Whiskey a go...go...

[Blueboarhound]

I took the Daytona out for a scream around the county last week and decided to cruise by Michter's Distillery outside Schaefferstown. I'm glad I did as there was a work crew there that appeared to be knocking down the tower adjacent to the jug house. I'm sure it won't be long now before all that's left is a memory of what once was.....and probably a new development called Rye Estates or some other campy name.  In any case it's sad to see that the end is near although the name lives on after being resurrected as a premium brand in Kentucky by someone that purchased the rights to the brand.

Gratuitous Moto Guzzi shot.



Here is a photo of Michter's in better times.



Here is how it looks now.





















The big cement pads are where the buildings were that housed the barrels while they aged. It's estimated that 300,000 gallons were still in them when Michter's shut their doors around '89. The water "jug" that sat atop the tower can be seen behind the remains of the tower in my third photo.

[guzzler]

G,day mate.
Sad to see the demise of a bit of local history!
But did enjoy the gratuitous shot of the Guzzi>
Cheers Guzzler

[cruzziguzzi]

I wonder what the fellas on the boom were doing. Restoration... salvage?

I see someone wisely saved the giant whiskey jug - how cool would that be on my mountain property?

"We'll meet you over at Todd's"

"Where's his place?"

"County 2130, look for the whiskey jug, can't miss it."

[Blueboarhound]

I wonder what the fellas on the boom were doing. Restoration... salvage?

Whatever tools they were using sounded like a small jackhammer and bricks were falling one or two at a time. I assumed they were bringing the tower down piece by piece. The water tank that was hidden under the big white whiskey jug atop the tower when they were in business is now sitting on the ground behind the tower.

[Penderic]

Beer chaser

[normzone]

That's a nice gratuitous Guzzi. As a homebrewer and somebody who cannot legally admit to ever having run a small still on his stovetop, the salvage opportunities there would be fascinating.

[Blueboarhound]

Thank you!

I think it's pretty much been picked through. There was a small copper one barrel a day pot-still that included a miniature mash tub, fermenters, condensers, basically a complete miniature distillery. Michter's used it to demonstrate the whiskey-making process on the tour when they were still up and running. It's now in the possession of a member of the Beam family who put in the shed behind his place in KY.

Here are some photos of the inside of the distillery a few years ago:

http://www.spiritsoftheabandoned.com/industrial/michter/michter_gallery.html

I wish I could find some pictures of the inside when it was in operation to compare them to.

[Blueboarhound]

I picked up a bottle of the resurrected Michter's. It's very good.



Here is a link to the brand in it's current state:

http://www.michters.com/age

[elvisboy77]

Thank you for sharing all of this.  It is interesting the way things go full circle, hand made-mass produced- hand made....Guzzi has managed to avoid this I guess...

Awesome pics, what a treat.