cowdery Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Probably the most interesting thing John Lunn told me about Dickel is that they don't have computer process controls like everybody else now does. It's essentially still run using the technology that was current when it was built in 1958. There is a worker who controls the boiler using manual controls and analog gauges, same with the still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) Dickel products are bottled in Plainfield. There is no bottling in Tullahoma at the distillery.Probably the most interesting thing John Lunn told me about Dickel is that they don't have computer process controls like everybody else now does. It's essentially still run using the technology that was current when it was built in 1958. There is a worker who controls the boiler using manual controls and analog gauges, same with the still.This is pretty intriguing: If all of Dickel's whisky is produced in IN, then the only thing that Dickel does in TN is produce the charcoal to be shipped to the Plainfield, IL bottling site. Edited October 30, 2012 by Shell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ejmharris Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 This is pretty intriguing: If all of Dickel's whisky is produced in IN, then the only thing that Dickel does in TN is produce the charcoal to be shipped to the Plainfield, IL bottling site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 The Dickel Rye is distilled and aged in Indiana. Then send to Plainfield for bottling and now charcoal filtering. They distill and age the Tennessee whiskey in Tennessee and ship it to Plainfield for bottling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Thanks very much for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckenzie Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Probably the most interesting thing John Lunn told me about Dickel is that they don't have computer process controls like everybody else now does. It's essentially still run using the technology that was current when it was built in 1958. There is a worker who controls the boiler using manual controls and analog gauges, same with the still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 They had computerized controls on the fermenters and perhaps the cookers but not the still. Eddie showed me where the guy's chair was and the valve he operated. He went mostly on vibration (feel) and sound. So, yes, they had a full-time still operator who ran the still manually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasH Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Got a bottle of this last week. Somewhat different due to the charcoal filtering!Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoshani Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 They had computerized controls on the fermenters and perhaps the cookers but not the still. Eddie showed me where the guy's chair was and the valve he operated. He went mostly on vibration (feel) and sound. So, yes, they had a full-time still operator who ran the still manually.So, wait...the new WT plant is automated/computerized all the way through? I wonder how many changes they made...sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I haven't been through WT yet but as I understand it, the plant is fully modern, no more or less modern than most others. Mostly what is automated are process controls. The main thing at WT that didn't have them before was the beer still itself. At this point, I know of only one major distillery that doesn't have computerized process controls on most of the equipment. Buffalo Trace even has theirs web enabled so Harlen can monitor everything when he's traveling. If you're looking for a major distillery without them, that ship has just about sailed. The sole exception: George Dickel. They have no computers in the distillery, according to Master Distiller John Lunn. He told me "everything is sight and sound, touch and feel, the old-fashioned way." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p_elliott Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I haven't been through WT yet but as I understand it, the plant is fully modern, no more or less modern than most others. Mostly what is automated are process controls. The main thing at WT that didn't have them before was the beer still itself. At this point, I know of only one major distillery that doesn't have computerized process controls on most of the equipment. Buffalo Trace even has theirs web enabled so Harlen can monitor everything when he's traveling. If you're looking for a major distillery without them, that ship has just about sailed. The sole exception: George Dickel. They have no computers in the distillery, according to Master Distiller John Lunn. He told me "everything is sight and sound, touch and feel, the old-fashioned way."Chuck I was under the impresion that most of the master distillers could monitor the distillery from the road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Perhaps they can. I just happen to have talked to Harlen about it. And I have trouble imagining Jimmy Russell monitoring data points on an iPad at the airport in Singapore. He has people to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I know it is common in modern brewing. I have read that the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY has its operations monitored online from the head office in Munich. Maybe that is why the beer is so good.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ejmharris Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I know it is common in modern brewing. I have read that the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY has its operations monitored online from the head office in Munich. Maybe that is why the beer is so good.GaryI do quite a bit of doing my own monitoring of the beer at Hofbrauhaus in person. ?Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Excellent, and wish I could join you on one of those sessions! I had a visit planned for April but finally we decided to fly into Louisville (vs. Cincinnati) so we won't get up there. However, the Louisville beer scene is not without interest and this time I want to get out to Albanian.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 The ultimate thread drift...and something I forgot to mention to you earlier Gary...a brand new Hofbrauhaus is opening 1/22/13 (already delayed from November) just a few miles from my house and O'Hare airport in Rosemont Il. This will be their fourth in the states and there is some franchise agreement with an entity known as the Windy City Group for this new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p_elliott Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 The ultimate thread drift...and something I forgot to mention to you earlier Gary...a brand new Hofbrauhaus is opening 1/22/13 (already delayed from November) just a few miles from my house and O'Hare airport in Rosemont Il. This will be their fourth in the states and there is some franchise agreement with an entity known as the Windy City Group for this new one.We (me included) have drifted a bit off the subject at hand we need to get back to it. If we wish to continue this conversation lets start a new thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evets Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Taste alone is no way to judge a whiskey. It has to have the right resume/pedigree. I would have been much happier to see this whiskey come out of Dickel than LDI. :cool:Really? Wow!Taste is the only thing that really matters to me. I don't care if Coca Cola made it...I like this new rye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I think what Lazer means is that we've already had plenty of iterations of the MGPI rye, albeit this one is charcoal filtered between barrel and bottle, which is new. I too would love to see how John Lunn would make a rye from scratch in Tullahoma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evets Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I think what Lazer means is that we've already had plenty of iterations of the MGPI rye, albeit this one is charcoal filtered between barrel and bottle, which is new. I too would love to see how John Lunn would make a rye from scratch in Tullahoma.Thanks. And I wondered if he meant it in a humorous or wry way. I am interested in the heritage of my beverages and I do give extra points for truly unique ones. But from my one sample of the Dickel Rye it is clear that it is very different from anything else I have tasted. The more I taste different bourbons and ryes the more aware I am that it is the barrel aging and other important processes (like the charcoal filtering) that really affect the eventual taste of the spirit. For the price the Dickel is a clear winner for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Excellent, and wish I could join you on one of those sessions! I had a visit planned for April but finally we decided to fly into Louisville (vs. Cincinnati) so we won't get up there. However, the Louisville beer scene is not without interest and this time I want to get out to Albanian.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) Then I shall, thank you! (Oops apologies Paul if this was the too-wayward thread!. No more but I didn't want to be rude to ole Chuck). Gary Edited January 18, 2013 by Gillman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckenzie Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 I toured WT last spring and by the looks of things it is all automated. I saw on ADI forums a conversation about continuous stills and if they were "craft" enough. One guy argued no, because he said they all had to be automated. Somebody, I cannot imagine who, had to chime in and tell about the guy running the still in the old WT plant. I do not think they beleived it. Hell, I should know, we are putting one in that the only thing on it that is even electrical is a flow meter for beer feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 No shortage of expert advise on the Internet Tom, most of it worth exactly what we paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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