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Jim Beam - Barrel Production

Jim Beam - Barrel Production

Casks for Bourbon are made only from American white oak. Only whiskey out of fresh made barrels may call itself Bourbon. In used barrels only American whiskey matures. Formerly meant as a support for the domestic forest economy, is today an important quality criteria.

The typical cask form does not come from anywhere. Curved boards support themselves mutually and develop an internal stability, which make the cask resistant to impacts. In the 20^th century spices, herring and quite everything was still transported in casks.

In order to prevent a tearing of the staves during the bending, the casks are warmed up and bent into form using hot steam.

Jim Beam - Bending of the Staves

During Bourbon maturation the alcohol extracts flavours from the wood. With increasing maturation the taste changes more and more. More by coincidence than by research the following procedure was discovered.

If the wood is warmed up properly on the inside and not burned, the wood sugar is converted into caramel (toffee). The specialist speaks of Toasting. In the cask wall a red separating layer develops. The so-called Red Layer. It is a indicator for the depth to which the wood sugars is caramelized.

Jim Beam - Burning of the Barrels

After this first thermal treatment the casks are a second time treated from the inside. This time they are burned out for few seconds (up to minutes) with a large flame and extinguished with water. On the inside a charcoal layer forms.

The same procedure is repeated on the heads of the casks.

Jim Beam - Burning of the Barrel Heads

What happens during this burning and extinguishing? A few millimeters thick charcoal layer develops on the inside of the barrel. Charcoal is chemically very active and binds unwanted flavors from the whiskey like a filter. The whiskey again becomes softer.

However not every whiskey is to become so soft. Therefore for the barrel production the thickness of the charcoal layer is indicated first.

Jim Beam - Assembly of the Barrels

After the cooling the heads are installed and the staves held in form with strong steel rings. A leakage test takes place with compressed air, before the barrels are brought into the distilleries of Jim Beam by truck.

Jim Beam - Barrel Truck

How these barrels are retreated for Malt and Grain whisky maturation in Scotland you may read in the essay of maturation in wooden casks.

Pictures with friendly Permission of Maxxium, Germany