Equipment Road Trip

We just got back from a pretty exhausting road trip to pick up some production equipment. A week or so ago, Thomas spotted some used mash kettles for sale on the internet. We decided to jump on them and quickly scheduled an impromptu trip out to Indianapolis to pick them up ourselves. We figured we'd only be an hour or two from Louisville and since we'd have a little extra room on the trailer, why not pick up some bourbon barrels?

My good friend, Benny, was home that weekend for the Styx/Boston concert. I asked him to join us for the road trip and without hesitation, he agreed. As it turned out, we really appreciated having an extra rider with us, especially the additional laughs that Ben provided.

The problems started in Cleveland, when we discovered that one of the trailer wheels had come off without us realizing it. All of the studs had sheared. None of us had ever seen anything like it. It was a Sunday, so we spent several hours trying to find a new trailer tire, but most places were closed.

We ended up having to get the tire fixed on Monday, delaying our trip by a day. We picked up the kettles, as well as some other equipment that will come in handy. We shot down to Louisville for our barrels and unfortunately, had to miss a tour of Four Roses bourbon distillery (another stop on the itinerary we had planned).

After averaging about 55 mph through the hills of West Virginia, we returned Tues night. It was a long haul, but we accomplished what we needed to.

Below are pictures from the trip. From left to right, Thomas Earl, me, and Benny. The bottom picture is a shot of our cargo.