Distillery, Rickhouse & Barrel Yard Perimeter Security

Each of those zones has a different failure mode, so a single fence type across the whole site is almost always the wrong answer. What we scope, zone by zone:

• Rickhouses and barrel storage yards. High-value, low-traffic, often on sloped ground away from the main plant. Anti-climb fabric and no climbable rails.
• DSP bonded areas. Enclosure and locking arrangements have to hold up to federal scrutiny, not just deter casual entry.
• Tanker and loading zones. Wide gate openings, heavy cycle counts, vehicle impact exposure at the throat of the opening.
• Still house and process area. Separation from visitor circulation and contractor traffic.
• Visitor-center frontage on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Security still matters, but so does what shows up in a guest photograph.

That obligation belongs to the distillery as the DSP proprietor. S&S Fencing is not a TTB certifying body and makes no representation about your plant’s regulatory standing; what we do is build the physical enclosure, gates and locking arrangements that let you satisfy the security expectation and answer a TTB officer’s question with something concrete.

Read the regulation directly at 27 CFR Part 19, Subpart G on eCFR, and bring your plant’s registration diagram to the site walk. Practical implications for the fence scope:

• Outdoor tanks either get individual locks or sit inside a locked enclosure — an enclosure is usually cheaper to operate.
• Enclosure lines should follow the boundaries on the DSP diagram, not landscaping convenience.
• Every gate in a bonded line needs a defined, documented locking arrangement and key control.
• If an officer asks for added protection, the fence line should be built so floodlight poles, alarm contacts and camera mounts can be added without rebuilding it.

Posts are driven rather than hand-set wherever soil allows, which holds line and plumb far longer on the long, exposed runs typical of a barrel yard. Full detail on our commercial fencing page.

• Gate openings on rickhouse access roads are sized to the apparatus your fire district actually runs — confirm the required clear width with the local department during design rather than assuming a standard leaf size.
• Clear width means clear of open leaves, operator cabinets and bollards, not the nominal opening on the drawing.
• Emergency access at locked gates gets a defined method: a keyed override, a knox-type box, or a manual release on the operator.
• Property insurers underwriting barrel inventory ask about access and separation; a documented gate schedule with widths and locking arrangements is what satisfies them.
• Emergency apparatus clear width and turning radius are confirmed with the local fire district before the gate schedule is finalized, because that requirement varies by district.

• Production entry: cantilever slide gate on a high-cycle operator, card or code reader, loop or radar safety detection, and a lane long enough that a tanker is not stopped on a public road while it credentials.
• Guest entry: ornamental leaves, hold-open hardware, signage panel mounting, and a pedestrian gate separate from the vehicle opening.
• Contractor entry: often a third opening at the utility yard so trades never cross the guest route.
• Coordination: gate operators need power and low-voltage runs. We set the gate, frame, and conduit stub locations and coordinate terminations with the electrical and security contractors rather than working around them.
• Existing platform: the reader and credential platform already in use on your campus is confirmed up front so the gate hardware integrates with it instead of replacing it.

• Schedule discipline: loud operations — post driving, saw cutting — are windowed outside peak tour times where the schedule allows.
• Dust: augering and drive spoil are controlled and cleaned daily; barrel yards and dunnage areas are kept clear.
• Never an open perimeter overnight: phasing includes temporary fence closure so a bonded line is not left open between shifts.
• Guest sightlines: staging and material drops go where they will not show up in the tour route or the photographs.
• One accountable crew: S&S self-performs, so the people on your campus on day one are the same people at punch list.

Four Roses Distillery — 16,000 ft of perimeter, two cantilever gates, three years and counting

That scope covers three separate fence disciplines on one operating site. The 16,000 ft run is large-scale commercial chain link perimeter work — layout, driven posts and tensioned fabric held to line over long, exposed distances. The 28 ft cantilever is custom metal fabrication, built to a site-specific opening rather than ordered from a catalog. Both cantilever gates carry LiftMaster operators, which puts the openings squarely in UL 325 and ASTM F2200 gate-automation territory. And the 3,000 ft of 5 ft black aluminum ornamental fence handles guest-facing frontage, where the fence has to read well in a photograph and still be a real barrier. Very few fencing contractors carry all three of those capabilities in-house.

The relationship began in 2022 under a three-year contract, it is ongoing, and further work is already scheduled. Four Roses’ Cox’s Creek facility sits in the same town as our shop — we have held the fence contract there since 2022. For a general contractor or owner’s rep, that is the part worth weighing: an operating distillery with continuous production, tanker traffic and public tours kept the same fencing contractor on campus year after year and kept adding scope. Retention on a live site is a harder credential to earn than any single install.

Prequalification documents, insurance certificates and references are on the contractor credentials page, and you can reach Shawn or Shelby Fick through our contact page or at 502-468-1209 to arrange a walk of your campus.