Profession distillery supervisor

Distillery supervisors coordinate the production processes comprised in the production of spirits and manage the workers engaged in the process. They verify distilled liquors being produced at specified amounts and proofs.

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Personality Type

• Enterprising / Realistic

Knowledge

• Quality assurance methodologies

  Quality assurance principles, standard requirements, and the set of processes and activities used for measuring, controlling and ensuring the quality of products and processes.

• Food and beverage industry

  The respective industry and the processes involved in the food and beverage industry, such as raw material selection, processing, packaging, and storage.

• Spirits development

  Processes related to the manufacture of aged and unaged spirits. Under the category of unaged spirits fall vodka and gin. Under the category of aged products fall whisky, rum, and brandy.

• Appropriate raw materials for specific spirits

  Raw materials, such as grains, potatoes, sugars or fruit which can be fermented to produce a specific type of alcoholic spirits.

• Temperature scales

  Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales.

• Spirit taxation regulations

  Use of information resulting from the spirit safe to compare and conform with taxation regulations in relation to distillation strength. Spirit safe is a locked and sealed glass-box only accessible to representatives from the tax office of the government. 

• Range of spirits

  Spirits and their combination for developing the final product such as whisky, vodka, cognac.

Skills

• Keep inventory of goods in production

  Keep inventory of goods whether they are goods in the front end (i.e. raw materials), intermediate, or back end (i.e. finished products). Count goods and store them for the following production and distribution activities.

• Follow production schedule

  Follow production schedule taking into account all requirements, times and needs. This schedule outlines what individual commodities must be produced in each time period and encapsulates various concerns like production, staffing, inventory, etc. It is usually linked to manufacturing where the plan indicates when and how much of each product will be demanded. Utilise all the information in the actual implementation of the plan.

• Rectify spirits

  Rectify spirits by repeatedly or fractionally distilling it to remove water and undesirable compounds.

• Mitigate waste of resources

  Evaluate and identify opportunities to use resources more efficiently with continuously striving to reduce waste of utilities.

• Execute proofs of alcohol mixture

  Measure temperature (using e.g. thermometer) and specific gravity (using e.g. alcohol-proof hydrometer) and compare readings with tables from standard gauging manuals to determine proof of mixture.

• Measure pH

  Measuring pH which is a measure of acidity or alkalinity.

• Apply GMP

  Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

• Measure density of liquids

  Measuring the density of liquids, including oils, using instruments such as hygrometers, or oscillating tubes.

• Apply HACCP

  Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP).

• Apply requirements concerning manufacturing of food and beverages

  Apply and follow national, international, and internal requirements quoted in standards, regulations and other specifications related with manufacturing of food and beverages.

• Manage staff

  Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.

• Blend beverages

  Master blending beverages as to create new beverage products that are attractive to the market, interesting to companies, and innovative in the market.

• Encourage teams for continuous improvement

  Empower teams to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and then drive the process to improve the results.

• Inspect insects in whole grain

  Inspect loads of unprocessed grain to detect harmful insects, like grain beetles.

• Measure the strength of distillation

  Measuring the alcohol concentration based on the information in the spirit safe and maintaining the distillation process and the distillation strength within the parameters asked by regulations for taxation purposes.

• Supervise crew

  Supervise and observe the behaviour of employees.

• Operate distilling equipment

  Operate the different parts of distilling equipment such as the pot, the distillation column, the lyne arm, the condenser, the distillate, and the aging barrels.

• Prepare containers for beverage distillation

  Prepare containers or drums for beverage distillation. Prepare equipment for the process of purification and removal of diluting components like water, for the purpose of increasing its proportion of alcohol content.

• Ensure safety in the production area

  Take ultimate responsibility for the safety, quality and efficiency of the production area.

• Take measures against flammability

  Take measures against fire. Liquor that contains 40% ABV will catch fire if heated to about 26 °C and if an ignition source is applied to it. The flash point of pure alcohol is 16.6 °C.

• Manage food manufacturing laboratory

  Manage laboratory activities in the plant or factory and using the data to monitor the quality of manufactured products.

• Mix spirit flavourings according to recipe

  Mix flavourings and other ingredients such as fruit acids to produce brandies, cordials, and fortified beverages.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB