By: Kris Bohm of Distillery Now Consulting
In today’s business climate some breweries and wineries are struggling to grow their sales. While beer and wine are not growing in sales like they were in years past, craft spirits continue to grow in market share year over year. There is a prime opportunity for your beverage business to expand your portfolio by producing distilled spirits. Many brewers and winemakers have considered the idea of a distillery but may not know where to start. The tools needed in a distillery like pumps, tanks and hoses are like the equipment found in breweries and wineries. Brewers who want to jump into making distilled spirits have most of the knowledge, tools and skills needed to manufacture great whiskey from malted barley. If you want to start making distilled spirits, we are here to help. Let’s talk about selecting the correct equipment for a brewery or winery to make delicious, distilled spirits without breaking the bank.
Taking the dream of making distilled spirits and putting it down on paper is the first step to take.
Take a moment and try to answer the questions below. The answers to these questions will drive your decisions.
• Do you want to make whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, brandy or do you plan to make all of them?
• How large is your existing equipment and what size still should be paired to match your equipment?
• How many square feet of workspace can you dedicate to distilling?
• What do you want your still to look like? Will it be a shiny copper showpiece or a stainless economical work horse?
A common question that comes up early is aimed at selecting a still size. People will ask, how big of a still should I get? The answer to this question is different for nearly all operations. What is more important to consider than how big your still should be is what is too small of a still. A common issue faced by new distilleries is that they start their production with far too small of a still. Some folks start so small that they outgrow the capacity to produce enough spirits within a year.
A still that is much smaller than 200 gallon will hinder your distillery from growing to produce a meaningful amount of spirits. The smaller a still is the larger your labor cost and time commitment will be to operate the equipment. Depending on the configuration of a still and the ABV of the wash a 200 gallon still can produce a single whiskey barrel per day by doing multiple distillations.
Do not go too small on your still, you will regret it when you see how small the output is. The price of a still does not increase linearly based on size. A larger still only costs slightly more than a similarly designed smaller still. The larger a still is the less you will spend on labor, and we all know that the cost of labor adds up fast.
Taking some time to estimate necessary spirit production and sizing equipment appropriately is essential. New startups often underestimate the real quantities of spirits needing to be produced to be successful and profitable. Planning production far out is essential if you are going to distill spirits like whiskey or brandy that need to age for years before they are ready to bottle.
Whiskies are an immensely popular type of spirit whether it is bourbon, rye whiskey or single malt. All of these spirits spend years in the barrel before they are bottled. Production planning should be based on the size of your existing equipment and how much additional capacity it has. Ideally your production of wine, wash, or beer to be distilled should not inhibit your production of the core products your business is founded on.
Working through these numbers will help with the financial commitments created by expanding your product line up to include distilled spirits. A common rule of thumb in sizing a still is to size it to half the size of a fermenter. So, for example if you have 1000-gallon fermenters, it makes sense to have a 500 gallon still.
It seems obvious but it is important to state that your products need to taste good. If the aged products you plan to make are going to compete like other distilled spirits, they will need time to mature. There are no proven shortcuts to speed up the process of maturation, but there are plenty of examples of self-proclaimed “rapid aged” products that flopped. It is helpful to learn from others’ mistakes here and take it into account as you plan production years into the future. If you buy a small still that can produce enough product to meet initial demand you are planning for problems when growth takes hold. A small still may not be able to make enough spirits that need to age and then meet demand several years down the road. The more spirits you can produce early on and are putting in barrels every day the more potential you have to grow.
One of the most common mistakes distilleries make in their early years is not producing enough spirits to age. To limit the growth of your business by selecting too small of equipment can be a costly mistake. Budgeting for the cost of raw materials and labor is essential to maximize production capacity and control cost. Selecting the perfect size still or stills is a complex decision to make. There are many underlying factors that must be carefully assessed to make sure you pick the right still with confidence.
Equipment budgets can vary immensely depending on the equipment manufacture and design. You must budget not only for the cost of the still but for the cost of installation as well. Most stills need steam lines, cooling lines and electricity which can add considerable cost to the equipment.
A budget for other smaller equipment should also be considered. Tanks are needed for spirit storage and lab equipment is needed to measure and manage production. A consideration that cannot be ignored is the size of the facility where the equipment will be installed.
While a still does not need too much space, there is other equipment that does take space, such as spirit storage tanks, barrels for aging spirits and bottled products. If you only have 500 square feet of space set aside for your new distilling equipment this may be tough to make things work well. In a 500 sq foot space a 500 gallon still might fit well into your building, but it leaves no room for the still operation and people to operate the equipment. Take some time to decide how much space your distillery can occupy. This information will help you make decisions on how big of equipment to buy.
In some cases, production goals are the primary factor when planning a distillery. If allocated space is not a limiting aspect, then production should be the next deciding element. This critical factor must be given extensive thought and planning. If you want a distillery that has the capacity to produce thousands of barrels of whiskey every year you are going to need big equipment.
While a 250 gallon still can be worked hard to produce over 100 barrels of whiskey a year it will not be able to make much more than that. Sizing the still for the long-term production goals of a distillery will help you stay ahead of your growing pains. If you do really want to produce thousands of barrels you may want to consider a continuous column still.
To make great spirits you’re going to need skilled labor. For your business to make the best spirits possible from day one it is a wise investment to bring in an experienced distiller to help guide the process and oversee the distilling. Although there are many similarities in equipment and processes used by breweries and wineries that are also employed distilleries, there are also vast differences in the process and in the regulation of these industries.
An experienced distiller can bring the knowledge and expertise to the table to help you make the best whiskeys possible and also ensure it is done in a way that is compliant with regulations. One route often taken is to hire a distillery consultant to train employees and establish operating procedures.
The process and investment to build a brewery or winery is an expensive endeavor. Most of these facilities have idle equipment and are not run constantly. Increasing the use of your equipment to make distilled spirits can create new revenue streams. The simple addition of a still can create the opportunity to create new products and at the same time increase usage of idle equipment.
This is good for the business as it can create greater economies of scale. To do this effectively it is paramount to select the right size still for your business. There are many opportunities to diversify your business and wineries and breweries are well positioned to create new products and expand market share easily. If your business is ready to take the leap into distilled spirits now is the time to do it. After all, good whiskey is delicious and with the addition of a still beer can be distilled and transformed into great whiskey.
