Table of Contents
- Where to Establish Your Whisky Distillery
- Obtaining the License Required for Whisky Making
- Whisky Types and Production Planning
- Selecting Ingredients for Whisky
- Essential Equipment for Whisky Production
- Casks Required for Whisky Maturation
Introduction
Japanese whisky is garnering attention from all over the world.
Thanks in part to the influence of inbound tourism, the number of craft whisky distilleries is increasing year by year.
However, establishing a whisky distillery involves many interconnected elements, and it can be difficult to know where to start.
In this article, we carefully explain how to build a whisky distillery for those who want to establish one or are interested in craft whisky production.
1. Where to Establish Your Whisky Distillery
The first step in establishing a whisky distillery is selecting the site.
Here, we explain the important points for choosing a location.
Water Quality
Whisky production requires a large amount of water.
Water with a hardness of 30 to 100 and few impurities is considered ideal.
Since water is used for mashing, fermentation, and cooling during distillation, using tap water can be costly.
Therefore, an environment where you can utilize well water or natural springs is preferable.
Air Purity
Clean air is crucial for whisky maturation.
For whisky that “breathes” inside the cask, pure air is indispensable.
Accessibility
Considering the transport of raw materials and products, as well as access for visitors, a location with good transportation links is ideal.
In a location that meets these criteria as much as possible, the typical land area required for a craft whisky distillery is at least 300 square meters.
To install a warehouse for aging, you will need an additional 200 to 300 square meters of land.
Furthermore, distillery equipment requires height.
It is desirable for the height from the floor to the roof to be at least 6 meters or more.
2. Obtaining the License Required for Whisky Making
To manufacture alcohol in Japan, you need a liquor manufacturing license as stipulated by the Liquor Tax Act.
This license must be obtained from the head of the tax office with jurisdiction over the location of the manufacturing facility.
You are also required to possess a minimum level of knowledge necessary for whisky production.
The license application requires the submission of various documents.
These include an application form stating your name, address, type of liquor to be manufactured, and reason for application.
You must also submit diagrams showing the status of the manufacturing site, the layout of equipment, the manufacturing method for one batch, the status of all equipment, a business overview detailing production plans and income/expenditure projections, and a plan regarding sales management.
Applications can be submitted using forms downloadable from the National Tax Agency’s website, but creating the application documents takes time.
Ideally, you should hire a specialist to ensure the process goes smoothly.
If you have no experience in sake or spirit making, the person in charge of manufacturing may need to undergo training at another distillery.
The standard period for license acquisition is about four months after the application is submitted for review.
However, the content and strictness of the examination can vary depending on the jurisdictional tax office, so caution is required.
It is best to secure at least six months to a year from the planning stage to the actual acquisition of the license.
3. Whisky Types and Production Planning
You need to decide what kind of whisky you will produce at your distillery.
Whisky is generally categorized into malt whisky and grain whisky.
Malt whisky uses only barley malt, while grain whisky uses grains such as corn and wheat.
In Japan, it is mandatory to age the spirit in wooden casks for at least three years to label it as whisky.
You must also plan your production volume.
There is a statutory manufacturing quantity for each liquor manufacturing license; for whisky, the minimum statutory manufacturing volume is 6 kiloliters per year.
Understand that this is the minimum line when creating your production plan.
One batch using 1 ton of malt yields approximately three 200-liter barrels of whisky.
Calculate the necessary raw materials, equipment, and number of casks based on your annual number of batches.
Oak casks are used for whisky maturation.
Varieties include American oak, European oak, French oak, and Japanese Mizunara oak.
The procurement cost of casks is soaring; “Bourbon barrels,” which are often used for aging malt whisky, can cost more than 50,000 yen per cask.
You must also include the securing of casks and storage space in your plan.
In recent years, there have been increasing examples of renovating closed schools or old sake breweries into whisky distilleries.
Consider utilizing existing buildings to keep construction costs down.
4. Selecting Ingredients for Whisky
The primary raw material used in whisky distilleries is barley malt.
There are two-row barley and six-row barley, but two-row barley is mainly used for whisky and beer production.
Barley cannot be used as is; it must be germinated and dried to activate the enzymes that convert starch into sugar.
This processed barley is called “malt,” and general craft whisky distilleries purchase it from suppliers.
In Scotch malt whisky, “spring-sown” two-row barley, which is sown in April-May and harvested in August-September, is traditionally used.
Barley has undergone repeated selective breeding, and new varieties continue to appear today.
When launching a new distillery, it is important to choose popular barley malt used by many distilleries to prioritize consistent mashing.
A commonly used barley malt variety is “Laureate.”
Famous suppliers include Crisp Malt and Pauls Malt in the UK, Muntons, and Bairds Malt in Scotland.
Recently, there has been a growing movement among Japanese craft whisky distilleries and major manufacturers to use domestic barley.
Domestically, barley is grown in Hokkaido, Tochigi, Okayama, Saga, Fukuoka, and other areas, but it is not easy for whisky distilleries to obtain sufficient quantities.
While an increasing number of distilleries cultivate their own domestic barley, challenges include higher prices and the need to process un-malted barley.
In addition to malt, you also need to procure yeast.
Choose a yeast with a good aroma from those with a proven track record in alcohol production and proliferation.
Well-known options include distillery yeasts from Mauri and Lallemand.
5. Essential Equipment for Whisky Production
Manufacturing whisky requires a wide range of equipment.
We explain the key machinery below.
Malt Mill
This is equipment for crushing malt, and a roller mill is generally used.
Roller mills crush the malt while adjusting the gap between multiple rollers.
The appropriate degree of crushing affects alcohol yield and wort quality.
Mash Tun
The mash tun is equipment for mixing crushed malt with hot water to perform saccharification (mashing).
Many are made of stainless steel and are equipped with a sparging function that adds hot water uniformly like a shower, and a rake out function to discharge the malt husks.
The purpose of the mashing process is to activate the malt’s enzymes and obtain “wort,” a liquid containing sugars.
Washback (Fermentation Tank)
The washback is equipment for adding yeast to the wort to conduct fermentation.
There are stainless steel and wooden types, but stainless steel is easier to maintain and often comes with temperature control functions, making it superior for quality control.
The capacity of the washback needs to be 1.5 to 2 times the amount of wort obtained in the mashing process.
Pot Still (Distillation Apparatus)
The pot still is equipment for heating the fermented mash (wash) to obtain the distilled spirit.
In malt whisky production, two distillations are performed using two pot stills: a wash still (first distillation) and a spirit still (second distillation).
Copper is used for the material of pot stills, and the flavor of the resulting spirits varies depending on the shape and heating method.
In the distillation process, the separation and collection of alcohol content and flavor components (cutting) is crucial.
In addition to the above, you will need a heat exchanger (device to cool wort), tanks (containers to store wort and brewing water), a boiler (device to boil water), an ion exchanger (device for water treatment), and wastewater treatment equipment.
6. Casks Required for Whisky Maturation
Oak casks are generally used for whisky maturation.
The flavor of the whisky changes significantly depending on the type of oak, the size of the cask, the method of charring or toasting the inside, and the cask’s history (ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, etc.).
Various sizes of casks are used for whisky maturation.
These include the Barrel (capacity 180-200 liters), Hogshead (capacity 250 liters), and Puncheon (capacity 480-500 liters).
The maturation environment has a major impact on whisky quality.
An ideal aging environment is a place where the average temperature is 10 to 15 degrees Celsius and humidity is kept moderate.
There are also various styles of warehouses.
The dunnage style is a traditional method where casks are stacked about three high.
The racking style allows casks to be stacked high up to near the roof, while the palletize style involves stacking casks vertically on pallets.
Also, humidity control is important because if it is too dry, the “angel’s share” (loss of whisky due to evaporation) increases.
During maturation, components dissolving from the cask into the whisky form the spirit’s flavor profile.
Representative components include polyphenols such as pigments, vanillin, tannins, and lactones, which enrich the whisky’s flavor and color. Furthermore, esterification reactions form complex flavor components.
This is how craft whisky is produced.
Maturation requires a minimum of three years.
Whisky production may not be simple, but it is well worth the effort.
It is advisable to cooperate with experts and proceed with meticulous planning for your opening.
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