Ale-8-One Factory Tour
05/28/04: OK, now your first question is obvious. What the heck is Ale-8-One? Well, to put it simply, it's a tasty beverage. It's labeled "Kentucky's Soft Drink" and I make it a point to have a few every time I'm in Kentucky. It's sort of a ginger ale type drink, that's not quite as harsh as normal ginger ale. (It's also really inexpensive.) It's quite good, and quickly became one of my favorite drinks.
Located in Winchester, KY (just east of Lexington) the Ale-8 Factory is quite a fun tour, and a good chance to stock up on the drink. They mainly produce 12 ounce glass bottles, although cans are made from time to time. When we arrived at the factory, we immediately placed an order for a few cases of bottles. After loading up the car, our tour time was nearing, and the excitement began.
Now, this tour wasn't some "staged" type of tour that you get from many places. They take you right out on the floor where all the action is. They show you where the bottles are loaded onto the belt, how they're removed from cases, the spot where they're labeled, and where they're filled.
The line continues to chill the bottles, after which they're capped and date (batch) stamped. One of the coolest things though, is when they get to a certain point in the tour, they pull some bottles from the line (just after cooling) and you can drink a fresh one right from the line. Quite tasty indeed.
Overall, the Ale-8 tour was quite fun, and lasted around a half hour. (Actually our tour was longer, but that was because of the crazy questions that kept coming from the people in our group.) They only give tours on Fridays at 10:50 AM. You've got to make reservations, so call ahead at 859-744-3484. You can also find more information at http://www.ale-8-one.com.
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