The Distillers Journal - April 2020 by Reby Media

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE BREWERS JOURNAL

Distillers J ournal

April 2020

From Brewing to distilling START YOUR JOURNEY IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS

10 | LEGAL REQUIREMENTS: KNOW WHERE YOU STAND

14 | cachaça: THE LOWDOWN ON BRAZIL’S POPULAR DRINK

30 | ENGLISH SPIRIT IN PROFILE: AN EXPORT HIT

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Spirits are awakening!

ong before I was born, my grandfather operated an illegal still during the days of US Prohibition. It was hidden in the family’s chicken coop and, using whatever fruit was at hand, he would churn out highstrength rakija (pronounced ra-keeya) for San Diego’s Slavic community.

Like most of his schemes, this didn’t turn out well. One

day my father didn’t keep watch over it and it exploded, leaving the chickens wishing in their fleeting moment of remaining life that the still had been hidden elsewhere. Growing up with this story, I decided to try my hand at distilling with my Christmas present chemistry set – I must have been about 13 at the time – but my dad put a kibosh on it, saying I was going to end up blowing up the house. Considering his experience, he was probably right. While as I grew older I learned to appreciate the end

the most. Both smelled like the most perfect summer’s day imaginable. They brought back memories of

product of distilleries, the work involved never crossed

walking barefoot in the grass, going to Balboa Park with

my mind. That is, until my first paid newspaper reporting

my parents, and capping the day watching 4th of July

assignment had me visiting St George Distillery in the San

fireworks.

Francisco Bay area. The owner and head distiller at the time was Jorg Rupf from Bavaria. He had been a judge in Germany – one of the youngest – and had finagled a year of training at UC Berkeley. He told me he had been at a friend’s house,

And as this aroma flooded my senses, triggering memory after memory of days past, I looked at the large copper stills, saw the absolute romance and beauty of distilling, and understood all. There’s the romance, and now the practicality. If you

sitting in the backyard, enjoying the Californian sun

are a brewer and are looking to diversity your product,

and lifestyle, and started noticing all the heavily laden

you should most definitely look into distilling. Unlike

fruit trees in the yard. For Jorg, the trees brought back

some beverages like kombacha where you will have to

memories of growing up on his family’s farm in Bavaria

create the market as well as the drink, the UK has a long,

and his father distilling summer fruit.

established spirits culture.

“I asked my friend if anyone was making eau de vie from

Is there room, however, for another craft gin? After all,

all the fruit and he replied: ‘What’s eau de vie?’ Suddenly,

in the last five years there has been over a doubling of UK

Germany seemed very, very far away to me,” said Jorg.

distilleries, with the vast majority producing gin. Is there

What he didn’t realise in 1982 when he set up St

a need or want for a £35 bottle of craft gin that tastes

George Distillery, was that his distillery was going to be

exactly Beefeater’s? Absolutely not. It would be like your

ground-zero for the US craft distilling movement. By the

brewery was trying to duplicate the taste of Stella and

time I interviewed him in 1994 in the newly expanded St

charge five times the amount.

George, others were following his example. Like most Americans, I too had never heard of eau

However, If you were sourcing as many botanicals as you could locally or could create some other draw

de vie, and while Jorg was now also distilling vodka, gin,

that makes your gin unique, then I think you’ll find

brandies, and other spirits, his love remained with eau de

your customers. If you’re a competent brewer, you can

vie. Without showing me the eau de vie bottle labels, he

become a competent distiller. And remember there is

poured into four glasses the perfectly clear, unaged liquid.

more to spirits than gin.

“Give each a swirl and take a good sniff,” said Jorg. While it is heading towards 30-years-ago, I can recall

Please let us know what you think of The Distillers Journal. We want it to be a tool for you. u

each smell perfectly. There was a peach, pear, raspberry

Velo Mitrovich

and kiwi aroma, with the peach and pear standing out

Editor

A Brewers Journal Supplement

April 2020

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contents 16

the distillers journal A new supplement looking at innovation in the field of distilling and how diversification into sprits can broaden your product offering

distilling 101 06 - With this year looking like the world’s financial market will be having a rough ride, is it time for you to diversify and look beyond beer?

comment 10 - TLT on the number of new legal requirements distilling can trigger from licence applications to planning permission 12 - The importance of measuring % ABV and the technology that can assist you

focus | cachaca 14 - Future distillers, with a good portion coming up through the craft beer ranks, realised that with the knowledge they already had, to make craft gin was within their reach. Now, distillers are looking at rum

April 2020

Sector | closures 23 - If drinkers drink first with their eyes, give them something to look at, starting with the bottle stopper and closure

science | rum 26 - Adding water to your distilled spirit will change its flavour. The question is: by how much?

technology | nfc 28 - As a brewer, it’s important that you make that sale, that you bring in the customer. So, how are you going to do it?

profile | english spirit 30 - English Spirit annually produces nearly two million bottles of various spirits. The question is: should you be joining them?

The Distillers Journal

MANUFACTUR ER

IPMENT EQU RY LE

C MMER IAL DIS O C TIL OF

Oï¬&#x192;cial distributor for DES Commercial Distilling Equiment

Number: 07595760351 Website: www.desstilluk.co.uk Email: sales@desstilluk.co.uk

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FRom Brewer to distiller The total number of UK distilleries has risen in the last five years from 184 to 441, with 80 opening last year alone, with a flow of craft gin, vodka, whisky and rum going from the stills to happy consumers. With this year looking like the world’s financial market will be having a rough, rough ride, is it time for you to diversify and look beyond beer? Velo Mitrovich and distilling expert Kieran Aylward of Vitikit Ltd give you the basics.

Two years after making this announcement, Brewdog released its first Lone Wolf gin and vodka, with its full range now also including rum and three ‘Boilermaker’ whiskies made to be paired with a specific Brewdog beer. Patrick Carberry, business development manager for Moorgate Finance Limited – which specialises in breweries and distilleries – says: “We are definitely noticing a rise in distilleries across the UK. In fact, there are now more distilleries in England in comparison to Scotland – this happened for the first time in 2018. I believe this is due to the increase in demand for speciality

by velo mitrovich and Kieran AYlward

drinks such as flavoured rums and gins etc. “We noticed a rise in distillery finance enquiries – even

n 2015 Brewdog announced that it was going

during the Brexit period when people were looking to

to enter the distilling game, to shake it up like it

spread the cost to allow them to keep their cash flow

has shaken the beer industry. From a German

intact. Last year we noted a major rise in new start

workshop on the shores of Lake Constance, the

distillery finance enquiries.

master craftsmen at Arnold Holstein GmbH were

“In regards to gin/whisky distilleries, the process for

to construct two 3,000 litre copper pot stills, an additional

financing these is very similar, the equipment being used

600 litre copper gin still and a 20m tall copper column

is predominantly the same throughout – the main change

still,which would allow for the production of neutral spirit

for us is the ‘story’ of the distillery and the companies that

for vodka and gin.

we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to deal with,”

“From these hand-made stills, we intend to produce a home-grown vodka that will really make the big players

says Carberry. While the idea of adding spirits to your existing line-up

sit up and take notice, as well as a BrewDog gin for which

might seems a bit daft, there has long been a tie between

we have already begun trials on a number of different

distilling and brewing, and even more so with craft beer.

botanicals,” said Brewdog. “The four stills are all designed specifically for our

In the USA, San Francisco’s original Anchor Distilling Company was established in 1993 by Fritz Maytag, the

needs and on them we will be able to produce pretty

same beverage visionary who sparked the craft beer

much any spirit known to man. But our first goal is to

movement with his purchase of Anchor Brewing in 1965.

focus on the triumvirate of whisky, gin and vodka (we

Maytag had rescued the struggling brewery and its iconic

wouldn’t be a true Scottish company if we didn’t stay

steam beer, and after several decades of exclusively

close to our roots and produce the first of these). Our

producing beer, Maytag saw an opportunity to expand

spirits will be made in the BrewDog way; pushing the

into the distillation of spirits.

definitions and boundaries at every stage, revolutionising the craft distilling scene in the UK.” Whatever your feelings are about Brewdog, you have

Fritz’s vision of a rye whiskey revival was fuelled by the bold realization that there were no pot-distilled whiskeys being made legally in America at the time.

to give Brewdog its due by its consistently showing other

Finding inspiration in the rye whiskeys of America’s past

breweries what they can do with the right expertise,

and the great single malt whiskies of Scotland, Fritz

courage and financial backing.

gathered a small team to begin top secret research and

April 2020

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experimentation in the distillery. The first whiskey went into barrel in 1994, and the distillery soon began producing three rye whiskeys under Fritz’s guidance, all pot-distilled spirit from a mash of 100 percent malted rye. Over time, the range of spirits

Doghouse Distillery in Battesea, London

expanded into other categories, with the addition of

All images courtsey of Kieran Aylward

Junípero Gin and Genevieve genever. The creation of Junípero was particularly significant, as it effectively started the movement towards high-end craft gin in the United States, which then spread here. San Diego’s Ballast Point moved into gin distilling – which the founders kept after selling off the craft beer side of the business for $1 billion ¬– and Delaware’s Dogfish Brewery/Distillery started producing a series of gins, vodkas, whiskeys, and one spirt, Booze for Breakfast, which came about when the distiller started playing around with stout. Like in the UK, in the States most brewers’ first venture has been with gin. The reasons for this is you can eliminate quite a bit of the work by buying-in a 95% ABV neutral or base spirit, which is basically a high-proof vodka – made from either grains, potatoes or sugar beets – and then distilling this with your botanicals. If your eyes are focused on Scotland’s whisky distillers and some of the UK’s few rum and vodka makers, distilling gin looks dog-easy with being able to eliminate the fermenting and later aging stage. However, much like there is lot more to brewing beer than throwing some barley, hops, water and yeast together, the same is true with gin. Because the flavourings come from essential oils in the natural botanicals – juniper (essential), coriander seeds, angelica, orris root, citrus, liquorice root, cassia bark, cardamom, ginger, and a host of others, producing a gin with a product consistency is where gin distillers lose their hair. All spirits start their journey the same, which is very similar to how you brew beer. A grain is mixed with warm water, yeast is added, and it’s allowed to ferment. Although grain is the prominent product used to create alcohol, anything and everything seems to be used ranging from potato peels to leftover dairy whey. Once fermentation is finished, the wash is put into a still where over heat, alcohol is released from the water, with it boiling at a lower temperature of water. Then through a session of distils, more and more of the water is eliminated from the alcohol. Flavours can come from the grains or other fermenting-source used, and/or botanicals added. Why hasn’t there been the same well-worn path of brewing at home to a brewery? Much of this has come from confusion, with most believing that you cannot legally distil at home. Not only can you legally brew at home – you do have to register with HMRC – thanks

A Brewers Journal Supplement

April 2020

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to three UK craft distillers challenging HMRC – it is considerably easier creating a commercial distillery,

Above left: Dephlagmetor on hybrid still Above right: Reflux in hybrid column

without a required minimum size of your stills.

Still beauty

It’s more likely than it’s probably ever been for a small distiller to be granted a licence from HMRC, and so it is a good time to look over the types of stills in operation.

he still, from a solely practical perspective, is

Pot stills

the equipment where a mixture is separated according to its members’ boiling points.

Fermented mixtures contain water and ethanol, but also methanol, esters and other volatiles. But stills are not only utilitarian, their shape and colour capture the romantic imagination of even the stiffest

ot stills are the simplest and least expensive type of still and give the crudest (and so most flavourful) distillation. Like all stills, the material

pragmatist. Images of stills are the mainstay of distillery

of choice – because of its ability to remove sulphur – is

marketing, and peculiarities in a stills shape, no matter

copper. But copper is expensive and so some cheaper

how slight, give rise to legends about its influence on

stills are made from stainless steel but with copper

flavour.

components.

There is a story from a chemical engineer, who when

A pot still is simply a boiling pot, a lye arm, (exit pipe)

visiting a project to upgrade an old whiskey distillery

and a condenser. The length and angle of the lye arm

noticed chalk marks on the brand-new copper still about

influences the reflux (condensation and potential re-

to be swapped for an old veteran still. The chalk was to

evaporation) and so the purity of the spirit. Usually it’s

show where dents should be made , to match the dents

necessary to pass a spirit multiple times through a pot still

in the old pot – so that both would behave in exactly the

to gain purity.

same way. The dents probably would have affected the

Pot stills are used in Irish Whiskey and Scotch Whisky

distillation, but how detectable, or even measurable,

distilleries, with at least a double distillation being used.

is questionable – the real value of the dent story was

They are also used for small rum producers, brandy

probably in the hands of the marketeers.

producers and sometimes for rectifying gin.

April 2020

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Column stills

101

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Doghouse's still is put to use making a wheat mash vodka, and a neutral sprit to produce their "grain to bottle"

gin - called Renegade. Column stills are common in the large rum and

column still has no pot and is not a batch system – instead a constant stream of preheated,

cachaca producers, also in vodka and neutral spirit (the

fermented wash can be introduced into the

base for gin) production.

column, with distillate exiting at a constant purity and

Hybrid stills

de-alcoholised wash being discharged from the column bottom. The column is made up of “plates”, or “trays” which are designed to bubble vapour through a reservoir of condensate, and to drain excess condensate to the plate below. The vapour and condensate exist in an equilibrium where the vapour gains alcohol (and other volatiles) and

hybrid still is one that combines aspects of a pot and column still, and because of their flexibility, are very popular with craft distillers. Usually it

would consist of a pot still with a small or large column to

loses water as it bubbles through. Because each plate

one side – this column can be bypassed in pot still mode,

works at a lower temperature than the one below, the

or the vapour can be directed through the column and its

volatile components become more concentrated as they

plates.

rise. The still works by introducing steam into the bottom

The column is often fitted with a dephlegmator, or precondenser – this allows chilling water to be introduced

of the column and wash near to the top, the wash fills the

to the column top and controls reflux. In full reflux, no

reservoir of the plate and some of the volatiles are lost

vapour can pass and instead condenses and flows back

to the vapour, which continues, through more plates to

into the column, this increases contact time with the

the top of the column, and the remainder overflows and

copper and gives a smoother spirit.

drains to the plate below.

Hybrid stills are common for all kinds of craft

Few true column stills are in use in craft distilling,

distiller, but more expensive than a simple pot still. The

but one example is the sprawlimng 46 plate column

automation available and flexibility means that one-still

still at work at Doghouse distillery in Battersea, London.

often produces a range of spirits. u

Accurate ABV in < 3 minutes No reagents No distillation

01342 820820 www.qclscientific.com/alcotest Brewers Journal Distilling Supplement February 20.indd 1

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24/03/2020 11:09:10

April 2020

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L egal

Spirit of the law Distilling can trigger a number of new legal requirements. These range from licence applications and variations to planning permission, supplier contracts and IP protection, explains Mark Routley at UK law firm TLT. BY mark routley

onsidering diversifying into distilling? Wanting to tap into this growing market? The last five years have seen a doubling in the number of UK distilleries. The choice is wider than ever with both small specialist

producers and the major players seeking to exploit our growing penchant for spirits. You may have a steady income from brewing. Now may be the right time make the move into distillation. Before doing so, it is worth considering some of legal issues you need to address.

Licensing

However, if you need to make any physical alterations to the buildings to make them suitable then planning permission may be required before you undertake the alterations. If the building is listed then listed buildings consent may also be needed.

ou are unlikely to produce base spirit from scratch

If you lease your building, check the terms of the

but if you do you’ll need a distiller’s licence,

lease. Most commercial leases contain restrictions

approval for your plant and process, and you must

on what activities can be undertaken. If the use is not automatically permitted you may need to obtain the prior

pay spirits duty. It is more likely you will redistill spirits or compound

written consent of your landlord before changing the use.

spirits using a still – for this you need a rectifier’s licence.

You will almost certainly also need the landlord’s consent

If you mix spirits with anything apart from water but

if you need to make any significant alterations to the

don’t use a still e.g. botanicals, wine and spirit to make

building.

Vermouth, you must have a compounder’s licence. This

If you need to take on new premises will you be

all requires approval from HMRC https://www.gov.uk/

purchasing or leasing? If leasing, you will need to ensure

guidance/spirits-duty

that the terms allow you to operate as you are intending

To retail the finished product to the general public you

and that you have secured any consents. If purchasing

will need a premises licence. Even if the brewery already

or taking an existing lease, your solicitor will be able to

has one e.g. for a tap room or bottle shop, you must

check whether there are any other legal restrictions on

check the premises licence covers the new proposals,

the title that might affect your ability to operate.

including any changes to your layout. A variation may be required before you commence.

Production and supply chain

New distillery premises will need a new premises licence and a specialist licensing lawyer can assist you with all of this.

Property

iversifying into distilling is likely to require new equipment (stills, bottling equipment) which may be purchased outright or hired. Regardless of the

option chosen, there will be contractual arrangements

re you intending to use existing premises to

to consider and negotiate. How will you be financing the

house your plant and equipment? From a

cost? If you are relying on external funding then you need

planning perspective this would not be regarded

to ensure that the terms and conditions of that funding

as a change as both fall within B2 – general industrial.

April 2020

arrangement are suitable and appropriate. There may also

The Distillers Journal

L egal

be other elements to consider such as the maintenance of the equipment, health and safety, and the allocation of risk/liabilities. Do you need to find additional suppliers for new raw

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marks too. Then, consider whether you plan to use an identical mark for beers and spirits. If it is the same and your registered brew mark also covers spirits (which are in a

materials like botanicals for example? If you rely on

different trade mark class to beers), you may not need

another company to distribute your products, does your

any further filings.

existing contract work? If your terms and conditions are no longer suitable you may need to make changes. If you own a tied pub estate and are planning to sell

If, however, you plan to use a different brand, then clearly a further filing is required. The greyer area is where there are some similarities between the brewing

your products through those pubs, consider whether

mark and the distilling mark. In these circumstances, you

the terms of any tie actually apply to the spirits you are

should consider protecting the common elements or

producing. Tenants may be fully tied or only required to

treating them as two separate brands.

buy beer and cider. You may want to make changes to

If you are launching a new brand then it is also

your standard forms of tenancy agreement and negotiate

important to carry out your research or instruct a formal

variations to existing tenancies.

clearance search to ensure that you are free to use that brand. Similarly if you intend to use an existing brew

Intellectual property rights

brand then there is a risk that by taking that brew brand into the distilling space, you may run into conflict with

an existing distiller or, for example, mixer producer. They

lanning to add another product to your portfolio is

may have been unconcerned by your brewing activities

a good time to review the trade mark portfolio that

but the additional product line may change their position

you have protecting your existing brands. Firstly,

dramatically.

check whether you have registered trade mark protection

These are a few thoughts but it is always worth

for your existing brewery and beers. Are you using the

seeking professional advice before embarking on what

brand as registered or has the branding evolved since

should be a new and exciting enterprise. Take these steps

the marks were filed? It may be time to update your brew

and you will be off to a flying start! u

Bruni Erben is a leading supplier of glass, closures and machinery for the spirits, beverage, wine, food and home fragrance markets. Founded in 1951, the company has developed & diversified and today offers an extensive catalogue of stock items, a design team which delivers extraordinary results on bespoke products, and industry leading technical support. www.BruniErben.co.uk â&#x20AC;˘ +44 (0)1473 823011

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ABV

mo n itori n g

Know your numbers It goes without saying that measuring % ABV is an integral part of the distilling process. Here Jamie Duncan, head of sales and product development at QCL, outlines the versatile nature of the AlcoTest-RI and why this makes it an ideal addition to the distillery, giving balance between compliance and profitability. BY jamie duncan

eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve launched a new piece of kit, which pairs a density meter and a refractometer, and offers a rapid non-certified method to read % ABV.

When it comes to measuring % ABV, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always a

challenge to strike a balance between finding a piece of kit that is compliant, easy to operate and allows regular analysis to ensure consistent flavours in your products. The Rudolph Research AlcoTest-RI aims to satisfy all of these issues with a certified government compliant solution and a rapid non-certified method to read % ABV. With these two modes, the certified method can be used for taxation purposes, whereas the rapid noncertified method (no distillation required) can be used

%ABV. Alternatively, the software can also calculate the volume of alcohol to add to obtain a specific %ABV. Keeping % ABV in check is one task, but what if your

to calculate % ABV accurately in three minutes for every

flavourings are out of specification? Key flavour indicators

day testing. The technique can be utilised not only for

such as BRIX, refractive index and density can be used to

unobscured spirits but also obscured spirits.

hold your suppliers to specification upon material delivery

But how does it work? The Rudolph AlcoTest-RI is a

and ensure consistent flavour each batch. Further to this,

pairing of a density meter and a refractometer. For the

the integration of a density meter and a refractometer

rapid non-certified method, distillation is not required and

allows measurement of corrected BRIX for accurate

the sample can be analysed neat, therefore removing the

determination of residual sugar levels.

need for distillation prior to analysis. For the certified method you simply have to distil your

The AlcoTest-RI can be configured to fit the specific needs of the user. There are three density meters and two

sample followed by subsequent analysis on the density

refractometers to choose from, respectively. Your model

meter. This pairing of a density meter and refractometer

of choice depends on the type of product (wine, spirits,

also allows accurate % ABV determination in flavoured

beer) that the user works with.

drinks, as the presence of other ingredients can be detected and used to calculate a corrected % ABV. Not only does the AlcoTest-RI therefore reduce the number of distillations required on flavoured products from 2-4 to one, but time is also saved through the utilisation of AlcoCalc. This handy piece of software can be used to calculate your alcohol/water dilutions with the integrated Tax and

The top of the range mode, the DDM 2911 PLUS is recommended for higher %ABV products (e.g. distilled spirits). This model is used and approved by the TTB, accurate to 0.01% ABV. The versatile nature of the AlcoTest-RI makes it an ideal addition to the distillery, giving balance between compliance and profitability. u If you would like to know more or would be interested in

Trade Bureau (TTB) tables to allow you to confidently and

a demonstration please contact Jamie Duncan at jamie.

quickly dilute a high %ABV product to a specified lower

duncan@qclscientific.com.

April 2020

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RUMble in the Jungle

Like how craft beer spun out from big beer so, too, has craft gin spun out from the big players. Future distillers – with a good portion coming up through the craft beer ranks – realised that with the knowledge they already had, to make craft gin was within their reach. Now, distillers are looking at rum. Could this be the new craft spirit? Kieran Aylward reports by Kieran aylward

remember from the movie was Depp’s character drink of choice being gin – straight up. In a movie that dealt with

en years ago if you ordered a gin, your

summoning the Devil, the gin drinking was probably the

choice was limited between big players

most unbelievable part.

Bombay, Gordon’s and Tanqueray who

But, that was then. Now craft gin distillers are making

offered various quality levels of pretty much

unique, flavourful creations with can stand on their own,

their same spirit. If where you were drinking

as well as being part of creative cocktails.

was more top end, you’d expect to see maybe Hendrick’s or Brockman there as well. In 1999 Johnny Depp starred in Roman Polanski’s The

The question now is, can craft rum do as well as craft gin? In many ways, the two distilled beverages are as

Ninth Gate, which would have been forgotten except for

different as day and night. Usually the skill in gin making is

endless repeats on the Horror Channel. But what most

in the careful manipulation of volatile botanicals, infusing

April 2020

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them into a neutral spirit that in the majority of cases, the

growing demand for rum, and supply hasn’t caught up”,

craft distiller does not produce but instead buys.

says Courtney.

With rum, the skill begins with selecting refined cane

According to Kantar Worldpanel, the retail market for

sugar, usually molasses, nurturing a fermentation and

rum in the UK has shot up almost eight percent in value

performing a distillation to produce a spirit – light or heavy

of volumes that are up five percent.

– from the fermented wash, and finally sometimes aging the spirit in barrels and adjusting the colour with caramel. And rum is seeing a resurgence, a burgeoning interest

Nearly 80 percent of 25-to 34-year-old spirit drinkers are partial to rum, according to a poll of over 1,400 consumers conducted exclusively for The Grocer by

in rum production methods, and an appetite for rum

Harris Interactive. This compares with just half of those

consumption, and this it has in common with gin.

over-55. This trend with youth should continue with 70

Indeed, in some instances, rum is outperforming gin.

percent of drinkers 16-24 saying that they prefer rum.

Paul Courtney, of Courtneys of Wimple in Devon, who

These younger shoppers are prepared to go higher end

makes gin and imports and blends Guyanan Spiced Rum

than older generations.

has noticed rum sales outstripping gin sales. “We are selling more than two bottles of rum for every

“We know that millennials are drinking less than their parents,” says Faith Holland, head of category at Captain

bottle of gin. We’ve found that gin is such a saturated

Morgan. “As young people are drinking less, they are

market that its harder to get traction, but there is a

seeking higher quality in their purchases. We’re finding

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that customers are drinking less, but better.” Sarah Doyle, Bacardi Europe’s VP of marketing, tells The Grocer that is an exciting time for rum, with the category undergoing a “massive premiumization” in the UK market. “There is a space for premium rum which consumers are really interested in,” she says. One thing that rum suffers from is a lack of clear definition as to what is rum. Rum is best known for being a product of the Caribbean region, as well as South and Central America. But it is also produced in North America – including nearly 25 US states – Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe. Because in almost all cases ‘Rum’ is not geographically defined, such as Cognac, Bourbon or Scottish Whiskey, this makes it difficult to make international rules for when the contents of a bottle are actually rum, and in fact there are zero all-encompassing regulations. In Jamaica sugar cannot be added to rum, in the EU it can. In the EU, spices can be added to rum and still be called “rum”, but you cannot add flavourings. Captain Morgan Spiced Rum can be called rum; Captain Morgan Spiced Gold cannot. Almost all would say that rum has to be made from fermented sugar cane, but what if you use sugar beets for your source of sugar? A drink made from sugar beets and artificial rum flavour in the Czech Republic used to be called Tuzemsky Rum, but when the Republic joined the EU in 2004, “rum” had to be dropped from name and it is now called Tuzemak. The name change hasn’t seen to hurt sales with Czechs spending three billion koruna (£104m) on the drink last year, which translates to one out of every four bottles of alcohol drink sold in the Czech Republic. In the USA, the Tax and Trade Bureau (TBB) regulates spirits and it defines rum as: “An alcoholic distillate from the fermented juice of sugar cane, sugar cane syrup, sugar cane molasses, or other sugar cane by-products, produced at less than 190-proof in such manner that the distillate possesses the taste, aroma, and characteristics generally attributed to rum, and bottled at not less than 80-proof; and also includes mixtures solely of such distillates. Sounds clear? It’s not. The TTB has recently allowed a Colorado distiller who uses sugar beets to call his product rum. Thrown into this mash are US terms such as Standards of Identity, which are essentially legal descriptions for various spirits as they apply to the US market, and Geographical Identification (GI). The West Indies Rum & Spirits Producers Association

Left: Jovelino Saldanha and his pot still Right bottom: Jovelino Saldanha's nephew Pedro

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(WIRSPA) says that rum is any spirit distilled solely from the fermented sugars derived from the sugar cane plant

most produced spirit, with most of it consumed in Brazil. The reason cachaça is overlooked has a lot to do with

and distilled below 96% alcohol by volume is rum. The

the structure of the industry, Rum is dominated by the

sugars may be in the form of fresh juice, cane syrup or

large distillers, with a business model based on export

molasses.

sales and big marketing budgets to make the model

There are also spirits which, though rum by definition, are described as sugar cane spirits or by other synonyms.

work. Cachaça, too, is also dominated by large producers

For example, ‘Cachaça’ the national spirit of Brazil, is

who are responsible for over 70 percent of production,

distilled from fermented sugar cane juice.

but their main market is domestic. Artisan producers,

But, says the WIRSPA, if the product is fermented from

which are many in number and have an appetite for

sugar cane juice, syrup or molasses and distilled below

export, are geographically fragmented so find marketing

96 percent alcohol, it is rum, pure and simple, no matter

outside their regional state – let alone outside of Brazil – is

what someone chooses to call it.

more difficult.

Back to the States, in searching through TTB rule

As someone from the UK, you will find that alambique

change proposals, there are no proposals for Jamaican,

(artisan) cachaça producers have a lot in common with

Guyanese or Martinique rum standards for identity. There

the traditional UK cider makers, both in how they process

is only one to be found, Brazilian Cachaça. Would going

their own crops to add value, and use little or no raw

to Brazil and discovering the secrets behind the often

materials from outside of their farm.

overlooked Cachaça help solve the rum mystery?

Both also harvest a ripe crop, low in starch and high in simple sugars, which is milled and pressed and then the

Journey to Brazil

juice fermented. Most – but not all – cidermakers stop there, but cachaca producers take one more step and distill the ferment.

all it what you will: Cachaça; Brazilian cachaça;

help, and to meet him expect a six-hour drive heading

don’t call its production small. With an annual

northwest of Sao Paulo, to a part of Brazil that while

production of over 1.4 billion litres, it is the world’s third

To learn more, Belmiro Ribeiro Da Silva Neto can

Brazilian rum; or Brazilian cachaça rum; just

April 2020

beautiful, it well off the foreign tourist radar. Belmiro is

The Distillers Journal

a professor at FGV University in Sao Paulo while also owning and running Ribeiro Da Silva Cachaça from his

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From left: Papaya, Jubuticaba fruit and a pot still with water bath

farm in Sao Jose Do Rio Preto. “Cachaça does have an export market,” says Belmiro, “but it’s small, at around one percent of Brazil’s total production. Europe is the largest market taking 61 percent

The flavour of these hardwoods haven’t escaped the

of the exports, with Germany on its own accounting for 35

attention either of craft brewers, with beers aged in the

percent.

barrels beginning to appear in competitions. One example

“The majority of these are exports are the cheap

is 70K Amburana, a 13% ABV imperial milk stout from

commercial brands, which are used to make Caipirinha,

Against The Grain Brewery in Louisville, Kentucky, which

the famous Brazilian cocktail. These exports give people

picked up Gold in the wood aged category at the Great

bad hangovers and ultimately undermine the reputation

American Beer Festival.

of Alambique Cachaca.” Belmiro, like many of Brazils artisan producers, has no

Most regions in Brazil have a large number of alambique cachaça producers, including the UNESCO

interest in producing industrial cachaça, but he certainly

world heritage site of Paraty, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

has nothing against the Caipirinha, saying that you should

When the Brazilian goldrush erupted in 1696, Paraty was

try the cocktail with a good Cachaça Branca.

the main port supporting the extraction of gold from

His main interest is producing premium sipping

the neighbouring, and landlocked state of Minas Gerais

cachaça. This is usually cachaça that has been aged

and produced their “cane brandy” for the miners and

in wooden barrels to introduce colour and flavour and,

merchants.

depending on the wood, a level of sweetness. Sometimes an oak barrel is used, but Brazil has numerous hard woods – some indigenous – which can also be used like Balsam, Jequitiba, Jatoba and

Minas Gerais is still an important mining area, though more for iron than gold these days, but it is also the place to be for anybody interested in drinking craft cachaca. The region is a vast, hot, rolling landscape of

Amburana. These hard woods give a completely unique

mountains, cattle ranches, winding roads and in

character to aged cachaça, and these new flavours are

November, heavy rainclouds. Its seemingly infinite forests

beginning to get noticed.

are bright green, punctuated with the purple flowers of

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the occasional Jacaranda tree. The land grows perfectly

on the farm, is a critical resource and is used for washing

the varieties of sugarcane that yield the best cachaça.

equipment, adjusting the brix (measurement of sugar

To give you an idea of how many cachaça distilleries

content in an aqueous solution) of the pressed cane juice,

are in the region, Minas has more than 8,500 registered

and in huge quantities to chill the distillate as it leaves the

distilleries, but it is thought that only 15 percent of

still.

cachaça distilleries are registered. Some cachaca distilleries welcome visitors, but to

The site is built into a hill, so Jovelino can use gravity to move liquid for most of the process. From the unloading

see process unembellished, you need an introduction

bay, where the cane is emptied from the tractors ready

to a man like Jovelino Saldanha, one of the owners of

for milling and pressing, there is a vantage point looking

D’Lourdes Cachaça. You travel with Jovelino to his family

across the green and yellow cane fields.

farm in Congonhas do Norte in the State of Minas Gerais,

You ask Jovelino which cane varieties he grows,

a four-hour drive into the interior, north of the state capital

expecting an exotic name and some romantic reasoning,

Belo Horizonte.

but the cane varieties have names like RB-8675515 and

Five years ago, the family decided to diversify into cachaça production and with a plan ultimately to pursue an export market, they invested heavily in a new

are the ones recommended by the federal university – it turns out that cane selection is taken very seriously. The process at D’Lourdes and at most small distilleries

copper alambique (still) and constructed new buildings,

in Brazil, is probably best described as “mechanically

hygienically finished and purpose built for each stage of

manual”. Machines are in use, from the tractors to

the process.

harvest the cane, to the mill and press to extract the

The season has just finished and the machines are idle,

juice, but most of the machinery relies on a degree of

but if the distilleries of Rio are any indication, D’Lourdes

skilled manpower to make the process work. The mill,

would have loudly hummed with the rolling motors of the

for example needs to be fed by hand, and the operator

sugarcane crusher and press, and the warm, humid air

needs to know a dud cane when they see one.

would have been filled with the aroma of engines, green

After milling and pressing, the pure cane juice runs

sugarcane, sweet distillate and smoke from the steam

through series of rectangular troughs with alternate high

boiler. The smell would change in its ratio as you moved

and low gates designed to trap both sinking impurities

around the distillery.

and floating impurities. From there, the juice runs into

As you now approach the new buildings, Jovelino

cylindrical tanks where the brix and temperature are

stops to point out five water tanks, each containing

adjusted to ensure optimum conditions for the yeast,

20,000 litres. This water, pumped from a natural spring

which in the case of D’Lourdes, is the yeast naturally

April 2020

The Distillers Journal

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living in the cane. The juice then flows under gravity into the 2,000 litre fermenting tanks, where the fermentation occurs at around 28 degrees C and when complete – usually within 24 hours – the wash is quickly distilled. Steam powers the still and is produced in a solid fuel boiler, which runs nearly entirely using “bagasse” – the dry fibrous solid waste material from the pressed sugarcane. The still is copper and has four bubble plates to refine the spirit in just one distillation, and a dephlegmator, or pre-condenser, to control reflux. The vapour passes first through a coil in a large water bath before the final condenser. The water bath is designed to recover some of the heat used in distillation and to preheat the next batch, so like most of the cachaça making process at D’Lourdes, it is very efficient. After distillation, the cachaça can stay white (Branca) and if so will be aged for six months in stainless steel or it can be aged in wooden barrels. D’Lourdes uses American oak for up to three years and blends the barrels for a consistent product. D’Lourdes has a good market locally, but in an effort to expand, has partnered with Ledvick Wedzicha from Cachaça Festivals. Ledvick, a great fan of alambique cachaça, helps D’Lourdes and other producers by showing their products at festivals around Europe.

above and fired by steam jacket or directly by an open fire below.

Still production

Recently the demand for whiskey, gin and universal distillation sets has increased and Santa Efigenia are

proud to have built the still that produced Brazils first

he term “alambique cachaça” refers to the pot

single malt called 3 Lobos and has recently built gin

still used in its production and is an important

making equipment for Pernod Ricard. In 2019, Alambiques

distinction between it, and industrial cachaca

Santa Efigenia began a partnership with Vitikit Ltd from

produced in continuous column stills. Much of the craft

the UK, making all of their distillation systems and

distilling equipment used in Brazil and South America

providing knowledge to European craft distillers.

is made by Alambqiues Santa Efigenia, which has been

Training in Brazil

in operation for over 70-years. When you drive to the factory, you find that building copper pot stills is as artisan of practice as producing cachaça. You arrive in Conselheiro Lafaiete, close to the factory in Itaverava, coincidently just in time for its regular craft beer festival. It turns out that just as Brazil is quietly a

anta Efegenia also run, in partnership with the Federal Universities Biotechnology Department, a research and education centre, where they can

craft distilling powerhouse, it is also a quiet leader in craft

test new systems, educate new master distillers and run

brewing.

courses in cachaça. It has recently added gin production

Alambiques Santa Efigenia continues to be a family run

and gin recipe development to the cirriculum.

business, managed by the sons of the founder, and the

In October 2020, the centre plans to host a five-day

stills are made in much the same way. TIG welding has

course on the production of rum and cachaça, beginning

taken the place of brazing, but the copper sheets are still

with sugarcane selection and cultivation, and covering

worked by hand.

everything to barrel aging and, of course, consumption.

At the factory, a symphony of hammer on metal greets

The course will be taught in English, and will be aimed

you as workers beat and shape copper sheets into any

at anyone in the distilling industry, including retailers, with

geometry of pot or column that a craft distiller could want.

an interest in the technical aspects of rum and cachaça

Cachaça stills are the most common type for the factory

production. The course will be run in partnership with

to produce, and usually consist of a pot still with a column

Vitikit Ltd who will be offering places to anybody in the

containing bubble plates and a dephlegmator directly

UK or USA with an interest in distilling. u

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April 2020

closures

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Standing out on a crowded shelf In an ever growing craft gin market, here are your two challenges – getting your bottle on the shelf and getting your bottle off the shelf and into consumers hands. If drinkers drink first with their eyes, give them something to look at, starting with the bottle stopper and closure. Velo Mitrovich reports.

Company in the States, which could have been the worse time to have done anything like this. Caught between the more popular Beefeater and Tanqueray gins, Bombay experienced flat sales with the only prospect being one of decline. However, as the genius behind Absolut Vodka in the States, Roux decided to give gin the same premium treatment with a new, blue-bottled brand image inspired

by velo mitrovich

t’s hard to believe today, but in the 1980s gin was

by the famous ‘Star of Bombay’ sapphire. No other gin looked like it, or tasted like it. The rest is history. While Bombay would say that the

seen about as old fashioned and as square as you

gin renaissance started with Roux and master distiller Ian

can get. Driving-force, young and hip consumers

Hamilton changing the botanicals and making gin lighter

saw gin as a martini ingredient, a drink associated

in taste, most would say it was because of the blue-tinted

with their parents. A G&T was a drink for those who

bottle which, when light shown through it, stood out on a

really didn’t want a drink, but felt they needed something in their hands. Thanks in major part to Absolut Vodka’s brilliant marketing campaign, it changed how drinkers saw the

bar/pub shelf like no other spirit. But that was then. In today’s crowded craft gin market, you need more than a blue-tinted bottle to stand out. Nicholas Cook director general of The Gin Guild

spirit and vodka by far became the spirit of choice in

says: “Consumers fuelling the gin boom are often

cocktails. Gin sales reached their lowest ebb in decades.

well-informed and curious, they want something that is

In 1985 Michel Roux launched Bombay Spirits

A Brewers Journal Supplement

exciting and new and they are just as interested in the

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closures

packaging as they are in what makes the product.” If any single UK – or for that matter international –

In creating a bottle stopper that allows your gin to stand out, creating a custom top should be something

company involved with the spirit industry has seen trends,

you consider. According to Rankin, there are a variety of

it’s Rankin Brothers & Sons.Since 1774, the Rankin family

options dependent on budget and, of course, time.

has been supporting the beers, wines, spirits and foods

“We have a terrific range of standards for common

packaging industries with closures that help seal, protect

glass specifications. We can embellish or customise those

and add value to brands.

standards, stoppers and capsules, at a relatively low cost

“Our role within the supply chain has allowed us

and within a short time – or we can help brand owners

to celebrate and take part in the great success of this

to create a fabulously bespoke closure which is truly

renaissance in the spirits sector. As consumers, we’ve

unique.”

never had so much choice and the menu of options is

Bespoke closures can be designed with a specific

so much more diverse, with flavoured gins being a good

choice of materials in mind or the design can incorporate

example,” says Jim Rankin.

a mix of materials; wood and metal for stopper tops as

“There is huge interest in what we can offer as a

an example. The more bespoke or complex the design,

closure manufacturer, and we have worked hard to

the more time Rankin need to develop, finesse and

understand how we can best reach out to a greater

manufacture the closure.

number of brand owners, bottlers and distillers. We have

“Our in-house 3-D print and modelling service allows

had to change our ways of working, developing new

us to quickly breathe life into a concept or preliminary

processes so that we can respond to demand more

design before a commitment is made to invest in

quickly.”

production tooling.

When Bombay Gin realised the value of a blue-tinted

"We have a materials development team that manages

bottle in allowing the bottle to stand out from the crowd,

all projects, supported by a robust method of working,

they sparked the catalyst for change in terms of spirits

which includes a Stage and Gate process that allows us

brands investing in their packaging. Rankin quickly

and the brand owner to chart the progress through each

recognised how important an eye-catching closure was

critical step.”

as part of a bottle’s overall aesthetic. “Hugely and critically important! We work with brand

According to Rankin, the success of the craft gin renaissance has triggered the revolution in other spirits

owners, designers and bottlers to create a closure that

such as rum and whiskey projects. The fact that Rankin

delivers stand out on-shelf visibility, that exudes cues to

says their materials development team has doubled in

quality, that goes beyond simply fulfilling its function and,

size during the last two years shows that the distilling

in doing so, protects and elevates the brand,” says Rankin.

wave is still riding high, if not evolving. u

April 2020

The Distillers Journal

Codi Craft Canning System your beer deserves a counter-pressure ﬁll

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01327 342589 info@core-equip.com core-equip.com

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Flavour perception effect of ethanol Adding water to your distilled spirit will change its flavour. The question is: By how much? Researchers Chelsea Ickes and Keith Cadwallader report. Edited from the original paper by Velo Mitrovich

by water molecules, exiting into the headspace where they are easier to detect with our sense of smell,” says Lahousse. “Conversely, hydrophilic aroma molecules have an affinity for water molecules and prefer to remain in liquids.” Alcohol (ethanol) has partially hydrophobic properties.

by velo mitrovich

This explains why the hydrophobic aroma molecules found in alcoholic beverages still remain in your wine and

or whisky and other spirit drinkers, the big debate is always centred on should you drink

spirits despite the presence of alcohol, he says. “On the other hand, the higher the volume of water, the

whisky neat – no water or ice – or diluted with

more hydrophobic aromas you'll have escaping from the

water?

liquid and moving into the headspace.”

The argument is not on lowering the

The question is, how much does water change the

inebriation effect of the alcohol with water, but on

flavour spirits and is this something that can be measured

changing the flavour. The addition of water and its

during the distilling process?

lowering of the spirit’s ABV percentage, opens up different and subtle flavours. A quick experiment you can do is to go to a

In the research paper “Effect of ethanol on flavour perception of rum”, by Chelsea Ickes and Keith Cadwallader of the University of Illinois and published

supermarket, buy a carton of fresh, 100 percent pure

by Food Science & Nutrition, the two scientists set out to

grape juice and take a sip. Not saying which flavour is

answer this question.

better, but there is no wine on the planet which tastes fruiter than non-alcoholic grape juice. Or, try a glass of whisky, rum, or gin with a couple of

They state: “In terms of both its physiological effects as well as its impact on flavour perception, ethanol is the defining component of alcoholic beverages. While

ice cubes. As the cubes melt and lower the ABV of the

ethanol’s effect on alcoholic beverage systems has been

drink, the flavour will subtly change.

studied across a variety of disciplines, a comprehensive

If you want to take this even further, try a non-alcoholic beer with a similar style beer with alcohol. There is a definite taste difference.

review of the literature is lacking. “The aim of this paper is to review the current literature on ethanol’s effect on flavour perception, exploring

Why is this?

ethanol’s effects on the areas of physiochemical

We perceive aromas through our nose and, according

properties, instrumental measurements of flavour release,

to Bernard Lahousse writing for FoodPairing blog,

and sensory evaluation across a variety of alcoholic

every aroma molecule behaves differently in solvents,

beverages including beer, wine, and distilled beverages

depending on their physical properties.

and how changes in ethanol concentration can affect

“As the term suggests, hydrophobic aroma molecules are water-adverse. They tend to flee when surrounded

April 2020

flavour perception.” According to the authors, this was the first sensory

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study to evaluate the effects of ethanol concentration on flavor perception of distilled spirits. Dilution series of two

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studied. In general, increasing the concentration of ethanol

rums (R1 and R2) were evaluated to gain insight into the

decreases the volatile headspace in static systems,

effects of ethanol concentration on the flavor perception

while it tends to increase the volatile headspace in

of distilled spirits.

dynamic systems. Most importantly, sensory studies have

Rums were diluted 1:2 (v/v) either with pure water to a

demonstrated that ethanol concentration significantly

final alcohol by volume (ABV) of 20% (R1-W and R2-W) or

changes the flavour profile of beverages to the point

with an aqueous 40% ABV solution (R1-E and R2-E).

where sensory panellists are able to identify and articulate

The later dilution accounted for the flavor dilution

these differences. The current literature demonstrates that

effect while keeping the ethanol concentration the same

ethanol can have a huge impact of flavour release and

as the original liquors. Descriptive sensory analysis was

sensory perception of alcoholic beverages. Additionally

conducted on both dilution series and the original rums.

monitoring ethanol’s effects in systems as close to real life

Twenty-three attributes were evaluated consisting

as possible (i.e., dynamic vs static evaluation) is important.

of eight aroma, four aroma-by-mouth, four mouthfeel,

Even with the extensive knowledge in the area, there are

two taste, and five aftertaste terms. Results revealed 18

still many gaps in our understanding of ethanol’s effects

significant attributes for the R1 series. With the exception

on the flavour of alcoholic beverages.

of silky mouthfeel, all attributes were rated highest in R1 and lowest in R1-E. The R2 series contained sixteen significant attributes,

Ethanol has been shown to have a tremendous influence on flavour release and subsequent chemosensory perception in alcoholic beverages.

all of which were rated higher in R2 compared with

Changes in ethanol concentration can affect consumers’

R2-E. The flavor profiles of the original rums and those

perception of alcoholic beverages in terms of aroma,

diluted with water were very similar, with the diluted rums

taste, and mouthfeel.

generally having slightly lower attribute intensities. In contrast, the rums diluted with 40% ABV had

“Our results showed that the original rums and dilutions with water were more similar to one another than

significantly different flavor profiles than the original rums.

expected. The samples were only statistically different for

Results indicate that diluting spirits with water may reduce

several attributes in each series.

the odor suppression effects of ethanol or enhance

“These results support the age-old industry tradition

flavor release which appears to counteract the flavor

of diluting distilled spirits to 20% or 23% ABV for blending

dilution effect. The results found that physicochemical

and evaluation purposes, and in essence demonstrating

properties, such as the molecular level structure of water/

that while the intensity of the attributes decreased slightly

ethanol matrices, are significantly altered as a function of

in the dilutions, the overall flavor profiles were very similar.

ethanol concentration. Of particular importance to flavour

The results for the ethanol dilutions were not expected,

perception is the effect of ethanol on the release of

and further research is needed to better understand how

aroma compounds into the headspace of the beverage.

ethanol interacts with sensory perceptions at high ethanol

Both static and dynamic headspace systems have been

concentrations.” u

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Distilleries stand out with NFC technology As a brewer, it’s important that you make that sale, that you bring in the customer. If you’re selling craft gin or other craft spirits, it is even more important. At a shop, while a customer might not think twice of buying four or five different beers, at £30 or more a bottle, they are probablt only going to buy one craft gin. How are you going to get the sale? Velo Mitrovich reports by velo mitrovich

R codes; they were a good idea at the time. Product after product start putting on their labels those old shaped squares with abstract black and white little boxes and grids. If customers wanted more

information about a product, they would get their smart

The chances are, you are already using NFC

phone, play around for a bit trying to make sure the light

technology (Near Field Communication) in your daily life.

was just right, and scan the code with their phones.

You buy something under £30 and ‘tap’ your bankcard,

But, in a crowded busy supermarket, how many times

phone or smartwatch on the reader, you’re using NFC

have you seen somebody actually scan one? For the

technology. And actually, you don’t need to physically

product producer, while QR codes were cheap and easy

tap, you just have to have your card or device next to the

to set-up, they were impossible to update. And, let’s face

reader, which is why it’s called ‘Near Field’.

it, nothing could ruin the design of an amazing label faster than an ugly QR code. There is now, however, something much easier and

While with the QR code you were having to scan the code, a product with a NFC tag embedded in it will send out a very weak radio signal when it comes in contact

faster for customers to use, can contain more, updateable

with a reader or device, such as your phone. Your card or

information, and can be completely hidden from sight.

phone picks up this signal – which draws its power from the receiving device so it never has to be recharged – and the devices can communicate. Like how your phone could scan the information in a QR code and give you more info about the product, NFC works the same, only faster and easier. Envision this, a customer is debating what brand of gin to buy and is wondering exactly what can they do with it besides make gin and tonics. As they hold their phone next to or tap the bottle, they get a flood of useful information that makes them want to buy your gin. Tap Studio has used ultra-low cost NFC and their software systems for The Lincoln Distillery, which wanted to market its flagship gin – Lincoln Gin – with a difference and provide the gin drinker with a truly unique experience, pre and post purchase. “Bringing a new gin to market in 2020 fundamentally requires distillers and their brands to venture ever further out on the battle to stand out and increase consumer

April 2020

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engagement, and this is especially true for new distillery

whenever is needed with no supply chain friction or

startups and small-batch distillers,” says Will De Ath of Tap

location requirements. This would make is extremely easy

Studio.

to update drink recipes so if a customer taps on a bottle in

“Fortunately, through our software service, Tap Studio, I have had the privilege of seeing a small trend of distillery startups venturing out into the unknown with incredibly

June, they will see summer cocktail ides, not out of date recipe ideas for spring. “Being involved with these projects has shown that

innovative ideas by using physical technology on their

even the smallest of distilleries still have the power to

bottles as a clear advantage.”

stand out when they truly think outside of the box and

De Ath says that after idea development between The Lincoln Distillery and Tap Studio, it was decided to create an interactive cocktail recipe experience. “Customers simply tap their phone on the side of the gin bottle using the contactless technology embedded

innovate. "The gamble to experiment must continue regardless of the size of a brand, as with these types of technologies and innovative engagement methods, its completely up to the imagination what is possible,” says Ath.

in the label and they instantly receive a variety of recommended cocktail recipes to share and create with your friends at home, or simply discover the experience of the gin before you even buy.” From its initial launch, the distillery has been able to track that the average time a user spent on the recipe experience – 2:48 minutes – and that 74 percent of these users were returning. The Lincoln Distillery is retaining many of their audience engaged with this bottle and is creating a long-term digital relationships with their brand through a completely new medium. Ath says that the information Tap Studio loads onto the digital experience is cloud-based and can be updated

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Distilling magic in Essex When Oxford biochemist Dr John Walters distilled brandy from home-picked grapes on a whim, did he realise that it would lead to annually producing nearly two million bottles of various spirits? The heart and passion that drives the craft brewing industry is alive and well in the UK's craft distillers. The question is: should you be joining them? Velo Mitrovich reports

on the horizon for those who like to lead and not follow. Well, we’ll let you in on a secret, rum is beginning to shape up to be the new craft spirit, showing drinkers there is so much more to the sugar-based spirit than what you got drunk on at 16 during that school trip. But – there is always a ‘but’ – if you thought gin was a challenge to do right, in skill level of the distiller to make rum, it’s a comparison of Yeovil Town FC to Liverpool.

Distilling basics

by velo mitrovich

ou've seen craft gin take off during the last five years and you’ve seen some of your fellow beer brewers jump on the bandwagon. You've looked around your brewery, saw the space, equipment and

hen you visit English Spirit’s distillery in the small Essex country village of Great Yeldham, don’t expect much help from your car’s

satnav. Part of the distillery grounds date back to the 13th century, with the distillery itself in a large 200-year-old

skills you already have, and wondered if distilling could

barn, and time seems to have stopped when the last barn

be a way of expanding your line.

beam was laid.

How hard could be? When you look at some of the

If you’re lucky and rum is being distilled in the 20

craft gins out there, it's no surprise if you think there can’t

gurgling, boiling 200-litre cooper stills, there is a smell

be too much to the distilling process. But, if you want to

like Christmas in the air from the spirit and the huge

make a quality product, this is where the real challenge

containers of imported molasses on site. As you debate in

begins. The only way to describe it is, it’s like ramping up

your mind if it’s “Yarrr” or “Arrr” to be a proper rum-drinking

from the kit beer you first brewed at home to what your

pirate, you take a close look at the stills which appear to

brewery is doing today.

be as ancient as the barn.

If this sounds like a challenge, it is. But, compared to

“No, they just look that old,” says Oxford biochemist

10-15 years ago, it’s getting a whole lot easier thanks in

and English Spirit founder Dr John Walters, who

great part to government regulations easing up. Training

immediately insists you call him ‘John’. “They take a real

is now readily available through universities, institutions

beating, four or five years and that’s it for them.”

and centres such as the Institute of Brewing & Distilling

While looking at a new car engine makes you slam

and Brewlab. Distilling equipment is not something you

shut the hood in confusion, there is a timeless beauty in

need to build yourself by piecemeal and numerous

distilling which is easy to grasp, as if it is ingrained in our

trips to HomeBase, but can be bought ready to use by

ancient memory.

companies such as VitiKit in Exeter. If your interest is still piqued, let’s throw this into the

There is evidence of distilling for perfume dating backing to at least 1200 BCE. The first recorded clear

old copper still. There are other craft spirits out there

evidence of distilling alcohol comes from the Arab

besides gin, such as vodka, brandy, eau-de-vie, whiskey,

chemist Al-Kindi in 9th century Iraq, although it probably

moonshine and rum. A trip to Waitrose will show you that

happened much, much earlier. Regardless, if Al-Kindi

craft spirits sell for anywhere £20 to £45 a bottle, with

stepped into English Spirit’s distillery, it would take him

most £30 and up.

less than 10 seconds to grasp the technology. Really.

With gin already established with craft distillers, what’s

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mostly to allow for greater volumes to be produced,

many brewers out there and not distillers. Unlike beer,

the basic technique remains the same and revolves

you can’t legally distil at home and learn the basic ropes –

around the idea that alcohol becomes vapour at a lower

or at least that’s what most believe.

temperature than water. If you capture and cool the rising vapor, you have alcohol. It’s not as simple as just heating your container to just below the boiling point of water and extract the alcohol fumes – leaving the water and other impurities behind

“Not true,” says Walters, who says hidden deep in the HM Revenue and Customs website is a statement saying you can own a still for personal use, up to four litres in size, provided you go onto a register. Discovering that he could legally distil at home, along

– but in the absolute simplest terms, that is pretty much

with hearing a feature about French eau de vie on a radio

what happens.

programme, inspired Walters. After filling out the form

Then, each time you further distil the liquid, you’ll be

and constructing – badly – a still, he used grapes growing

extracting more of the alcohol and leaving behind more

by the side of the house to make wine, which he then

impurities. This can be what you want when producing

distilled into brandy in 2009.

vodka; not necessarily what you want when making rum

Comparing it to an expensive cognac and discovering

or other spirits which rely on some of the impurities for

his was better, he followed with several vodkas and an

flavour.

elderberry eau de vie. Looking at the figures at what this

You take grains, potatoes, any high-sugar plant such

venture could bring in, his pharmaceutical company

as sugar cane or sugar beets, fruit, whey – actually

suddenly seemed far, far away. In 2011, English Spirit was

pretty much anything – add water and yeast, and after it

launched. However, before that happened, he had an Mt

ferments, filter out the plant material, put the liquid in a

Everest to climb in regulations.

still, and distil away, trying to eliminate most of the water. You are left with alcohol. It would be easy to say that at least 80 percent or more

You have to realise that all laws restricting distilling here, in the USA, and a good portion of the world weren’t created to make a safe liquor or to prevent home stills

of all brewers started brewing in their kitchen, garage,

from blowing up the neighbourhood. No, they were

or university dorm. That, you reason, is why there are so

made only to allow the taxman to have his due by hitting

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hard-liquor hard. Governments grasped this principle back in the 17th and 18th centuries, which led to fighting

spirit

know what, they made the right decision!” In 2011, English Spirit was desperately trying to make

in the Scottish Highlands and the USA’s armed Whiskey

about 120 bottles a week. Now, the distillery should be

Rebellion of 1791-94 which came close to putting to an

just shy of producing two million this year, and in between

end what British redcoats couldn’t do in 1776.

those years it’s won over 100 international awards.

A small distillery could be portable – going from farm

The distillery has around 14 core lines – such as

to farm – or easily hidden, making it impossible to collect

gin, vodka, rum, brandy, eau-de-vie, single malt spirit,

revenue. However, if regulations forced distilleries to be

liqueurs, English sambuca and cucumber spirit – and

large, they would also have to be in permanent locations,

do 10 to 20 special editions a year, such as the latest,

making it easier for taxation. It was decided then that the

Strawberry Rum Liqueur. In addition, a good portion of

minimum size for pot stills would be 18 hectolitres – 1,800

production is in contract distilling for commercial clients. What is truly amazing about this production figure

litres. “Now that's a pretty big still,” says Walters. “So basically, it meant there couldn't be a small distillery like you have

is that English Spirit has stayed with its small 200 litre copper stills and small batch philosophy.

with breweries, HMRC wouldn't allow it. So when English

Small batch rum

Spirit came to do this, we were the third to go down that route; there was Chase Distillery, Sipsmith's and ourselves At that stage we met with a very, very helpful HMRC officer, I mean, seriously helpful. “The pot still size requirement was dropped and as long as you had a business plan and they felt you were able to deliver on it, they give you the go-ahead, which

hat is small batch? “It’s exactly that,” says Walters. “So it's the size of the batch that you process at any one stage. Yonks ago,

we decided – having reviewed all sorts of different still

was what happened to us,” says Walters. “Nearly a decade

sizes – that we preferred 200 litre pots for distillation. And

on we are paying HMRC seven figures in duty so you

the rationale behind that was that when you're distilling, it

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is all about grabbing the bits that you want and throwing

components of rum and sees the potential in it to make a

away the bits that you don't want.”

truly amazing spirit.

The 200 litre size gave English Spirit the precision

For English Spirit’s Old Salt Rum – which was the first

to capture exactly what parts were wanted. [For more

modern-era rum made in the UK – the distillery ferments

specific detail, listen to the English Spirit podcast at

the molasses on average for 14 days, but this sometimes

rebymedia.com, The Brewers Podcast.]

stretches to over three weeks depending on the outside

Besides pot stills, which come in various sizes and

temperature. The molasses wash is then distilled three

shapes, there are also column stills and hybrid stills,

times in the copper pot stills, with around 200 litres of

again, all in various sizes. While English Spirit swears by

molasses ending up as 20 litres of rum. It’s then aged for a

the 200 litre pot still, you will find others who swear at

few months in English oak barrels, which imparts its own

them and prefer other designs.

flavour notes and gives the rum a golden colour – rum

But what will decide in part what type of still you chose, is what do you plan on distilling? Will you

coming out of the still is as clear as spring water. If you take Old Salt Rum as the benchmark, this is what

specialise in strictly gin, or be an all-rounder such as

rum can taste like if made with care. At the Essex distillery,

English Spirit? While there are numerous commercial

using Old Salt Rum, a spiced rum is created. At English

distilleries which produce more volume than English

Spirit’s new distillery in Cornwall, a white rum is made.

Spirit, few – if any – have the same range in spirits. With gin, almost to a one, UK distillers buy their base

So, why aren’t we all more familiar with rums such as these?

spirit – made from sugar beets, grains, or potatoes – and

Thanks to a massive advertising campaign, the rum

then redistill it with botanicals. There are two reasons for

most of us know is Captain Morgan’s Spiced, which had to

this. This first is licencing is a relatively simple process if

take ‘Rum’ off the label to comply with EU regulations that

you’re not making the base spirit, and the second is, the

regulate which flavourings, colouring agents, ingredients,

distilling is a whole lot easier – you’re not gathering raw

etc, can be used in rum and still be called ‘rum’.

material, fermenting or doing the more difficult first-distil.

Officially, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Gold is

English Spirit is one of the few that makes its own base

described as a “premium spirit drink made with the

spirit, using 100 percent of it for their own gin.

finest Caribbean Rum expertly blended with adventurous

“As you know, the renaissance of gin is vast We've

spice and natural flavours.” Which all suggests that the

probably got a couple of years left in that I'd say, but the

rum component could be relatively low and begs the

markets cluttering up,” says Walters. “But actually what

question: If you’re having to add that much “adventurous

is now emerging at a hell-of-a-rate I'd never thought

spice” and other flavourings to a rum, just how low of

possible is rum.”

quality was it to begin with?

With the long history of rum in the UK you would think

However, if this gets people more willing to try rum

that somebody would have been distilling it here, but

and see the potential of it, this is not all bad – much like

they weren’t. Some distillers were buying rum in from

how beer drinkers need to drink big beer to a appreciate

elsewhere and re-distilling with flavourings – much like

craft beer.

how the gin industry works – or simply bottling it as-is

Other potentials

from other sources. English Spirt was the first modern distillery to produce rum in the UK, starting in 2012. “We make rum from sugarcane molasses, fermenting it, distilling it multiple times, sometimes aging, and sometimes doing other weird and wonderful things,” says Walters. “You know, there's some good rum around, but the

alter sees several other potential grow areas of UK craft distilling, but with caveats with both.

The first is producing apple brandy. Going hand-in-

vast majority of rum has languished because it's been

hand with an increase in cider, the raw ingredients are

produced in parts of the world where the impetus is not

here in utter abundance. Single source apple brandy

for quality, it's for maintenance of social welfare,” says

or regional apple brandy springs immediately to mind.

Walters.

Walters cautions though before getting too excited, is a

“A lot of the distilleries in the Caribbean are state run, they're there to keep people in jobs. And they have to return a significant profit. So, the impetus is commercial

reminder that through his experience, it takes around one ton of apples to make 45 litres of brandy. “Now you begin to get to the commercial crux of the

and there is nothing wrong with this, businesses exist by

matter; unless you produce apples, you're not going to

virtue of having to turn a profit.”

be doing this because you can't buy them in, requiring

What Walters finds frustrating with this is – no doubt from being a biochemist – he understands the chemical

A Brewers Journal Supplement

considerable transport,” he says. “The thing with all distilling is that it’s lengthy and it's

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costly. And it takes a lot of bums on seats because the

up within a month – in Cornwall should introduce more

thing about brewing is that the real pain in the backside is

people to English Spirt.

the quantity of liquid you have to handle. “For virtually every pint that goes out the door, there's

Already the distillery has been based at Treguddick since 2017 with a sales, creative and operation team,

probably 1.25 1.5 pints of liquid you've had to utilized in

along with being where St Piran’s Cornish Rum is made.

your process. So there's lots of bums on seats, lots of

The new centre will not only continue distilling with

tanks, lots of energy, lots of processing, lots of bottles.

additional copper pot stills, but will now offer visitors

“At the end of the day, the irony is that we take a raw

food and drink, a shopping experience featuring local

material, we add water to ferment it, and then we take

products, and events. Walter describes distilling like being

all the water away. It is massively labour intensive and it

a new chef, with knowing in theory how to cook things

keeps all 16 of us here very busy.”

but not really knowing how to do it great. And, what you

But, if you glutting for punishment, Walter sees with

thought you were doing great when you left catering

the ever increasing change in temperature, a growing glut

college, you look back five-years later and realise that it

of white grapes being grown in English, whose yield is

actually wasn’t that good.

surpassing what is required for the English wine industry. “And English-style of cognac could be a real possibility – you just can’t call it cognac.”

“It's like all things, you have to educate your palate. You have to know what you want to achieve. You have to know what you have to avoid. And those sorts of things take an awful lot of experience, a lot of trial, a lot of error, and a

New centre

lot of failure. If you win the first time, you've got very little chance of getting things right in the end. “We’re delighted with where we are because we have

A 34

s much as Great Yeldham has its charm in the

not only made a good stable business out of things, we've

English countryside, it is well off of the tourist

had a staggering amount of fun. Put the two together and

highway. English Spirit’s new centre – opening

it can’t be better,” says Walters.

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