The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-11-15
The nsnufscturs Of whisxey.

A great many people know how to drink
whiskey, but comparatively few understand
the process Of making it. The extent OF
some OF our western distlleries, and the
quantity of corn consumed in the manufac-
tare of whiskey, are really wonderful. The
Cincinnati Gazette estimates that twelve
aud half million bushels of corn are con-
spmed every year in the Ohio Valley in
making whiskey. The Gazette gives the
following account of the process of making
whiskey:
Steam is made to perform nearly all the
labor. Few men are employed, and they
do little else than look at the machinery a.
it performs the work. The dstillery that
we propose to notice particularly is situated
convenient to the Miami Canal. A railroad
connects the disrillery with this canal,
whence the supplies of corn are obtained. -
The latter is transferred from canal boats
into large boxes, set upon cars, and thus
conveyed TO huge bin where stocks are
kept. This bin is also connected by railroad
with the distillery, and the corn upon being
conveyed from the former to the latter, 10
thrown into the hopper Of large corn-shel-
Ter, which separates the grains from the
cob with great rapidly, The corn being
shelled is carried by elevators to the second
story of the building and emptied into the
hoppers of mills, by which il is ground, and
The meal deposited in the first story. The
cobs are taken by machinery from the shell.
Ter and thrown in the vicinity of the boilers,
where they are used for fuel.
The meal as it is ground is carried by
elevators into the upper part Of the building,
and thence it is conveyed to the back part
Of the establishment and deposited in large
tanks on-the first floor. Here the distillers
make what they call mash. The cooking"
is performed entirely by steam, From :he.s
anks the mash is draw n off into other tanks
Of equal dimensions, situated on either side,
where it goes through the cooling process,
aud receives the yeast. In the latter tanks
The smash remains two or three DAYS, until
il becomes thoroughly worked by the Yeast.
Here it frequently spoils in consequence OF
bad yeast, or unfayorable weather, but when
no accident of this kind happens, il is drawn
of and run into the still. The latter is abou,
thirty feet high and five or six feet in dia.
meter. The mash is boiled in the lower par,
OF this shli, and the steam escapes through
pipe connecting the upper end of the still
Sith the worm. The latter is set in large
clstern filled with cold water and here the
steam is condensed, and from this worm the
Rhiskey is drawn in the loue r story, and
hence IL runs into cisiern in the "whis.
lighthouse" where it is barreled and made
ready for market.
in "a
Rg the whiskey is called "still slop." This
IS drawn off into tanks which stand ont of
doors, and it Is upon this that distillery hogs
are fed.
This IL, in brief, the process OF manufac.
rurlng whiskey. It's simple and rapid one
II requires on an average about four days to
convert the corn into whiskey, and distiI
lrr's capital i. therefore turned over once
every week-corn and whisksy being both
cash articles.
The quantity Of corn consumed in this
Istlliery il about one thousand bushels per
DAY, from which about four thousand gal
IONS OF whiskey is produced. This gives for
this single establishment q consumption OF
$4,000 bushels of corn per annum, and
production Of i,24e, 600 gallons of whis-
Key.
There are other distlleries in this yicini-
~, the capacities Of which are seyerslly
two or three times greater than the one we
have described.
We have not the data upon which to base
an estimate OF the quantity Of whiskey pro-
duced in The Ohio Valley. The quantity
sgid IN thi. market annually is about 22O,-
900 barrels, or nine million gallons. This
IA DFOhabIV MT more than ono. h 10 Oh. n.
gregate production Of Ohio and Indiana
alone. Pfesuming that the production is
eighteen million gallons, and we find the
consumption Of corn 10 be four and ha II
million bushels, to produce which requires
a million and quarter acres of good land.
II il probable the production Of whisksy In
the Ohio Valley is fifty million ssllous per
annum, Involving consumption OF twelve
and half million bushels corn, the average
value Of which is five million dollars.