Who has the largest barrel program?

Number of barrels being aged?

 

Man, barrel brokers are in the boom years right now more than ever.

 

They sold 11 million cases in FY2013 (and that increased by 8% in 2014).

1 case = 12 x 750 mL = 9 L
1 Jack Daniels barrel = 53 gallons, or 200 L
1 barrel = 22.222 cases
So 11 million cases = 495,004 barrels
Add 8% for 2014, and that's 534,604 barrels sold last year.

Where it gets tricky is, how long are those barrels aged? JD won't say, but I've seen statements (doing a quick Google search) of anywhere from 3 to 12 years. Let's say 3 to be conservative. That means they would have to have at least 1.5 million barrels aging to keep their production steady.

You're welcome.

 

You didn't account for the whiskey being aged at a higher proof. Typically, distilleries use 120-130 proof for aging. Not sure what proof JD ages at.

 

You get what you pay for.

 

i was interested in this post until i saw all this math stuff

 

Thanks!

 

Allagash popped into my head since (I think) they were the first to barrel age beer on a large scale. Couldn't find numbers, but they do a lot of different beers in different barrels. Don't think they top GI, but they must barrel age more than most breweries.

 

I'd throw New Belgium in this mix. While they don't have the number of barrels, they might have the volume of barrels. They have a pretty large Fouder collection in CO.

 

Avery sees pretty wide distribution and has plenty of barrel aged brews. Wouldnt surprise me if theyre up there with FW and Bruery but I agree GI is probably #1.

 

http://beerpulse.com/2012/02/goose-...ady-be-the-largest-barrel-program-in-the-u-s/
^
3 yr old article, added this later
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/11/goose-island-still-kicks-a.html

so a 10,000 sq ft warehouse (fulton), plus a 135,000 sq ft warehouse (sacramento)

 

Guess that puts them behind Heaven Hill who sold over 14 million cases of Straight Whiskey in 2010 and who have also seen steady increases since then.

 

Boulevard seem to barrel age everything now.

 

Goose Island
Firestone Allagash Deshutes, Bruery, New Holland

These are the only BA'd beers that I see a ton of, on a regular basis, in my market, and I know they are in many states


Hardywood Park has a ton of barrels at their brewery, for their size.

 

I'm not disagreeing, but they've had it good for a long time. Even crappola $12 Chardonnay gets aged in (reused) barrels. I imagine brewers are still getting the stuff distilleries think is (way) past it's prime. No matter what, distilleries are going to reuse their barrels until they think they are junk, then sell them as salvage to brewers. I can't see brewers ponying up as much as these huge distillers, since the distilled end product is always more valuable $/oz at retail.

 

Except for Bourbon barrels, they can only be used to make Bourbon if they are new and unused, so one and done there.

 

To be called bourbon whiskey they can't reuse them. Its against the law. Look it up. Congressional charter stating that bourbon is the official spirit of the USA established a mandate that to be considered "bourbon" all mash has to be aged in charred new white american oak barrels. So once a barrel is dumped they are done. Which is why before beer became a thing you age in them scotch whiskies and Irish whiskies were being finished partially in used bourbon barrels. I spoke to a local brewer. He said a few years ago before the craft brewing bourbon barrel aging fad (bad term but I can't think of a better one, I hope its not a fad because I love them!) they could purchase Pappy Van Winkle barrels easily, but then bourbon also saw a resurgence of interest about the time beer began being aged in bourbon barrels (I wonder if beer is partially responsible for that?) anyway, now its almost impossible to get PVW barrels and they are a lot more expensive as well to purchase now. All bourbon barrels are more expensive, even the lower end stuff Buffalo Trace is beginning harder to find. But, I am sure Jim Beam will have everyone covered. I think they are by far the king of production!

 

But back to the initial question. I do not have the stats, but my guess that InBev owned Goose Island has everyone beat in the amount of quantity. Bourbon County is the best known one but they have some barleywines and I am sure other things as well.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1146/61100/ (Check out that bad boy?)

 

Yes, poorly worded on my part. What I meant was that anyone making a distilled product (rum,scotch,tequilla, CA brandy) is going to be is going to be making a more valuable $/oz liquid than our beers. 750ml of BCBS for example, would be the equivalent of the cheapest johnnie walker, aged tequilla, etc, and obviously the upper tiers of spirits make our beers look cheap.

Maybe helping "us" is that Kentucky is a very central location for the U.S., and perhaps less tax/shipping than getting these barrels to Islands or across the Atlantic.

 

I saw this in a grocery store the other day. Their website said 4 roses barrels. I'd try it but I won't buy it, it was about $20.