James B. Beam Distilling Tour Review

James B. Beam Distilling Co.
(Jim Beam Distillery)
568 Happy Hollow Rd
Clermont, KY 40110
beamdistilling.com

Please enjoy our James B Beam Distilling Tour Review (Jim Beam Distillery)!

The Jim Beam Story

The clock never stops ticking with regards to history and its stories. And, the stories that comprise the life and livelihood of the Beam family and bourbon are many. The first began some two hundred and twenty-seven years ago when farmer, Jacob Beam, distilled his excess corn and sold his first barrel of sour mash whiskey. A seemingly simple decision gave rise to a family legacy and a business empire.

So how does one barrel sold in 1795 lead to today’s almost 19 million and counting? Answers to this and much more are waiting to be discovered at the James B. Beam Distilling Company’s recently renovated visitor center, the American Outpost. The Outpost reopened in October 2021 after closing to visitors back in March 2020; first because of Covid-19, and then to implement and complete a long planned renovation of the entire campus.

The New Visitor Experience – James B Beam Distilling Co Tour

The time off was worth the wait. Beam has created all new visitor experiences, and they continue to evolve as time goes on.

For first time visitors, the Beam Made Bourbon Distillery Tour & Tasting gives an informative overview of the entire production process, and includes a progressive tasting. Other experiences include themed tastings, a warehouse tour and tasting, and a Basil Hayden and small bite pairing that takes place in the historic Baker Beam home.

For the truly Bourbon Obsessed^sm, there is the Behind the Beam experience with Master Distillers Fred and/or Freddie Noe. Once a month, guests will be guided on a behind the scenes tour of the Fred B. Noe Distillery, bottle their own Knob Creek® Single Barrel Reserve, and enjoy a tasting and storytelling led by a Master Distiller. Following the tour, guests will sample Beam’s finest whiskies and a few of the most sought-after new releases, paired with a Kentucky inspired lunch at The Kitchen Table. Each experience will focus on a specific theme. Current themes include: Maturation, Little Book + Country Ham or Cocktails.

Hours Of Operation & Other Details

As of July 2024, the James B. Beam American Outpost is open every day except Tuesdays, and some holidays. Hours of operation are 9:00am-5:30pm, except for Sundays, when the hours are 9:30am-5:30pm. Online reservations are encouraged and can be made at beamdistilling.com. Tickets vary in price depending on the experience. The 1.25 hour Beam Made Bourbon Distillery Tour and Tasting is $30 plus tax and fees. Active military visitors may take the tour for free with their military ID, while veterans receive a discount. In addition, visitors under 21 are welcome on the tour ($20), however tastings are for those who are 21+ only. Hours of operation may vary seasonally, so you’ll want to check with the Beam website when you plan your visit.

Take A Walk Through Beam History

When you’re taking a James B. Beam Distilling Co tour, arrive at least 15 minutes before your tour’s start time. This allows time to check-in or to secure a spot, and time to check out the wonderfully spacious James B. Beam American Outpost and gift shop.

The American Outpost

An introduction to the history of the Beam family and bourbon begins on the walls of the American Outpost. Through the magic of its digital display, the Beam family tree highlights the succession of Beam family master distillers. Also interesting, is that the display includes the many other Beam family members who worked at various other distilleries over the years, as well as those who currently do so.

Opposite the digital wall display, visitors get another reminder that while Jim Beam is a brand and a company, it is also a family. Photos of generations past and present line the wall along the staircase, as though it’s the family home. In a sense it is; the Beam family wants everyone to feel not just welcome, but part of the family. So much so, that at the bottom of the staircase, the Beam Foto booth offers folks the opportunity to commemorate their visit to the distillery with photographs of their own. Visitors are even provided the opportunity to add their photo to the Beam family’s wall.

Our Arrival

Following our own advice, we arrived early, first checking in for our scheduled tour. Arriving early gave us the opportunity to check out the new space and discover the impressive family lineage, courtesy of the digital wall. Shortly thereafter, we met Megan Breier, formerly the Experiential Programming & Education Manager (who made our visit possible), and our guide, Justin, and immediately set out for our introduction to everything Beam. Since our initial visit, we have returned to the distillery many times, most recently in July 2024.

Our James B. Beam Distilling Tour

On our first visit, our tour started similarly to the current Beam Made Bourbon Distillery Tour & Tasting. From the visitor center, we boarded a bus which took us down to the distillery proper. As we stepped inside the heavy industrial looking black doors marked “Beam Made Bourbon”, an enormous man-made waterfall overtook our senses. Over the roar of the rushing water, Justin explained that this room was designed to highlight the importance of the ingredients that make up the Beam brands of bourbons. Water, grain, and yeast are all crucial pieces of the puzzle and each of these had life-sized representations to view, as Justin covered them one by one.

For example, a 1935 vintage Cadillac parked inside represents Beam Distilling’s same yeast strain since 1935. Hmm? How so? It’s interesting, but wasn’t uncommon back in the day. First, the Cadillac is the same model driven by Jim Beam, back in his day. Second, in the front seat of the car is the Dona jug, the vessel which distillers would use to carry their yeast culture back and forth each day. In addition, for those new to bourbon, the standards of bourbon are also on life-sized display. These visuals along with the guided explanations really help to clarify each topic at hand.

Fermentation

With some background information covered, we headed up the stairs past the grain hopper display, to learn all about fermentation. Unfortunately, during our initial visit, the area was off limits for the day, (although we could enter on our more recent visit) so we spent a few moments staring through the glass window soaking in the view. Justin noted earlier that Beam supplies nearly 50% of the world’s bourbon. This would explain 22 massive fermenters, each with a capacity of 45,000 gallons. Incredible, especially since this is Beam’s “small” distillery. The lion’s share of production takes place at the Booker Noe Plant, a few miles down the road in Boston, KY. There, the majority of the bourbon produced is Jim Beam “White Label”, the number one selling bourbon in the world.

The Still

Our next stop was the stillhouse, aka the “Big House”, its slogan, “Hardest Working Still in America”, proudly displayed on the side of the building. So, it came as no surprise that this 50 year old six story behemoth works 24/7. Every minute it distills 200 gallons of mash resulting in 30 gallons of white dog. Even more impressive, is the fact that Beam uses this same still to make smaller batches of white dog that come off the still at different proofs. Another life-size display notes that Jim Beam Bourbon is distilled to 135 proof, Knob Creek to 130, and Basil Hayden to 120. Monstrous, yet versatile.

The Casehouse

Next Justin led us from the Big House to the Casehouse. This newly designed area covers barrels, barrels, and more barrels, along with the nitty gritty of the distillation process. The introduction to barrels begins with a video from Independent Stave Company (ISC), the maker of Beam’s barrels. The video explains the life cycle of a barrel, from tree to char. The Knob Creek single barrel display is a hands on display showcasing the single barrel process, along with a discussion of the small batch process.

Also of note in the Casehouse is the art of the distillation display. Here, miniatures of each apparatus involved in the entire distillation process line the wall, with the still represented by a live digital display. From the grain hopper to the cistern tank, Justin took us through each step, and together with the assistance of the visual aids, the production of Beam bourbon became remarkably clear. Finally, the new make (aka. white dog) is barreled. This is demonstrated by the Barrel Fill display. Another hands on display, it mimics the actual process. In one last barrel exhibit, Beam shares more information on the aforementioned bourbons. This time, comparisons are made for barrel entry proof, time aged, and bottling proof. For example, Basil Hayden Bourbon enters the barrel at 115 proof, ages a minimum of 6 years, and then is bottled at 80 proof.

The Knob Creek Bottling Line

Before we headed off to see how Beam stores their barrels, we made a quick stop at the Knob Creek bottling line. Visitors have the opportunity to bottle their own Knob Creek single barrel bourbon during the tour.  We took advantage of this option and enjoyed seeing the action of the workings of a high speed bottling line up close.

Barrel Warehouse F

While our Knob Creek Bourbon bottle would make its way to the the American Outpost Gift Shop for purchasing at the end of the tour, we were off to Warehouse F to learn about barrel storage. Unfortunately for first time visitors, the barrel warehouse, or rackhouse as Beam refers to them, is no longer part of the Beam Made Bourbon Distillery Tour & Tasting. The folks at the Jame B. Beam Distilling Co decided that to fully appreciate the aging process, more time was needed. So, they have recently added the Maturation Matters Warehouse Experience which focuses entirely on whiskey maturation.

Fortunately for us, during our snowy February visit, Warehouse F was our next stop. Even in the frigid temperatures, the sweet smell of the spiritous liquid wafted ever so slightly throughout the structure. This north/south facing warehouse, built in 1948, houses just under twenty thousand barrels.

At the time, according to Justin, across its 550 acres, Beam’s current warehouse count stands at thirty-six. The number is larger now, and Beam has many warehouses on other campuses in Kentucky, as well. Their newest warehouse on this site can be seen upon arrival or departure, as it sits at the entrance to the campus. It’s a very large rackhouse with a capacity of close to 60,000 barrels!

Warehouse F serves as the teaching warehouse, and is where the new Maturation Matters Warehouse Experience takes place. The barrel display here helps visitors learn about how the whiskey is aged at the James B. Beam Distillery. We also learned about the loss of whiskey volume due to evaporation, known as the “Angels’ share”. Justin wrapped up our warehouse time by pointing out a few other teaching tools and then it was time for a little tasting.

The Tasting Rooms

Until recently, visitors headed back to the second floor of the James B. Beam Distilling Co. American Outpost for their tasting. Aptly named “Kentucky Hug” and “Kentucky Chew” are the 2 rooms which formerly hosted the tastings for this tour. However, these tasting rooms are now used for other purposes, as the Beam Made Bourbon Distillery Tour & Tasting now includes a progressive tasting throughout the tour.

So, you may be wondering, “What is a progressive tasting?” At various stops during the tour, visitors are given a sample of one of Beam Distilling’s flagship whiskeys. Now, rather than waiting until the end of the tour to have their first taste of bourbon, guests are given the opportunity right from the start. On our most recent tour, we sampled Jim Beam White Label Bourbon, the new Jim Beam Black Aged 7 Years, our choice of either Basil Hayden Dark Rye of Basil Hayden Bourbon, and, finally, our choice of either Knob Creek 9 Year Old Bourbon of 7 Year Old Rye.

On our first visit, however, we weren’t quite ready for our tasting, as our final stop would be Jim Beam’s new experimental and educational space, the Fred B. Noe Distillery. 

The Fred B. Noe Distillery

The Fred B. Noe Distillery is named in honor of 7th generation and current Master Distiller, Fred B. Noe. Innovation, experimentation, and education take precedence here. The distillery is under the well groomed leadership of the 8th generation Beam family member, also a Master Distiller, Freddie Noe, the son of Fred. The building features a state of the art yeast propagation area and classroom, as well as a hands-on blending lab. While the Beam brands of Booker’s, Baker’s, and Little Book continue life under this roof, creativity and exploration also have prominence. The distillery has everything that the next whiskey rooted generation would want, including its own tasting bar. Located on the lower level, the area is geared toward sampling the distillery’s creations and new releases for those in the spirits industry.

The Tasting Bar at the Fred B. Noe Distillery

While our enlightenment of everything Beam came to a conclusion, we were ready to try the finished products. Justin had our tasting set up at the Fred B. Noe Distillery bar, so we happily took our seats as he walked us through each of the samples. Justin encouraged us to take note of the color and nose each whiskey. After ample discussion of the characteristics of the nose, taste and finish of each sample, before we knew it, our glasses were empty and our time had come to a close.

We felt fortunate to have had a peek inside the new Fred B. Noe Distillery. Neither the family nor the company is content to rest on their respective laurels. The Fred B. Noe Distillery provides the optimum setting for the Beam family of distillers to continue their invaluable contributions while providing the James B. Beam Distilling Co. the crucial edge any company would need to stay at the top of their game. 

The Gift Shop and The Kitchen Table Restaurant

We thanked Justin for a terrific tour as we headed back to the James B. Beam Distilling Co American Outpost. No visit is truly complete without a solid scouring of the gift shop, and the one at the Outpost has plenty to offer. One other relatively recent addition to the campus also had our interest; their restaurant, The Kitchen Table. Since we were famished, that’s exactly where we headed next. The menu is compact and heavy on the smoked meats, which is something else the Beam family knows. There are craft cocktails using Beam whiskeys, and beer and neat pours are also available. The food and cocktails were delicious. This is a restaurant deserving of many repeat visits.

Until Next Time

With our stomachs happily filled, we took our leave of The Kitchen Table and were ready to head home. Thanks to Justin and the walls of the Outpost, our insight into everything Beam had greatly improved. Jacob’s excess corn has led the Beam family down the whiskey path for over 200 years, and the rest, really, is history. So, whether history buff or bourbon nut, a stop at the Jame B. Beam Distilling Co. has plenty to offer both. The family gladly shares their stories, and the company welcomes visitors, while introducing them to the many brands that are the James B. Beam Distilling Co.

We hope you have enjoyed our James B Beam Distilling Tour – Jim Beam Distillery Tour Review! Would you like to learn more about some of their whiskeys? Then check out our Jim Beam Black 7 Year Bourbon, Jim Beam “White Label” Bourbon, and Knob Creek 9 Year Bourbon Reviews!

Original Visit: February 2022; Updated: July 2024

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!