The building scientist we've always most wanted to have a beer with is Joe Lstiburek at Building Science Corporation.
Based on his most recent article, I think we may be in for a beverage upgrade. This week, in a piece originally published in the ASHRAE Journal (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) , Joe revealed his adoration of another brew with a pretty audacious rant about The Building Science of Bourbon. We can raise a toast to that. This gem about barrel size and Bourbon sweet spots is worth reading for the sheer ride, and also because the piece has a sweet spot of its own. After all, it's not just Bourbon that wants to age at a comfortable temperature, and try as we might, we simply cannot "goose" mother nature to get what we want. If we keep trying, the results are going to be more disastrous than a barely discernible taste differential.
Not surprisingly, those distinctive fat-bellied oak barrels are essential to making Bourbon. The surprise is that the shape is key to helping the barrels roll to their next destination, and has precious little to do with flavor. Flavor comes from the unique recipe of the barrel - the Oak selected and how the barrel is charred, and most importantly, from how that barrel is stored. This is where building science meets Bourbon, and we learn an old lesson in a tasty way from a master.
In order for the peculiar mix of grains and liquid to distill into Bourbon, barrels have to live in carefully measured conditions, at certain temperatures for certain periods of time. (It is an endearing quality of Bourbon makers that those times and temperatures were arrived at by systematic trial and error and a whole lot of tasting, an entirely respectable approach). There was a time that interior conditions - including both temperature and air flow- were dictated by painstaking engineering and the passage of time. Storage facilities allowed for natural shifts in temperature, and structures enabled proper airflow among barrels, so that fermentation would take place as desired over time. The article is replete with great photos and diagrams of both old style and new structures. Talk about attention to detail.
But who has time for all that distillation? We hardly have time to allow a thought to distill, let alone a barrel of Bourbon. Besides, those old buildings were expensive. The new buildings are less controlled, and represent an attempt, as Lstiburek writes, to "goose" the system. Whereas old facilities were designed well enough to allow barrels to sit and do their thing, new buildings require barrels to be shifted to cooler or warmer areas throughout the distillation process. In other words, you use a heck of a lot of power in an effort to make Bourbon as well as our forefathers did ... without it. And guess what? The Bourbon doesn't taste any better.
Like those Bourbon giants of Kentucky, we're all doing a little trial and error, using science to figure out how to live smarter. Whether you treasure the drink or think it tastes like marinated gym socks, it's worth remembering that some of our best answers are behind us. As Lstiburek writes (with a nod to his glass),
"I am betting that some of those old lessons can be distilled for tomorrow's buildings."
Click here to see The Building Science of Bourbon article on the Building Science Corporation website.
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