San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Weather whiplash in Texas makes bourbon better
When it comes to bourbon whiskey, most people associate it with Kentucky. However, it might surprise you to know that not only do several distilleries in Texas produce this popular spirit, they also do it more efficiently than in Kentucky, thanks to the extreme temperature swings produced by the climate in the Lone Star State.
What is bourbon?
Bourbon is a type of whiskey from a specific recipe that includes 51% corn mash, which is fermented and distilled. Then it’s poured into a newly heated and charred American white oak barrel, where it must age for a minimum of two years in a rickhouse, a tall rectangular structure designed for storing and aging distilled spirits. Eventually, it’s bottled at more than 80 proof, which means it’s 40% alcohol by volume.
Bourbon can be made in all 50 states but not outside the United States. In 2006, Garrison Brothers Distillery in the Texas Hill Country was the first legal whiskey distillery in the state and the first outside of Kentucky to produce authentic, handmade bourbon whiskey.
Weather and climate
Bourbon production involves several scientific elements, such as chemistry, physics and meteorology. During the aging process, thermal expansion of the barrels takes over and gives
bourbon its particular flavor and color. The more times this happens, the faster the spirit will mature.
“It heats up outside, but inside the barrel, there’s a little pocket of gas that expands because of the pressure,” said Donnis Todd, a master distiller at Garrison Brothers Distillery, based in Hye about 18 miles east of Fredericksburg. “That expansion pushes the liquid deep in the white American oak — then when it cools off, it comes back in. Those big swings happen almost daily.”
Bourbon produced in Texas only takes four years to mature because of the drastic temperature swings where the liquid can “breathe” more inside the barrel.
Kentucky bourbon takes eight years to mature and is slightly
paler because of the same physics.
While producing bourbon in Texas has benefits, the Hill Country climate poses challenges. Texas summers are brutal as temperatures hit 100 degrees or more, and that heat makes the evaporation rate especially high. Todd said he loses between 10% and 15% of the liquid in each of the porous wood barrels, a portion nicknamed the “angel’s share.”
“The Texas-size temperature swings are brutal on my team and the production equipment,” Todd said, adding that high winds also can hurt production. “The almost constant winds on the hilltop in Hye whisk away a much higher percentage of the aging inventory than normal.”
The effect of location
The Texas Hill Country itself plays a significant role in bourbon production. Like Kentucky, this part of Texas sits on limestone rock that naturally filters impurities out of the water, which is essential in the production of high-quality bourbon.
“Our wells in the Texas Hill Country get water that is running through limestone rock — it has zero iron and it’s high in calcium,” Todd said. “This water makes amazing bourbon mash, and that’s the first step in making great bourbon, and we’re blessed it’s just naturally here.”
As for adjusting their production process to battle the everchanging climate, Todd said, “We don’t plan on moving to the Caribbean and making rum anytime soon. We’ll keep the Texas bourbon flowing.”