Floating facility and method for maturation of alcohol spirits

A method for aging spirits comprising:

• (a) mooring a barge at a location on a volume of water to prevent substantial movement of the barge from the location;
• (b) placing a plurality of storage racks within an interior storage area of the barge;
• (c) placing a plurality of barrels containing spirits on the plurality of storage racks;
• and
• (d) aging the plurality of barrels containing spirits at the location for a period of time of at least 6 months prior to removing the plurality of barrels from the interior storage area.

A method for aging spirits comprising:

• (a) mooring a barge at a location on a volume of water to prevent substantial movement of the barge from the location;
• (b) placing a plurality of storage racks within an interior storage area of the barge;
• (c) sealing spirits within a plurality of barrels;
• (d) while the spirits within the plurality of barrels are unaged, placing the plurality of barrels on the plurality of storage racks;
• (e) aging the plurality of barrels containing spirits at the location for a period of time of at least 6 months prior to removing the plurality of barrels from the interior storage area;
• collecting a dataset from a set of sensors positioned within the interior storage area during the period of time, wherein the dataset comprises a set of temperature measurements, a set of humidity measurements, and a set of air composition measurements;
• (g) operating a set of climate control devices to achieve a desired humidity based on the set of humidity measurements and a desired temperature based on the set of temperature measurements;
• and
• (h) operating a set of safety devices to respond to a detected danger based on the set of air composition measurements.

A method for aging spirits comprising:

• (a) mooring a barge at a location on a volume of water to prevent substantial movement of the barge from the location;
• (b) placing a plurality of storage racks within an interior storage area of the barge;
• (c) sealing spirits within a plurality of barrels;
• (d) while the spirits within the plurality of barrels are unaged, placing the plurality of barrels on the plurality of storage racks;
• (e) aging the plurality of barrels containing spirits at the location for a period of time of at least 6 months prior to removing the plurality of barrels from the interior storage area;
• (f) positioning one or more fiberglass covers to allow the interior storage area to take on water from rainfall and form a pool of water;
• (g) positioning the one or more fiberglass covers to substantially prevent the interior storage area from taking on water from rainfall when a surface level of the pool of water is proximate to any barrel of the plurality of barrels;
• and
• (h) adding a set of spacers to the plurality of storage racks that are adapted to, for each barrel of the plurality of barrels, hold that barrel in place and separate that barrel from any horizontally adjacent barrel by a distance of at least twelve inches.