KBT: Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Company - Lexington, KY

It's been a while y'all, but we're back to bring you another installment of our journey across the Kentucky Bourbon Trail! We didn't venture very far away this time, as Nathan and I spent an afternoon getting to know our local bourbon scene at Alltech's Lexington Brewing & Distilling Company. Home of Kentucky Ale and Town Branch bourbon, Alltech owns the only establishment on the KBT with both a distillery and a brewery on its premises. This unique tour was not only fun, it was also the most informative one that we've experience so far on our KBT travels. So sit back and relax as we recap the latest stop on the Bourbon Trail, Town Branch and Kentucky Ale!

As many of you may already know if you're from around here, Alltech was founded in the early 1980s by Irish biochemist Pearse Lyons. Lyons came from a long line of Irish coopers (barrel makers), and was himself a celebrated brewer who had interned at both Guinness and Harp before coming to America. He started Alltech as an animal feed company, and in the early 2000s the company branched out to brewing beer under the name Kentucky Ale. This was the beginning of a beautiful business venture that produced many different brews, including the ridiculously popular Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale! Lyons was yearning to pay homage to the family business of making barrels, so in 2011 he founded the Town Branch distillery on the same grounds as the brewery, and that's where the magic of both brewing and distilling takes place to this very day.

From the visitor's center and the tasting station, to Pikeville and even Dublin, Ireland, Pearse Lyons has left his legacy on almost everything you can see! The visitor's center features an awesome gift shop with all kinds of Lyons family tributes, while the tasting station allows you to taste several bourbons of your choice, including the Bluegrass Sundown, a spin on traditional Irish coffee made with coffee liqueur and heavy whipping cream. Lyons felt so compelled to give back to the places he called home that he opened distilleries in both Kentucky and Ireland; Dueling Barrels is a new brewery/distillery in Pikeville, KY, and Pearse Lyons Distillery at St. James is a new small-batch Irish whiskey distillery in Dublin, Ireland. We learned so much more about bourbon on this tour than we have on the other tours; for example, did you know that fermentation tanks are mostly made of cypress wood? Cypress trees are known for their ability to withstand a large amount of water, making them ideal for holding thousands of gallons of fermenting mash in bourbon distilleries. Cypress is also a neutral wood, meaning that the water and other ingredients in the mash won’t pick up the flavors of the tree. This tree is now an endangered species, so any future distilleries will have to look elsewhere for fermentation tank material. We also learned that if you were to fall or jump into a fermentation tank you will definitely drown! This is because of the amount of ethanol that is pumped into the tank; ethanol is three times less dense than water, meaning that your body is way too heavy to stay afloat in this kind of mixture and will almost immediately sink to the bottom of the tank. So if you've ever been to a distillery and thought it would be fun to take a dip, think again!

Lexington Brewing & Distilling features a variety of products, all of which you can definitely find here in central Kentucky, and if you live outside of the state you can visit their website at www.kentuckyale.com to see where their products are sold near you! They offer a variety of beer, including 7 that were offered for tasting on the tour: Kentucky Kolsh, Kentucky Ale, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Coffee Stout, Kentucky Vanilla Barrel Cream Ale, Kentucky Peach Barrel Wheat Ale, and Kentucky IPA. They also offer 6 different spirits: Town Branch bourbon, Pearse Lyons Reserve whiskey, Town Branch rye whiskey, Bluegrass Sundown, Town Branch bourbon: Sherry Cask Finished, and Town Branch gin. We got to try 2 of the beers and 2 of the spirits, plus a shot of Bluegrass Sundown as a sweet treat at the end of the tour. Town Branch may be one of the newer distilleries on the KBT, but you wouldn't know it based on what the Lyons family has already achieved. Pearse Lyons sadly passed away earlier this year, but we are confident that he left this world knowing that he had such an amazingly positive influence on the bourbon and beer industries, and that his love for family and community will live on forever. We really enjoyed ourselves on this tour, and would highly recommend checking it out! Plus there's plenty of places to eat afterwards in downtown Lexington, so be sure to read our other posts on where we like to eat in town while you're here! Cheers to you, Dr. Lyons, and cheers to all of our loyal followers!