Operations at our Brown-Forman Distillery in Louisville, KY, exemplify our commitment to reducing our environmental impact through energy conservation, waste minimization and water conservation, while maintaining the exceptional and long-standing product quality of our foundation brands such as Early Times and Old Forester.
Throughout the years, we have engaged in a number of initiatives to manage our energy consumption at the Brown-Forman Distillery, most notable of which is our aggressive maintenance programs that include replacing old equipment, such as heat exchangers and dryers, with more energy efficient units to reduce energy demand.
Recycling efforts at Brown-Forman Distillery minimize the amount of material that would be sent to landfill or to a municipal wastewater treatment facility from our distillery operations and the co-located low-alcohol beverage production operations, Pinnacle Processing and Packaging. Efforts include:
- Recycling materials used in distillery and bottling operations, such as cardboard, paper, and plastics. Recyclables are collected by a local small business for processing and sale
- Using reusable pallets for product transportation
- Transporting off-spec liquid products to a third-party processor for re-distillation and production of fuel-grade ethanol
Similar to our other distilleries, Brown-Forman Distillery generates by-products, such as stillage, that have marketable value. Instead of disposal, stillage is sold to farmers as animal feed in dried form.
To manage our water consumption, we have changed our methods of use of water, including reusing water from chillers in the boilers, which reduces the demand on the municipal water supply.