For generations, people have loved bourbon whiskey, and in recent years, the business has experienced tremendous growth. But how much money does bourbon actually bring in? The Distilled Spirits Council estimates that in 2020, bourbon and Tennessee whiskey sales in the United States alone will total $4.1 billion. As compared to 2010, when revenues were $2.4 billion, this is a huge gain. Bourbon is a lucrative sector for manufacturers due to the rising demand for the drink worldwide.
However, bourbon production is not inexpensive. A barrel of bourbon typically costs $300 to $400 to make. This comprises the price of the whiskey’s oak barrel maturing process as well as the price of raw components like corn, rye, and barley. Whiskey gets more pricey the longer it is aged. The expense of making some bourbons climbs dramatically when they are matured for 10 years or longer.
There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to distillery sizing. The amount of whiskey the distillery intends to produce, the size of the production space, and the available resources are some of the variables that affect the distillery’s size. A major commercial distillery may generate up to 10 million barrels annually, while a tiny craft distillery can typically produce 1,000 to 5,000 barrels annually.
So how many whiskey bottles are there in a barrel? A typical 53-gallon barrel holds about 200 whiskey bottles. However, this can change based on the whiskey’s strength and the volume of the bottles. The first step in the distillery procedure is grinding the grains and combining them with water to make a mash. The fermentation process is then started by adding yeast after the mash has been cooked and cooled. The resulting beverage, sometimes known as “distiller’s beer,” is distilled in a copper still after the mash has fermented for a number of days. Before being bottled and sold, the finished alcohol is then matured in oak barrels for a number of years.
In conclusion, the bourbon industry is lucrative and enjoys strong domestic and international demand. Despite often high manufacturing costs, bourbon sales are on the rise and are profitable for distilleries. The scale of a distillery relies on a number of variables, and the labor-intensive distillation process necessitates patience and close attention to detail. It’s safe to conclude that bourbon, a profitable whiskey, is here to stay given its rising popularity.