Automation in a boutique gin distillery

Being boutique doesn’t preclude sophisticated automation technology.

The art and science of gin distilling have come together at Brogan’s Way, a newly opened artisan gin distillery in Melbourne that runs on Siemens technology.

The distillery, producing premium gins, runs on a totally integrated automation (TIA) concept from Siemens — the same technology used by other leading brands such as Jack Daniels in the US and Coopers and Asahi in Australia.

Brogan’s Way founder and co-owner Simon Carr said that these automation solutions are crucial to the success of small distillers like Brogan’s Way as it gives them increased visibility of the process, which allows them to respond quickly, flexibly and cost-efficiently to current market demands, with no loss of quality.

“Technology is very important in the craft brewing and distilling market place, particularly when you don’t have enough staff or time, which are your most precious resources. Technology is like having another member of the team,” said Carr.

At the distillery in Richmond (Melbourne), Siemens has partnered with the original equipment manufacturer, Deacam, to enable Brogan’s Way to control the variables in the distilling process to ensure quality and consistency in every batch.

With the craft brewing and distilling industry growing at an unprecedented rate, efficient and scalable automation has become an essential part of the industry.

The technology provided by Siemens gives smaller manufacturers the same scalability as much larger businesses.

Digitalisation makes the flood of data in breweries and distilleries transparent and easy to follow: from stock receipt to shipping, from the brewing vat to management, and from product development to the glass.

Siemens Australia and New Zealand Business Development Manager Leonie Wong said, “At Siemens, we have a longstanding relationship with many of the large brewing companies in Australia. It’s exciting for us to show that our solutions are also extremely beneficial for small-scale manufactures such as Brogan’s Way.

“In this industry, automation is the key to maintaining quality and consistency so we’re really proud to have been involved in the beginning of their digitalisation journey and look forward to continuing to grow with Brogan’s Way.

“Data is what drives quality decision-making and Industry 4.0 is about enabling all manufacturers — regardless of their size — to unlock the full potential in their operations.”

Siemens technology at Brogan’s Way automates the Fermecraft solution, which was designed and engineered by Deacam to address a real need for automation in the fast- growing craft brewing and distilling sector.

The modular automation solution helps craft brewers and distillers to regulate and automate processes including fermentation vessel control functions such as manufacturing process, cooling and heating, packing, pump control and trade waste.

Fermecraft has the scalability and flexibility to be retrofitted into new and existing equipment of various sizes.

Deacam Director Warren Bradford said, “Automation is critical for craft distilling to enable data capture and the ability to produce the same product time and time again. As an original equipment manufacturer, Deacam understands the responsibility that we have to shoulder when selling our product to the craft brewing and distilling industry. It’s essential that what we’re using is scalable, it’s essential that one part can talk to another part. It’s important for a distillery to come along in two or three years’ time and add extra pieces of equipment that can seamlessly integrate into their existing automation system.”

The key technologies used at the distillery include the Siemens SIMATIC S7-1200 Programmable Logic Controller, SIMATIC Comfort Panel HMI, SINAMICS G120 Modular Drives and SCALANCE M876 Router, which automates the Fermecraft system to maintain the controller of the chiller. This is crucial, as the distilling process typically takes two to six weeks and throughout this period the temperature must stay within a strict bandwidth to ensure the quality of the product. The Siemens Fermecraft solution enables Brogan’s Way to access the control data for this chiller remotely in real time to ensure each batch is at the perfect temperature.