UK based engineering company, Briggs of Burton, has developed a technology solution that turns a brewery into a distillery – without the need for an entire new set up.
With the growing popularity of spirits and ready-to-drinks challenging beer’s market share, the need for diversity is becoming apparent amongst breweries.
Briggs, a company which has worked with Australian breweries in the past, has developed the BrewStillery, a solution that leverages the existing equipment of a brewery to distil spirits such as whisky, vodka and gin from raw materials.
A BrewStillery can transform wash (fermented wort) or beer into various spirits, and can be adapted to volume and flavour demand. The system is integrated into existing operations, with the only requirement being additional space for the system.
Hybrid process
The Briggs BrewStillery uses a hybrid distillation process that combines pot and column distillation processes. The traditional pot still technology takes place in copper stills that influence the taste, as a large proportion of the sulphur compounds are removed from the spirit during distillation.
Depending on the spirit alcohol strength, either the wash, beer, or new make spirit flows through different rectification columns, to allow drinks with a higher alcohol concentration to be produced continuously.
Each tray in a column corresponds to a batch distillation step, with more trays required for higher alcohol strengths. The hot steam removes the alcohol and aromatic substances from the wash at each bubble cap tray in the column. The result is a refined spirit that, after condensation, can be bottled or matured in wooden barrels.
Tech use in practice
The US-based Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, has recently installed a Briggs BrewStillery. In addition to beer, the brewery can also use it to produce its own legal Moonshine Whiskey.
The distillation process there consists of a copper pot still and a series of rectification columns. The brewery and distillery work closely together in the company, with both teams using the same raw materials – malt, yeast and water.
