26 Jan 2019 - Kemah Boardwalk and Railean Rum Distillery

26 Jan 2019
We've had moderate temps the past couple nights.  Lows in the mid-40's and highs in the upper 50's to lower 60's and NO RAIN, finally!  Our friends and relatives back in Iowa have been clobbered with snow and bitterly cold temps, so they have no sympathy for us at all!

Today we started with a short drive from San Leon north to the Kemah Boardwalk area on a peninsula in SE Houston, right on the water.  The Boardwalk is an entertainment area with a hotel, many restaurants and an amusement park.  There is also a nice boardwalk around the area which is very scenic.

Probably a casualty of a hurricane.  For sale cheap?  Probably not!

Pano of the boardwalk

It was a nice morning and a nice walk.  The amusement park was just powering up and there was virtually no one there.  I imagine this place would be packed in the summertime.

We diverted into Walmart on the way back to the RV and picked up some supplies, then headed back for lunch and a short break.

We found a local rum distillery that offered tours on Saturday at 1300 and 1500 hrs, so we drove a couple miles to be there for the 1500 hrs tour.  It was about a five minute drive, so of course we were early. 

The Railean Distillery not only makes rum spirits but also some vodka's and some agave's (they cannot sell it under the name of tequila).   Besides operating the distillery they also operate a bar but due to their license they can only sell their own liquor products.

The Railean bottles for sale

On the weekends they bring in a band

A little pre-tour toddy!

This place is not huge, but it is really unique.  Doreen holding down the bar before the tour.

 3:00 rolled around and we were summoned into the back room, where our tour guyed got things rolling.  He is one of three master distillers here and very knowledgeable in all aspects of the science.   He explained their operation and gave us insight on the process.  We then headed out into the distilling area.

The distillery in the background, operating as we toured.  They are producing rum right now.

The fermentation tanks.  Our tour guide pulled off a glass of the material fermenting and he suggested we smell it.  One elderly gent thought he was supposed to take a swig - Oh did he get a surprise!!

Close up of one of the fermentation tanks.  

Rum is made with molasses.  That is what is on the tank post-it note

The new aging barrels and the raw materials.  These barrels cost about $300 each.  After the barrels have been used a few times they sell them to craft beer producers

Barrels of Blue Agave used to make 'tequila'

Barrels of spirits aging in the barrels

An experiment where they wrapped a few barrels in Saran Wrap to slow the evaporation process. 
The jury is still out on this!

Contents labels with dates 

After touring the distilling area we headed back into the meeting room for the tasting!  We were each given a shot glass and then our tour guide presented each of their products and explained them completely.  It was very interesting and I learned a lot.  The samples were of course just a bit in the bottom of the shot glass, but was enough so you could smell and taste each of their products.  Doreen and I usually shared one sample.

 Their spiced rum is not artificially colored and they use cardamom for flavoring.  Captain Morgan uses a lot of cinnamon for it's flavor.

We had a good time at the distillery and I bought a bottle of their spiced rum for future medicinal use LOL.  

Tomorrow we will wrap things up here, relax a bit and make preparations to pull chocks Monday morning and head on down to Corpus Christi for 12 nights.