Barrel Factory – PIA meetup

So my company is part of the PIA – Printing Industries Alliance. We use it to help with certifications and gathering up information. One of the perks is that they have the occasional meet-up for cocktails and food at various places and as a member, the meet-ups are free to attend, and usually involve some kind of open bar. I was very excited when I heard they would be holding a cocktail and food meet-up at the Barrel Factory!

I really enjoy the Barrel Factory, and what they’re trying to do there – actually – I shouldn’t say ‘trying’ anymore, it’s what they are actually doing and have done to the place. They’ve been working on the building for 3 years – rehabbing it into what it is now, and it’s beautiful.

The upstairs is amazing –  absolutely a great place to have an event.

We hung out for a while, waxed printing lingo with some other printing folks, ate some pizza, then we got to take a tour of the distillery – which I’ve done before, but I always love to get up close and personal with stills.

You might be interested in what that thing in the center is –

It’s called a ‘spirit safe’ and is used for the process of taking cuts from the batches. The reason it’s enclosed is because back in the day, there was no way to tell how much alcohol a distillery was producing, so before going into the collection vessel, it would run through a spirit safe. The spirit safe was a locked box that was only accessible via key, by the tax man, that would ‘meter’ the amount of alcohol that was coming out of the still. Every week or whatever, the dude would roll in, take the reading, then drop tax bombs on their asses.

The Lakeward Distillery is pretty awesome. Currently, they only offer their Vodka and Gin, but I seriously cannot wait to try the Whiskey that they will eventually be outputting. I feel like that’s where they are going to surpass the surrounding distilleries, everything about this place screams Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch… and I am looking forward to the day that I can try it. I’m not 100% if I would call their vodka a vodka, and subsequently not sure if I’m really in love with their gin or not, but both are drinkable, and enjoyable in their own way – definitely unique. Go check them out for yourselves! 

 

 

 

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