What exactly is distilling… and how do brewers do it? The co-founder, master distiller, and all-around good guy breaks it down into six simple areas of overlap.
First, you need to know the facts. Distilling is the process of fermenting a liquid solution of sugar with yeast to create alcohol. By slowly boiling this, you evaporate the alcohol and condense it back into liquid form.
What makes distillation closely related to brewing is the fermentation/heating/cooling process. This allows us to examine the similarities step by step…
The brewery is already equipped to handle many of the elements required for a distilling operation.
Open spaces for production
Drainage systems
Barrel/finished product warehousing
Shipping & receiving
Industrial finishes
Regulatory considerations
The mechanical heart of a distillery is very similar to that of a brewery.
Steam
Glycol
Domestic and processed water piping & storage
Recycling & conservation opportunities
Brewers have advantages over startup distilleries
Your existing brewing equipment is often not only functional in a distillery but can be superior.
Fermentors
Brewhouse
Pumps & hoses
Clean in place
Sanitary considerations
As brewers, you already know more about fermentation than many distillers.
Fermentation times, curves, yeast & temperatures
Mashing & lautering (Scotch Whiskey technique)
Ingredient sources
Aging
Sanity considerations
Some things breweries will need to address…
Stills
Mash cooler/pumps (certain fermentables)
Fermentation capacity
Explosion-proof pumps
Bottle filling equipment
Stillage/BOD/TSS
Water usage/cooling
Small community (home distilling is illegal in the U.S.)
ACE distillery equipment
While both generally regulated by the same entities, distilleries have different rules than breweries.
Bonded areas
Tax reporting
Control states
Retail limitations
Labeling & marketing
Alcohol measurement
Fire suppression
