Dalkita has been designing distilleries for over 10 years. We have identified these main aspects to look out when laying out a distillery.

Process Flow

The most important consideration when layout out the distillery is that the process flows in a sensible manner. The typical flow / order for a distillery is:

1. Receiving
2. Milling
3. Mash
4. Fermentation
5. Distilling
6. Bottling/ Barreling/ Bulk Storage
7. Shipping

Every distillery process flow will be a bit different. The important thing is that it all flows in a line. This process line is usually not straight, usually snaking its way through a building. It is extremely inefficient if the flow is not in line-process material will be going further and more complex distances.

Adjacencies/ Proximity

The main adjacencies we see involve mechanical equipment being adjacent or within proximity of the equipment they serve. Boilers want to be relatively close to stills and other equipment they may serve. Chillers as well. A mill wants to be close to the location that grain comes from. Collection vessels may want to be hard piped to a bottling line and proximity should be a consideration.

Views

Many distilleries want a nice view from a tasting room to view the still. This is may be an important factor in laying out some distilleries. At the same time, you may want to consider keeping some things out of view, such as bottling which may be a messier look. You may also want an office or lab to have a view of certain areas- a mezzanine/ partial 2nd level can often achieve a birds eye view of the whole facility.

Summary

There are many other factors that will go into layout of a distillery, such as code considerations and any existing building elements you may be working with. The process flow, adjacencies, and views are the main considerations that you’ll want to consider in a distillery layout.

Article Written By: Matthew Taylor-Rennert