UPDATE: Statements from Nelson County officials have provided more details. The latest here.
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One of the beer wells at Barton 1792 Distillery has broken or spilled up to 60,000 gallons of fermented mash.
“Today, March 5, 2019 we had an incident at Barton 1792 Distillery where the beer well failed. (The beer well is used in the production process to hold the fermented mash before it is distilled.) Currently we do not know the cause of the beer well failure and we are working to secure the area,” said a spokesperson for the distillery.
According to Facebook user Brij Patel, who was part of a group touring the famous Barton 1792 earlier today, the spill happened this afternoon.
“Just heard a loud boom and one of the beer wells at 1792 just collapsed while [I] was touring /picking a barrel for Sprayberry Bottle Shop and was in that exact location where the pipe busted 20 minutes ago and lost almost 60,000 gallons. Holy s***,” wrote Brij Patel on a video he shared.
Patel’s video shows a spill of the mash spreading across a parking lot at the distillery as the tour group steps through it.
We’ll update the story as we find out more information.
Bad luck previously befell 1792 in 2018 with a warehouse collapse last summer.