From Craft Writing to Column Stills: A Journey Through the Beam Institute (S4 E4)

S4 E4 Transcript - From Craft Writing to Column Stills: A Journey Through the Beam Institute"
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Kerry: [00:00:00] It is five o'clock somewhere and you tune in to season four, episode four of BRC. I'm Carrie Moynihan. For those of you who'd like to watch this episode, I highly recommend it. You could view season four on our website, YouTube, spotify whiskey network.net, and Zencastr. Last week on the show I spoke with Ashley and Colby Fray about their new partnership with the University of Kentucky's Estate Whiskey Alliance.

This week I'm headed to the university to learn more about that endeavor with the tour of the James B. Bean Institute for Kentucky. Spirits. But first I sit down with Professor Janice Heimer to talk about her journey into the University's distilling program and some of the other exciting projects she's involved in.

Later on, I'll talk to Ilk balk, associate director of the Beam Institute for an in-person tour of the facility. So kick off your shoes, pour yourself a Dr. And join me for this episode of Baral Room Chronicles.[00:01:00] 

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Kerry: All right. Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Whatever time it is you're catching the show today. Today I am here with Dr. Jan and we are at the University of Kentucky in this beautiful studio, um, that she will be interviewing me in later for her project. But, um, she invited me here this morning to talk to her students, which was really fun.

I got to talk to them about, uh, whiskey bourbon, scotch Irish, um, and then, you know, the whole podcast and, and my career. It was really fun. Um, and now I've got you in the hot seat. 

Jan: Yes. I'm not used to being here. 

Kerry: Um, so here we are. You've been teaching in this program for how long now? 

Jan: By this program? I think You mean the certificate in distillation, wine and brewing?

Yes. Which is, um, I think I've been teaching in it as long as it's existed. Okay. But, [00:03:00] uh, I've, I was part of the initial meetings when they were talking about putting it together and. Uh, Dr. Depo. Uh, ESAL was really interested in having some of us over from the humanities part of campus involved in the, the certificate program.

So we proposed a course called Craft Writing. Fantastic. Fantastic. Which has, um, subtitle required? So I have a colleague who teaches it as beer writing, writing for, for the craft beer industry, and I teach it as bourbon writing. Um. Rectifying the record, uh, something like the Kentucky Industry in context.

Kerry: Oh, fantastic. Now, do any of your students end up getting any articles published in any of the, the magazines around after taking this class? 

Jan: So, that's a great question. The first time I taught it, um, a couple of them did. They went on to do some interesting things in the industry. Mostly they end up doing other things in the industry.

So I've had a couple of students who one was really, um. Interested in becoming a distiller. One of the students from one of the first semesters I taught at is now a [00:04:00] distiller over at Kings County Distilling in New York. Oh, wow. Okay. That's fantastic. Um, and he didn't necessarily come from a science background, so it was really fun for him.

And he, I'll never forget, he was the one who introduced me to the concept of the infinity bottle. Oh, okay. I was just kind of getting my feet wet in this, this industry and learning about things. And he wrote a really great piece about why you should. Make an infinity bottle. That's awesome. That's Chris, uh, Bernardi.

I'll give him a little shout out. Fantastic. Has he 

Kerry: been able to meet, um, uh, Nicole Austin who used to be there before she went over to, I don't 

Jan: know, we've like, had a couple of messages over LinkedIn 'cause I'm hoping to bring him into class. Uh, even if just by Zoom to talk with the students, uh, one student launched and then closed their own brand.

Oh wow. And that was a returning student, um, up in Chicago. And several have gone on to. Do other things like on the, on the operations line, uh, Cynthia Wells is over at ACH and, um, someone's on sales for limestone, so they go on to do interesting things. Um, not all of them end up getting the writing [00:05:00] published, but then most of them end up getting some kind of recognition or rewards from the department, which is a nice start.

Speaking of awards, 

Kerry: uh oh. Uh, we are both, uh, wow. Winners from this last year. Wow. And, um, yeah, I know. It's so exciting. I, I was, I honestly, I couldn't believe I won. I got there and I was like, what? 

Jan: You, I, me both. It was such a delay. 

Kerry: Um, so tell me, tell me about your particular award. It's the mike, what is it?

Mike, Allie. 

Jan: It's the mate. Keys is out Ally or a Champion of the year award. Okay. The WOW award started last year, so I think this is the second year. Yeah, second year. Um, when ko uh, who's the associate director of the James Bebe Institute here at the University of Kentucky, which is where the certificate is housed, um, emailed me to say, Hey, is it okay?

We wanna nominate you. I was like. Well, I, I, yeah. I didn't even know what to say or do with myself. I was so humbled and honored and continued to be humbled and honored. Same. I mean, what an amazing, just all of the nominees Yeah, the incredible things that they're doing all [00:06:00] across the industry. What people have to 

Kerry: do to nominate.

There's like this whole like, form and people have to write all the stuff. It's like they have to write an essay about you and all these things. And I was like, oh my gosh. And you have to have three of 'em. So it was really honoring to have three people come out and say, oh, let me write this for you. I, I dunno.

It's pretty nice. Yeah. Okay. So, um, when you first started doing the program, how much about whiskey did you know? 

Jan: Um, and around 20. 12 is when I started getting interested in whiskey. I was, at the time, I had just moved to Kentucky in 2010. By 2012, I was asked to be the director of the Jewish Studies program here.

As part of that job, you know, you have to go recruit students and so I would go to these fairs and I would talk to students and they would come up and they'd say, oh, Jewish studies we're not Jewish. That has nothing to do with us. I'd be like, fine, you know, 18-year-old students, of course, you know, if it's not you, it's maybe not that important or right.

But when their parents would come up and say, oh, we're not Jewish, that's not for us, I thought, Hmm. There are a lot of really interesting [00:07:00] things and Jewish people here in Kentucky, they've done really interesting things in the state. Yeah. And so I was like, they must, you know, what does everyone care about here?

Everyone cares about bourbon and basketball and horses. I'm like, there must be Jewish people involved in those things. And lo and behold, there were and are and continue to be. And actually Jewish people played a really important role in. Kind of, you know, bourbon heyday in the 19th century. Um, and certainly post-prohibition and reviving a lot of the distilleries.

Yeah. And so that was work that I had started to do with JT Walman, who is, um, my collaborator and co-author on the graphic novel we're working on to bring those kind of lesser known stories to a broader audience. Um, that project is America's. Chosen spirit. 

Kerry: That is fun. And let's take a quick tangent on this graphic novel.

Um, how many pages do you have so far and how many pages do you anticipate it being? 

Jan: So that is the bazillion dollar question. So when we first started the project, we imagined, and it, you're coming from the entertainment world, so you can appreciate our desire to have seasons, uh, four [00:08:00] seasons, 10 episodes, or 10 chapters each.

Mm-hmm. Um, and we've got them all mapped out and we've got about half of season one actually drafted. And actually, uh. Drawn, um, and jts been working on the lettering and I've been finishing up some things and we're hoping to finish season one really soon. The long and the short of is we had started doing the research for that and we had, you know, trounced around several of the archives here in Kentucky and over the river in Cincinnati.

And we had been thinking about all of these stories that exist, but maybe people don't know as much about, we knew that. This was way back before now. There were scholars doing the work to, and, and there's even a whole brand dedicated to African Americans who were involved in the industry. Right. But at that time, there wasn't a lot of talk about that.

There wasn't a lot of recognition, um, and there wasn't a lot of scholarship. Uh, and, but we knew, we were like, there must be. And so it was our goal to have a family, uh, a young Jewish protagonist and she was deeply involved with a, a young African American girl her age and sort of [00:09:00] telling the story of the rise of the, the Jewish woman's Bourbon through the there relationship.

That's awesome. 

Kerry: Well, I can't wait to read it when it comes out. You'll have to send me a copy. Yeah, definitely. And then we'll have to have you show again, talk about the 

Jan: Yeah, we'll have to, we'll have to have some sips to go and 

Kerry: we'll have to JT too. 

Jan: We'll have 

Kerry: to 

Jan: Yeah. Bring him along. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Um, so that's, that's how Seth kind of knew to reach out to me that I might be interested. And, um, my colleague, Jeff Rice, who teaches the bourbon, I mean the craft beer part of the class. And so that started and then. That was going well. And um, at a certain point, my connections here at the Louis B Nun Center, we, we were approached to do, uh, what we thought were gonna be some corporate, uh, interviews.

And they wanted, uh, an unnamed entity wanted us to, you know, work on with a class to do those. And the end, we couldn't make it past all of the legal. Hoops that were required. And so we had a really cool idea to pivot and start the Women in Bourbon Oral history project because when JT and I were doing research, there [00:10:00] weren't a ton of smoking guns right in the archives, in the oral histories about, you know, women's influence on the industry.

And yet we knew that was there too. And so, and you know, you can look over the last 10, 15 years and see how that's begun to attract a lot more. Attention and visibility. And so the Women in Bourbon Project was designed to actually make that a lot more visible. 

Kerry: What is your favorite thing about, uh, being in, uh, involved with the bourbon uh, project?

Jan: I love working with people and I love making connections, uh, or helping others make connections and, and like grow into the roles that they want to occupy. So I get to teach two classes and the certificate. Program, which is fantastic, and the way I structure both classes, whether the students, and you got to do it today, right?

They, I bring in a lot of guest speakers, so students have direct access to people who have made it in the industry. And so they get to hear a little bit about their life journey and their career path and the kinds of things they needed to do and the kind of [00:11:00] things they wish they knew how to do. Maybe in a.

A little bit different order. And oftentimes things happen organically. They meet people, they make a connection. You know, we go on a distillery tour and they say, oh, we're looking to hire interns. And someone puts in an application and ends up with a job. See, 

Kerry: that's what's nice about living in this part of the woods.

There's a lot more, um, possibilities to just happen upon an internship at a distillery. And in Los Angeles, there's only a couple distilleries and, um. Yeah. So yeah, it's a lot harder to get, 

Jan: but even still, you know, you have to be right. Put in the right situation and have the right entree and, and figure out how to make an a good impression.

Right, right. True. And, and students are, students, they're still learning all those wonderful things. Right. Um, but that, that, I love that part. And the part about the. Interviewing project when I'm teaching the class where we do interviews, you know, students have to learn a lot about the energy industry in order to be able to ask good questions, right?

And they're still students and they're still learning. And you know, student interviews aren't the same as professional interviews, but they've done an amazing, amazing job. 

Kerry: [00:12:00] What is your five year 

Jan: plan 

Kerry: with all of these things? 

Jan: With the Women in Burman project? I would love for us to have, you know, 150, 200 interviews because what's amazing having just come off of the Bourbon Women Symposium is just.

Not that long ago. I had my students look up, when was Ion Eves the first master distiller? Not that long ago. No. And I felt like almost every other person I met at SIP was distilling, getting ready to distill, had taken a tour through distilling, I mean, there were like at least 10 young women who were, who were doing this role that, yeah, you know, within the last 20 years wasn't even something that they could see as something that was their possibility.

So I, I hope that the. The Women in Bourbon Project helps open people's eyes to what's possible. 

Kerry: Well, I think you're doing a good job, and I appreciate all the hard work you're doing, and, um, the class this morning was fantastic. Your kids are great, uh, and they had some good questions. Um, and I think, I think you're, you're sending them in the right direction and I wanna thank you so much for being on the show today.

Oh, thank you [00:13:00] so 

Jan: much for having me. Is such an honor 

Kerry: To learn more about these and Dr. Fern ER's other projects. Check out her extended interview in our Kofi site at ko fi.com/brc. We will be right back with I bulk and a tour of the James B Beam Institute in a moment like what you've seen on BRC. Wanna see more, experience more, and maybe even taste more, then head over to our Kofi site and become a member of the barrel room parlor.

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Ilka: My name is Ilka Balk and I am the associate director here in the James b Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits. The idea for this institute, it's been in the making a long, long time, but in 2019, um, the. Um, at the time, James b Beam Distilling Company, um, came in and donated $5 million, which helped us get this building off the ground.

And they really wanted for us to have a physical location. We have a distillation certificate already, but students were spread all over campus. And, um, so this. Facility now allows us to really [00:15:00] teach right here. And you can see that here we have, uh, round tables. They're really designed to be, um, uh, teamwork conducive.

So we like students working in teams at these tables. And, um, there's only four offices in this building, so we are. Double stacked in some of them because, um, we really wanted to use the funds and the real estate for our students and for the research that we do in the institute. So, so, um, students learn here, we teach classes here.

There's one later today. And, um, from here, then they can basically go straight in the lab. So, which we have this lock just because, you know, there's alcohol in places and the classroom is pretty readily accessible to everybody on campus, and I know Emma is one of our amazing students here. She, Emma, will you say what you're doing?

I'll give you the microphone. Is that okay? Yeah, yeah, [00:16:00] yeah. Because Emma is phenomenal. 

Student: So I was actually one of the student interns this summer. So in the summer we really focused on production and the distillery. Um, but this semester I'm actually continuing my research and um, I'm working with one other person and we're actually doing a research project on heritage grains.

Um, so these are grains that, um, were grown a really long time ago and may not be the most disease resistant or pest resistant, um, as our newer strains of corn and wheat and, uh, rye that we grow now. But, um, they're really trying to go back to our roots and use some of these grains that they grew a really long time ago.

So, um, we're working with the distillery in Virginia, so they send us these grains and we do a tabletop distillation with those grains just to see how they turn out. So today I did a quick second pass distillation on a Thompson's prolific grain. So, um, that's kind of what we're up to. We have a few more grains to do this semester.[00:17:00] 

Kerry: Back to you. 

Student: Alright, 

Ilka: so this distillery itself, we, um, again, it's small in footprint, but we have, um, the equipment, and you'll see that in a minute. Uh, we have the equipment set up so that it really mimics a full scale distillery that you would find, maybe not. At Suntory Global Spirits. But, uh, our friends in the craft distilling area, they have very similar setups and very similar sizes of their distilleries.

So the students that work here and that get to experience this really, uh, work in a way where they, um. In, in real life conditions that they would find working in craft distilleries. So it's not a small pilot scale, it's truly, um, a distillery. We have three 500 gallon fermenters up there. Uh, we have a, I think it's a 500 gallon cooker.

And, um, we have a, [00:18:00] um. Full scale, um, 30 inch, uh, 12 inch column, 30 foot tall, uh, column still here. So, um, yeah, on that note, I think we'll probably go down that way so we don't blow up the facility. Okay. This is Jeff. He is one of our summer interns as well, and he stayed stuck around, um, to help with the distillation that we're doing today.

So, so we are now, we just moved down 20 feet. We are in the dis in the production area, so we. Can't go in here because we're currently actively distilling and you can probably see that in the column still behind us. We, um, are, um, we are exclusively in this facility currently making bourbon. That's not necessarily a requirement, but it is, uh, our native spirit and it, we are in Kentucky, so we, um, make mostly bourbon here and based.

The [00:19:00] way, um, this works, it's a continuous column still, but we only run it one batch at a time. Um, often because we use different ingredients or different water, and that's kind of the things that we are playing around with here. Um, testing what difference it makes to do one thing versus the other. Um, we are getting our grains from Brooks Grains right here in Kentucky.

Uh, they are generously donating the grains for us. So currently the mash. Builds we make is, I wanna say 75% wheat, uh, 75% corn. Um, trying to do the math in my head. 15% rye and 10% malted barley. And so Jet over there is basically taking some of the, I think they're doing high wines, um, to kind of check the quality of the high wines.

So he's not drinking it, he's just smelling it. But yeah, so he, he kind of monitors the quality as. We, [00:20:00] um, do some of this, um, some of the distillation. So, and um, yeah, so, so you can kind of see what's happening there. You see the tall column still next to it you see a small, um, what looks like a pot still.

It's called a doubler. That's where we redis still some of the, or our liquids to make it higher proof. Um, it comes off the still at a lower proof than we want it to go into the barrel. And so, um, we have the doubler there. That we can use to increase the, the alcohol content a little bit. So, and then, um, yeah, and then when it's all said and done, eventually we will barrel our barrels come from independent STA company.

They have, um, generously donated the barrels. So far. And, uh, they also donated, um, a million dollars to build our barrel warehouse, which is right across the way we are at a university, which, um, you're gonna laugh is a [00:21:00] dry campus. Um, so the, the concept of making bourbon is a little bit, um, it's a little bit difficult for some to grasp.

Um, however, we all realize that we do wanna train our next generation of distilling professionals. So, uh, someone's gotta do it and we are doing it, um, what we plan to do with it. So because we have our own, uh, barrel warehouse, we continue to do the research on the spirits as they mature and as a h in the barrel warehouse.

And when it's done, what we would like to do is. Use that product for something good. So ideally we would love to either sell it to a distillery that then bottles it and does with it whatever they want to. Um, and we can, I'm sure we would find customers, um, but ideally considering this is made by.

Students, it would be really amazing to be able to benefit the next generation [00:22:00] of students coming in. So ideally, hopefully, uh, we hope to get permission to basically have barrel picks or sell the spirits, um, and have it benefit the students who scholarships and so on. So if, if that makes it easier for a student to, uh, get a distilling education, we would love for that to happen.

We got our distilling license and we have a full blown distilling license. Since not just an educational one, which then will allow us to sell ultimately. Um, we got our distilling license I think in January. We did our first run around middle of February and then barreled our first barrel at the end of our annual conference this March.

So we, um, we host an annual conference. We had about 1200 distillers. Researchers professionals come to campus and exchange ideas and talk to each other and add each other for three days. And at the end of that time we had, um, a reception [00:23:00] outside and had a ceremonial first barrel filled. So, and I'll show you that barrel too, when we get into the barrel warehouse.

Kerry: All right, so we're now in the brand new Rick House. I'm so amazed. This is beautiful. It smells gorgeous. Tell me about the, this part of the project. 

Ilka: Yeah, so, um, this Rick house, it's, you know, you can see by industry standards, it's. Small. So it, it, when it's at capacity, it'll hold 660 barrels. Um, which again, industry standards, it just makes them chuckle.

It's like a dollhouse. But it allows us to age barrels in here of the bourbon that we produced right across the way. And we can take measurements along the way. We can taste, um, we can test the whiskey that we've made. Um. Check for sensory issues. We, we do a lot of work with maturation in general, so we, uh, we worry a lot about the char, the barrels, the wood, the [00:24:00] sustainability of the wood and so on.

So, so having them here right on campus allows us to kind of check on them regularly, which is phenomenal. Um, this Rick house is not, uh. Conditioned in any way. So it'll get cold in the winter. It's hot in the summer. Yeah. So, um, just the way we like it. Um, and right now we have, I think we barreled a few more barrels this week maybe, but, um, we have I think 40 barrels of our own stuff in here.

The barrels you see standing up here, those are empty. Uh, we just got those in from independent stave so that we can go ahead and fill them. But, um, yeah, so we have barrels here, so. A few weeks ago, I would've told you every single barrel in here that's filled is ours. Um, but we did get a donation from, um, uh, one of the early employees from, uh, bar some bourbon company.

Her Panama is his name, and he donated 12 barrels of their three to 4-year-old liquid. And he's actually teaching a [00:25:00] class here called Spirits Commercialization, and students are taking his 12 barrels from the barrel. All the way to market in. Oh, that's 

Kerry: awesome. 

Ilka: Yeah, in the one, it's a two semester project and it sounds like so much fun.

I see those students come in every Monday. They, their class is Monday for like three hours, but I, I'm so jealous. It's 

Kerry: a great class. Are 

Ilka: those 

Kerry: the ones over there? The ones with the, yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Wanna get some B roll of this in here? This is great. So, um, tell me a little bit about the bottom four.

Okay, you have all these openings. Yes. 

Ilka: So part of that is ventilation, that there's some air moving from underneath, I think, although it's not actively ventilated or anything, but, um, it's also a safety feature. Um, so. F we are in Fayette County, Kentucky. Uh, Fayette County actually does not allow or not many allow Rick Houses to be built.

Um, we are a mixed use facility, apparently, officially, um, that's at least what I'm being told. [00:26:00] But, um, but this, the, what you see underneath is, um, really a containment basin. So if. Every, if this barrel warehouse is full, every barrel fails at the same time, God forbid. But if that were to happen, everything will be contained.

Nothing will go into the ground. Um, there is a runoff area, also concrete underneath that will catch everything that somehow doesn't get caught here, that runs into that direction. So it's really an environmental, um, issue for us, but also. The yellow grate that you see, it's really just fall protection.

This warehouse, um, the, the Ricks themselves were designed by a company called Kres, which is owned by Cutter Construction. They basically built these in a way that will help us avoid injuries. Um, you, you may or may not know if you've ever tried to move a barrel, they are very heavy. So the empty ones are.

I don't know, a hundred pounds, 120 pounds or something like that. [00:27:00] The full ones are over 500 pounds. When they start rolling, you are not going to stop it with your foot or anything like that. So this barrel warehouse, one thing that you'll, when you're in Bardstown later this week, you might see the difference in some of them.

A lot of them have crossbar, for example. Mm-hmm. So when those barrels go in. The, um, people handling the barrels will go in with crowbar to guide them into their, into the slots, so to speak. So they pull the crowbar out, they put it back in, they pull it back out, and they go along this barrel. So having all these crossbar, every time you move a crowbar, it's not called a crowbar, but it looks like it.

Um. In and out, you will have a risk for injury because you can pinch a finger, you can get your hand stuck somehow. So not having these crossbars really allows those barrels to go in and out much more easily with less injury. Um. Potential. They're yellow, uh, grates. Same thing if you kind of [00:28:00] step in accidentally, you don't fall, you don't twist an ankle, you don't break a leg.

So you, you are protected there. Um, and the way they got rid of these, uh, crossbar and still have it stable is by having these little arches. So those provide the stability they also created. Um, they also made these Ricks from laminated wood. So it's, it's pine, I think it's pine, um, but it's laminated, which makes it less likely to bend and bow.

So again, when this thing bows and then it kind of gets harder to keep that barrel in line. Um, by not bending, it's just gonna stay on track more easily. And. Hopefully nothing's gonna happen to anybody who's moving those barrels. So, so it's just a lot of safety, um, safety considerations that went into this.

And so that, that kind of is of course, great if we train our students in this barrel warehouse. This is this standard that they [00:29:00] are used to and hopefully will then help them be safe in industry as well when they go out. 

Kerry: So tell me, is there a reason you, I know a lot of places now, instead of doing the rolling racks, which I prefer mm-hmm.

Um, are starting to do palletizing. Right. Um, tell me why you guys went with rolling instead of palletizing. 

Ilka: So we went with rolling because most of the larger distilleries. As far as I know anyway, um, are still using, are using these types of rickhouses. It is also a lot easier to pull the barrels for sampling if we need, you know, if we need to sample any barrels or test any liquid, it's easier for us to get to than if they were stacked up.

And then you need a forklift. So you would need a forklift in this building to move those, um, barrels. And so those, again, for us, that's just. Again, another potential for injury, um, to have these forklifts move barrels. Um, so that was kind of the consideration for us, uh, on this. So where do, I'm assuming [00:30:00] you fill over there Yes.

And 

Kerry: you 

Ilka: bring them over here. How do you just roll it? Is that, so we actually have a little, um, pallet truck that we just roll, um, and I can show you if you want. We, we roll it through the side and there's a barrel elevator that. Brings it so we go in through the elevator. Um, but that also ultimately will allow us to get the barrels onto the second floor.

Kerry: This is fantastic. I love it. Yeah, I would love to have one of these in my backyard. 

Ilka: I know, I would, I would like that too. So this, um, building is called the Cooper House, and it is named after the first Dean of the College of Agriculture, um, Thomas Cooper. And it was occupied by the, by the dean of the college in the early 19 hundreds and mid 19 hundreds.

And then after that, it kind of fell into disrepair and was boarded up and not very nice to look at. And a few years ago, um, actually the grand. Son of Dean Cooper, um, said this is really not okay [00:31:00] that this building looks that way and started raising money and donated a chunk of money to get this building back into the shape that it was in before.

And, um, the, the grandson is a UK graduate as well, who's also elderly now, but, um, his name is Tom Hammond. And you may, if you ever watch the Olympics in the last 20 or 30 years, you may remember he was the Olympics commentator for NBC. C he did the Derby commentary. He's retired now. But, um, so he was that grandson who then was able to, um, you know, wrestle his friends and make them.

Help, help out and, and donated a significant amount of money himself. And so now that is the welcome center, so to speak, for our College of Agriculture, food and Environment here at the University of Kentucky. That's where prospective students first meet with, um, with our staff and, uh, learn about the college as a whole and getting a degree here.

It's also where our philanthropy office sits. Um. For, [00:32:00] probably for raising all this money and making it happen. So, um, so it's, it's great for us to be neighbors with them because, um, every prospective student, uh, will be. Coming through here and we'll see the distillery, we'll see what we are doing and all the construction around us that you see and hear.

It's actually the college's building as far as I know. I think three brand new buildings. Um, there's gonna be a new classroom building, a DE, a research facility, and then another research building. So we are in a big expansion and the Beam Institute is at the center of it. So we are excited.