Spirits & wine

Whisky

The world of whisky is one of subtle aromas, flavors and textures. It’s also one of tradition: whisky production was first documented as early as the 15th century. Even today, the production process is seen as a fine art, with each distillery making whisky in its own special way. It’s a key challenge for modern mashing and distillation technologies to maintain the unique characteristics that this brings out.

GEA whisky distillation solutions
Video still 1

Whisky

Blending copper with steel.

GEA's process lines for whisky

Key steps for malt whisky spirit production

GEA Nu-Con powder silos

Barley malt and cereal grains are received in bulk and transferred to silos for storage. A sample from each batch is analyzed to determine cereal moisture and starch content. Malt cleaning and de-stoning occur prior to milling.

MILLSTAR®: the endosperm is extracted from the husk and ground by a pair of crushing rollers.

Barley malt is milled in conventional roller mills to produce grist. Alternatively, GEA provides wet-conditioned milling by MILLSTAR®, offering improved lautering efficiency. Milling and mashing-in can thus be combined in a single, non-ATEX dust-free and hygienic step.

Agitator

Grist and water are mixed in a grist hydrator or pre-masher. The addition of a Mash Conversion Vessel increases mashing flexibility or can be added as a de-bottlenecking upgrade. Gentle mash transfer by low-shear Mono type pump is a novel feature of GEA mashing systems.

LAUTERSTAR® Lauter Tun Technology

The lauter tun is the heart of the mash house, responsible for the extraction of sugary wort from the cereal mash. The system offers flexibility and is optimized to manage conversion yield, wort gravity and clarity, oxygen pick-up, cycle time and extraction efficiency.

Fully automatic pipe connection system - ECO-MATRIX®

Wort is combined with yeast in fermenter washbacks to convert sugars to alcohol containing wash. Hygienic fermenter design is enhanced with jacketed or external coolers – for attemperated fermentation control, improving alcohol yield while reducing energy and water use.

mvr-tvr-heated-distillation-plants-01

Wash is distilled in wash stills to produce high wine. This distillate is further concentrated in spirit stills to produce new make spirit. Energy savings by TVR or MVR heat pump techniques are used, while waste heat recovered from the condensers aids sustainability.

Efficiency and sustainability go hand in hand at Wipasz

Thermal energy is recovered from the still condensers and stored as hot water in an energy recovery tank-accumulator. Heat is therefore provided as sustainable energy for mashing and sparge water preheating along with other uses like CIP and syrup evaporator heating.

mvr-heated-evaporation-plants-01

Thermal energy is recovered from the still condensers and stored as hot water in an energy recovery tank-accumulator. Heat is therefore provided as sustainable energy for mashing and sparge water preheating along with other uses like CIP and syrup evaporator heating.

GEA Codex®

As system integrators we bring our knowledge from process technology and plant engineering together with software products from market leaders

Downloads

GEA Insights

Dairy farmer checks statistics for his farm on a herd management-enabled tablet

Modern herd management: a smarter way to farm

In a dairy herd, every cow has her own story – and modern herd management tools help tell it. By tracking health, habits and needs, these smart systems let farmers care better, work smarter and keep milk flowing. It's the secret behind happy herds and successful, more sustainable dairy farming.

Scrambled egg made with egg altnerative

On the menu: more sustainable eggs

GEA helps customers test and scale alternative egg products and ingredients made with precision fermentation.

Feeding the future: The power of freeze-drying innovation

Waste reduction is important to us at GEA, and by harnessing the power of freeze drying technology, we can transform surplus food into valuable, long-lasting products – helping to reduce waste, extend shelf life and build a more resilient food supply for generations to come.

Receive news from GEA

Stay in touch with GEA innovations and stories by signing up for news from GEA.

Need assistance?

We are here to help! With just a few details we will be able to respond to your inquiry.