I was just looking at this picture of one of the fermentation rooms at the Lagavulin distillery:
Looks like there is a river of water running down the middle of the room under a metal grate. What's that for?
The big exhaust fans I can understand; the fermentation must produce lots of CO2 and other weird fumes. The brewing vats look about like what I'd expect. But the river in the middle puzzles me.
Good question. I suspect it's a drain, in order to allow them to hose the room down.
But I could be wrong :-)
Jim
U¿ytkownik "Robbie Hatley" napisa³:
:-)
Sorry to disappoint you, it is no river :-) Washbacks are actually about 5 metres high, so what you take for the floor level is, in fact, a metal grate all aroud. The bottoms of the washbacks are some 3 metres lower than that, and that's where you will find the floor. Now, although the metal grid provides for an easy access to the tops of the washbacks, it is rather hard to walk on for tourists - some of whom wear high heels ;-) Therefore, apparently they lined the isle between the washbacks with some transparent (and glossy) plastic matt, and that's what you're taking for a "river". Compare here:
Cheers, Rajmund
Wow, what I'm taking for ground level is 3 meters high? That's basically one story up in the air! What an illusion! I thought the metal grate was ground-level.
Yet another optical illusion, then. Sured looked like water to me. Whiskey distilleries can be disorienting places for newbies, apparently.
But on second thought, the "water" has straight-line edges runing left-to-right at fixed intervals. I think I know what that is. Hard, thick, clear plastic floor protectors such as are used under office chairs. My feet are resting on one!
Thanks for the links. I was looking through that album just last night (having seen the link in an earlier post), but I never realized that I was only seeing the very tips of the washbacks.
Also, I might be mistaking the pipes and pumps above the washbacks; are those for ventilation of fumes, or for pumping of liquids (such as, wort into the washback, or wash to the stills)?
Cheers, Robbie Hatley East Tustin, CA, USA lonewolf aatt well dott com triple-dubya dott tustinfreezone dott org
U¿ytkownik "Robbie Hatley" napisa³:
Well, I never took any measurements, but I have stood upright underneath that iron grid, so it must be at least 2 metres.
They are pretty simple and straightforward once you've been to one. And a hell of fun it is, believe me.
Indeed you are :-)
The pipes and pumps are for pumping liquids. There are small electric motors with fans underneath the washback covers - to do away with the foam resulting from CO2 production, but that's it. The CO2 goes into the atmosphere directly.
Cheers, Rajmund
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