As part of ongoing initiatives to maximize productivity and volume while maintaining quality, Bernheim Distillery recently boosted Bourbon production from 1,300 to 1,500 barrels per day. The facility also underwent a boiler efficiency upgrade to improve energy efficiency.

“Over the last several months, we’ve been experimenting with better productivity at the distillery,” said Distillery Manager/Master Distiller Conor O’Driscoll. “We have been thickening the beer, adding more grain to each mash while maintaining the 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley recipe of our mainstay ‘Heaven Hill Regular’ Bourbon recipe.”

Over a four-month period, Bernheim Distillery gradually ramped up the amount of grain in each fermenter by roughly 18%, while maintaining yield and product consistency. The extra grain provides additional food for the yeast, which it then metabolizes into an equivalent percentage of additional alcohol.

“The whole team, including Quality Control, Operators, our Barrel Warehouse teams, and supervisors across the board, helped us test the system at different weigh points,” Conor said. “We discovered that running thicker beers not only increases productivity, it also helps with product consistency and quality, because it optimizes the environment for our yeast and reduces the likelihood of bacterial contamination.”

The Bernheim team typically divides 36 mashes across four fermenters daily. The contents of each fermenter are sampled regularly for sugar concentration and pH to gauge how fermentation is progressing.

Higher production at the distillery also means a larger workload for the cistern room and barrel warehouse teams who have worked to efficiently move a higher volume of barrels into the warehouse.

Boiler Efficiency Project

This year the facility installed a Data Transfer Interface (DTI) controller for the boilers. It monitors boiler load usage and allows the boilers to operate on a lead-lag system. Lead-lag systems reduce the total amount of fuel consumed and increase boiler efficiency by sequencing the boilers to maintain the load at any given time, automatically taking unneeded boilers offline or into standing warming depending on demand.

The Bernheim facility also upgraded the Exhaust Gas Modules (EGAs) for both boilers. The EGAs sample the combustion gases in the stack and make small corrections in the air damper by adding or removing air. These corrections control the combustion of the burner and keep the volume of O2, CO2 and CO at the commissioned values.

“This improves combustion, increases efficiency, reduces fuel consumption, and improves safety,” said Conor.

Installing the DTI and upgrading the EGAs are also expected to return an estimated fuel savings of 2.78% per year.