New spirits facility allows The QAS Group to expand offering
The QAS Group offers manufacturing support, warehousing, bottle sleeving, and co-packing services to the Scottish whisky industry at two Scottish sites; Kirkcaldy, Fife and Linwood, Paisley.
The QAS Group was keen to expand its offering, streamlining the receipt, bottling and packaging of premium drinks. Edwards Engineering, worked with The QAS Group to project manage and install the new spirit processing and bottling capability to create a fully integrated service.
This new facility will allow premium spirits to be received, filtered, reduced, flavoured and bottled to order, enabling QAS to serve a wider customer base with an enhanced service range.
Cask disgorging
As part of the development cask disgorging was implemented to receive casks of all sizes. A bespoke dump trough was fitted with multiple strainers and filters and an automated reduction capability for bringing product from cask strength to bottling strength.
A Cockayne Systems IBC filler and weigh scale completed Phase 1 and enabled spirit to be fed to QAS’ first premium bottling line and to a high-speed 5cl and 10cl miniatures bottling-line, installed during the first quarter of 2021.
Phase 2 quickly followed with the installation of a tanker unloading capability to two 35,000 litre external vats. QAS’s process facility is housed in a standalone building and incorporates chill and non-chill filtration, reduction and the ability to handle whisky, gin, rum and other premium spirits in dedicated vessels. Four 10,000 litre process vats and three 5,000 litre bottling vats feed product to the third bottling line, with a higher throughput and more automation, which was delivered from Italy and commissioned in August 2021.
Transform capabilities
Brian Kemp, QAS Group managing director, said: “Working with Edwards to install and commission this critical project for QAS Group has helped transform our capabilities in Kirkcaldy.”
Edwards Engineering chief executive, Ben Carter said: “We have extensive knowledge and experience of working with drinks industry and our team is flexible and focused on delivering every project down the last detail.
“Premium spirits can be received, filtered, reduced, flavoured and bottled to order enabling QAS to serve a wider customer base with an enhanced service range.”
