Distiller magazine a publication of the American Distilling Institute, the Voice of Artisan Distilling; devoted to the craft spirits industry: vendors and distillers alike.
Issue link: http://distilling.uberflip.com/i/1306663
fall 2020 | 61 are with any other ingredient — and when 50–70% of an aged spirit's flavor comes from the wood, we think it's appropriate to think of white oak barrels as an ingredient. We believe in providing complete transparency with regard to the source of the wood, the tightness of the grain, how long it was seasoned and under what conditions and the exact method of making our barrels. We see every new relationship with a distiller as an opportunity to collaborate and innovate — whether it's supporting small- or large-scale toast and char experimentation to drive our industry's understand- ing of wood science or helping distillers achieve more consistency in their finished product. Our process is designed to help distillers create that "sweet barrel" and to come back to it time and time again. What a Commitment to Consistency Really Means in Cooperage To build a better whiskey barrel, with industry-lead- ing leak rates and maximum precision in toast and char, you first need to build a better process. Our cooperage engages advanced technology and auto- mation — that we continually improve upon using Six Sigma methodologies — to minimize variation at every stage. After all, variation in production leads to variation in the barrel, which will manifest in leakage and inconsistent maturation — serious threats to the success of any distillery and the quality of their spirits. Investing in Our Community with Safe Jobs e WV Great Barrel Company was thoughtfully designed to be the most technologically advanced cooperage in the world, with CNC stave jointing, hydraulic roll-out, precision charring and infrared toasting, among other advancements. But it was also designed to be the safest. People sometimes ask us why we use automation and robotics in our cooperage, if our goal is to create jobs. For us, the answer is simple: safety and consistency. At WVGBC, automation and robotics take on repetitive, dangerous tasks with pre- cision, so that our many barrel and wood technicians can focus on the fulfilling jobs that require human skill and experience — without worrying about risk of injury. We don't believe that unsafe work environ- ments should be a given in the cooperage industry. e dream of our cooperage began as a drive to do better: to create opportunity in our small town and other communities in rural West Virginia through safe, good-paying jobs. To build the highest qual- ity whiskey barrel possible, using tight-grained Appalachian white oak sustainably harvested within a 200-mile radius of our cooperage. To become a resource for distillers to innovate and make more conscious choices about the barrels they use to age their spirits. Our story is important to us because it brought us here, and it informs the way we work with distillers: with integrity, with a sense of commu- nity and with a spirit of collaborative innovation, all in the name of making delicious whiskey. END Top left — e stave yard at WV Great Barrel Company's Audrina Mill. Right — General Manager Brett Wolfington in the stave yard at WV Great Barrel Company's Audrina Mill. Below — West Virginia Rivets.