They Take It Seriously

[cowdery]

You may find this interesting. It shows how seriously the production people in this industry take their jobs, and their responsibility to not screw the product up inadvertently. (Screwing it up on purpose is another matter.)

In casual conversation the other night with the plant manager of the Brown-Forman Distillery (where Old Forester is made) he mentioned that they were planning to put in some new fermenters and he was going back to the records from when the place was built, in the 50s, to make sure they used the exact same stainless steel specifications. I would have thought stainless steel is pretty neutral, but apparently not, or they at least don't want to take any chances.

[Gillman]

Interesting. One would think the manufacture of stainless steel has changed greatly in 50 years. Hopefully the original steel can be replicated!

Gary

[BourbonJoe]

You'd be surprised to know how little has changed in 300 series Stainless Steel in the last 50 years. I'm sure this is what was used. This from an old R&D guy that worked in the specialty steel industry for 34 years.

Joe

[DrinkyBanjo]

Good news for Brown-Forman!

[NorCalBoozer]

Good news for Brown-Forman!

and they also just bought Herradura Tequila for 876 million.

[FlashPuppy]

and they also just bought Herradura Tequila for 876 million.

:bigeyes: :bigeyes: :bigeyes: Thatsa lotta muney!!!!

[TimmyBoston]

and they also just bought Herradura Tequila for 876 million.

Do you think that will change anything about Herradura?

[NeoTexan]

:bigeyes: :bigeyes: :bigeyes: Thatsa lotta muney!!!!

Dollars or pesos?

[NorCalBoozer]

Do you think that will change anything about Herradura?

I'm not a big tequila drinker so I don't know too much, just that most Mexicans seemed to be pissed about the purchase, but I can understand that.

[cowdery]

Not, I assume, pissed about Brown-Forman, but pissed that the Mexican family owners sold it to a non-Mexican corporation.

They did get a nice chunk of change for their trouble. I hope this acquisition works out better for B-F than did its purchase of California Cooler.

Who?

Exactly!

By the way, Herradura is my favorite tequila.

[wku88]

Yes, I'd say food grade/medical grade Stainless probably has not changed much, but kudos to B-F for paying attention to detail. I'm sure though, that through the years, the metal has "broken in", and the new stuff will have to be "cured" much like your favorite iron skillet.

Chuck, if Herradura is your favorite, you need to try some Cuervo Gran Reserva. It may be the best tequila ever. It is expensive, though. My personal favorites are Cuervo Traditional, and Sauza Hornitos. Both are Reposados, but for an anejo, 1800 ain't bad.

[cowdery]

I like the Sauza Hornitos as well. I'll have to try the others you recommend.

I'm going to start a tequila thread in the appropriate place, lest we continue this thread drift.

[melting]

I know it's been a couple of months since anyone replied to this but here's what can happen when you assume something.

I work for an injection molding company here in Massachusetts. Without going into too much detail into the specifics I'll just give you the broad overview.

We designed a mold per customer's request. It went through numerous testing sessions and revisions over the course of two years. This is not uncommon by the way even for some of the most basic molded parts. Anyways, the mold finally went into production and everything was great.

Soon after it was decided that another mold was needed to keep up with the demand. A print with all the revisions was sent to the moldmaker to be copied exactly. Six months later and about $350,000 and it was delivered.

It was perfectly machined. NONE OF THE PARTS MOLDED FROM IT FIT! It was measured and remeasured and everything was exact. It ended up being a very slight difference in the tool steel that was used between the original and the copy. Slight difference in steel equals major difference in cooling ability. Just ask the red faced engineer.

Chris