Another One Bites the Dust: O.Z. Tyler Distillery Barrel Warehouse Collapses

O.Z. Tyler Distillery - Barrel Warehouse Collapse 2019

It was July of 2018 that half of a Barton 1792 Distillery barrel warehouse collapsed spewing Kentucky’s signature amber spirit onto the ground and into a nearby creek. A couple weeks later the other half of the building hit the ground. We just got news that another barrel warehouse has had a partial collapse. This time it was a 1967 barrel warehouse at the recently reopened O.Z. Tyler Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky. 4,000+ barrels of the 20,000 barrels in the rickhouse have hit the ground. Fortunately, no one was injured in either of these collapses.

Update Provided by O.Z. Tyler Distillery

Rickhouse H
Shortly after midnight this morning, the northwest quadrant of an O.Z. Tyler Distillery barrel storage warehouse, known as Rickhouse H, collapsed. No employees were in the vicinity and no additional damage occurred to either the distillery or neighboring properties. No one was injured.

Jacob Call, Master Distiller at the distillery, and local authorities immediately arrived on site to assess the situation, including representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency. To date these experts have concluded that no environmental damage has occurred.

19,400 barrels are aging in the warehouse. This quadrant of the warehouse contains approximately 4,500 barrels, with a small fraction that appear to have damage.

A team of structural engineers is on site to assess the structural integrity of the building. In addition, a recovery plan for the affected area and all barrels in the warehouse is underway.

Here’s an aerial view of the entire distillery grounds.

O.Z. Tyler Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky.

This is not the kind of Bourbon Boom that people like to wake up to. A typical bourbon barrel can weigh between 500 and 550 lbs so each of these warehouses holds more 5,000 tons of bourbon and wood. A severe storm did travel through the area last night. It’s not clear yet if that was a factor in the collapse. Master Distiller Jacob Call says they are inspecting the other barrel warehouses on the property. We’ll update this story as it develops.

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As the sun comes up you can see the full scope of damage here at the OZ Tyler facility pic.twitter.com/amGOVDzn8x

— Jim Stratman (@JimS14News) June 17, 2019

Master Distiller Jacob Call was just telling me they aren’t sure what caused the building to come down. Engineers will be out later this morning to investigate. He said they’ll see if this was storm related. The building fell around midnight. pic.twitter.com/bgTliK29qE

— Shaelie Clark (@Shaelie14News) June 17, 2019

BREAKING: An O.Z. Tyler Distillery rickhouse in Daviess Co. has collapsed. You can see (and smell) the barrels that were inside. The master distiller was just out here and tells me everything is contained. They don’t believe anything is leaking from the barrels at this time. pic.twitter.com/2IKuDGaosZ

— Shaelie Clark (@Shaelie14News) June 17, 2019

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