Alex Mayes was born and raised in Central Kentucky, so bourbon culture is no secret to him. That is exactly what inspired him to get involved at the University of Kentucky James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits (UK JBBI) at its earliest stages. 

Mayes, a 2021 graduate from the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering and Lewis Honors College member, is one of many UK students to receive the Distilling, Wine and Brewing Studies Certificate (DWB) from JBBI. He has been a process engineer at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. for over three years now.

“That basically means I help create opportunities for improvement, increase efficiency, solve safety problems and improve the quality of our spirits,” Mayes said. 

His role is unique because he works with the operations team at Beam, who let him know what potential issues they’re running into. Then, he meets with his fellow engineers to implement necessary changes. 

“Learning engineering from a textbook is very different from how it’s actually applied in the distillery,” Mayes said. “Building that connection in my classes at the Institute and getting out of that traditional learning definitely helped prepare me for this job.” 

While at UK, Mayes was a chemical engineering student hoping to go to med school. When he heard that UK JBBI was planning to offer bourbon engineering as a course, it inspired him to pivot from the pre-med track and chase his newfound passion of distilled spirits. 

Mayes’ passion for learning was inspired further by the UK JBBI faculty members. 

“The faculty at the Institute are awesome. I’ve even gotten to work with them during my time here at Beam,” Mayes said. “At UK, they made me feel like I wasn’t just a student in class, but like someone they worked alongside.” 

Brad Berron, research director at JBBI, teaches the bourbon engineering course. 

“It's exciting to see Alex transition his passion for distilling education into a successful career in the distilled spirits industry,” Berron said. “Alex is still active in distilling education by mentoring UK students on projects at Beam. It's incredible to see him shape the future generation through active mentorship and training.” 

Because Mayes is one of JBBI’s first certificate awardees, the new teaching distillery had not yet been built on UK’s campus. At that time, the Institute was a group of faculty members teaching a variety of courses that now make up the DWB certificate. Last year Mayes attended the JBBI Industry Conference on campus, which concluded with tours of the new building and filling the first barrel.

“It was awesome to be there on campus with Fred and Freddie,” Mayes said, referring to the father-son duo of master distillers at James B. Beam Distilling Co. “I think the connection they’ve built with the Institute is really unique. Giving students access to opportunities we have in the industry, letting them learn from us and us learn from them is going to continue to be a great relationship.” 

For more information on the Distilling, Wine and Brewing Certificate from JBBI at the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, visit https://beaminstitute.ca.uky.edu/. 

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Writer: Grace Sowards, grace.sowards@uky.edu  

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