had a tour guide that seemed more knowledgeable so I asked what was the powder) Powder post beetle he said as a mater of fact and was not at all concerned that they were eating the timbers and that each of those timbers supported several tons of Kentucky's finest aging away. considering each barrell weighs in around 500 pounds and they are stacked 3 high per floor and some warehouses have as many as 5-7 floors, the bottom timbers are holding a great deal of weight (so much so that they have plumb bobs hanging all about so that if barrells are removed or added to one side, an equal amount are added or removed to the other to prevent the building from toppling)
In my experience with powderpost beetle they do a considerable amount of damage and can weaken the structure. I wonder if the guide was just trying to prevent a panic or do they really feel it is not a problem. I know they cannot spary any insectacide as it may damage the Prized taste of the Bourbon , but it seems they should do something about it.
Or am I over cautious? Don't want another batch of my favorite passtime to go to ruin by a callapse of the warehouse. It was bad enough when (7 years ago) one caught fire and the contents flowed down the hill into Kentucky River and killed all the fish as the slug of Alcohol enriched water flowed toward the Ohio. Both Fishing and celebrating suffered from that ordeal.