Engineering

From Cane to Cask: Engineering the Perfect Rum for World Rum Day

This week we’re celebrating #WorldRumDay, an annual celebration of rum from across the world.

As global process engineers for the distilled spirits (plus food and pharmaceutical) industries, we like to think we know a thing or two about rum here at Briggs of Burton (BRIGGS). With over 285 years of experience in the distilled spirits sector, we have a long history of designing engineering systems, supplying distillation equipment and supporting rum producers with expansions, upgrades and sustainable solutions.

Working alongside McMillan Coppersmiths, BRIGGS has worked with a variety of world-class rum producers over the years. From DIAGEO, Beam Suntory, Bacardi, Remy Cointreau and many more, our rum distillery projects see our team work across the globe, spanning all the way from the Caribbean to China.

Our approach

Our work within the rum distillery industry strives to meet the individual needs of the world’s rum producers, realising their objectives around increased production capacity and quality distillation.

Whether it be building copper stills with McMillan Coppersmiths, working on energy recovery and applying TVR on column distillation, or undertaking the cleaning and product changeovers… it’s fair to say that the skills needed to carry out exceptional rum production should not be overlooked. This is where process engineering from BRIGGS comes in. 

Our team of engineers has played an integral part in the development of several distilleries across the world, taking projects through a complete life cycle from initial consultancy, solutions, manufacture, commissioning and automation, through to customer service and support.

This World Rum Day, we’d like to take this opportunity to share a snapshot about rum itself, whether that be where it originated, all the different types of rum or how production style affects the quality and taste of rum.

All about rum

So, what actually is rum and how is it made?

A liquor made from sugar, rum is made from fermenting and then distilling sugarcane, which can be either pure sugarcane, syrup or molasses. 

After fermentation and distillation, most rums are then put through an ageing process. This is where different types of rum can be created, as the ageing process used affects the flavour of rum. 

For example, ageing rum in wooden barrels will result in a darker colour, whereas ageing in stainless steel tanks will result in a much clearer colour – this colour affects not just the look, but taste and flavour, too.

Where did rum come from?

Rum first originated in the West Indies during the early 1600s. Upon discovery, rum production in the 1600s grew rapidly and soon began production in Brazil, Sweden, America and even France.

Today, rum continues to be produced across the globe, with each region having its own take on the flavour and taste of rum.

What are the main types of rum?

White rum:

A clear spirit with little to no colouring, white rum is mostly used for mixing within cocktails. In production, white rum is often aged in stainless steel tanks, or wooden barrels. If matured in barrels, then the rum is put through a filtering process afterwards to strip it of its colour.

With a lighter flavour than dark rums, white rum is ideal to be responsibly enjoyed in cocktails such as Mojitos, Daiquiris, Cuba Libras and Pina Coladas.

Brown rum:

Brown rum is aged in oak barrels for anywhere between 2 to 10 years, which gives it a stronger flavour than white rum and more often drunk straight rather than within a cocktail. As a variation of dark rum, which is where the spirit is aged in wooden barrels for a variable amount of time to give differing colour and flavour, brown rum is aged in a heavily charred barrel and holds a bolder flavour to white rum.

Spiced rum:

This is where spices and extra flavours, such as vanilla, ginger and nutmeg, are added to a base rum, resulting in a sweet and spicy taste. Typically, spiced rum is aged for the same amount of time as dark rum, too.

Engineering’s part to play in rum production

Clearly, the way in which rum is made impacts how it’s tasted and enjoyed by its consumers. Often, this extends to not just the tanks in which the rum is held, but the processes and efficiency in which it is fermented and distilled.

Speak to our team to discover more about developing your rum distillery today.

Posted in Distilling, Engineering, Insights

Happy International Women in Engineering Day 2024!

Happy International Women in Engineering Day (INWED)! Our inspiring and diverse female workforce helps us deliver engineering excellence every day.

Thank you to all the team members for helping us to raise the profile of women in engineering by sharing their photos!

Follow us on LinkedIn here.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs is actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality.

Posted in Engineering

Introducing the Briggs STEAM Engine

An initiative to support local communities with our engineering spirit

A powerhouse of engineering experience and expertise, we’ve always liked to do things differently here at Briggs. From environmental and sustainability measures to mental health support and community outreach, we foster the belief that we’re not just engineers, but innovators within our industry.

Launching this week, we’re proud to finally announce our new community sponsorship and support initiative, Briggs STEAM Engine. This initiative will breathe new life into our existing community sponsorship and support programme, further enhancing our global impact and inspiring the next generation of engineers.

About Briggs STEAM Engine

Essentially, Briggs STEAM Engine is a sponsorship and support programme designed to involve the ever-growing Briggs team in our community outreach activities.

In offering financial support and time to help people get involved, we will provide opportunities for our staff to launch initiatives within their communities that align with Briggs’ culture of sustainability, innovation and creativity.

Standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, STEAM encompasses everything that we are passionate about at Briggs. An ‘engine’ to guide us in our community outreach, Briggs STEAM Engine is a visionary approach that harnesses our engineering spirit to support and uplift local communities.

Briggs STEAM Engine centres around three core themes:

  1. Local Community Engagement
  2. Environmental Awareness
  3. Engineering Outreach to Schools and Universities

We welcome our staff to submit requests for either time away from work to organise STEAM events or financial support, for example for sponsoring a STEAM-related activity.

Some examples could include:

  1. Environmental Awareness – Launching a community initiative to clean up litter in your neighbourhood This type of event truly resonates with Briggs’ passion for sustainability and climate action. In setting up an event that reflects this, Briggs would happily offer financial support, for example, to buy the litter-picking materials. 
  2. Local Community Engagement – Supporting local construction organisations for those less privileged A meaningful contribution to the families in need, Briggs would be delighted to be able to offer a helping hand to an initiative such as this. As demonstrated by the Briggs of Burton, Inc. team who supported the Greater Rochester ‘Habitat for Humanity‘ project by completing the pre-fabrication phase of a new home.
  3. Engineering Outreach – Organising a community outreach programme aimed at local schools Perhaps including interactive workshops and presentations designed to ignite students’ interest in STEM fields, particularly engineering, this type of event aligns with Briggs’ strong belief in inspiring tomorrow’s generation of engineers, as demonstrated during National Manufacturing Day.

For any queries, please feel free to e-mail community@briggsplc.com

Posted in CSR, Engineering

Briggs welcomes the IChemE to our Global Technical Centre

This week at our Global Technical Centre, we hosted members from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Midlands Member Group (MMG). It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase #LifeAtBriggs.

Our Sales, Engineering, and Manufacturing teams came together to share how they developed a career in Process Engineering delivering a range of projects globally. The members were impressed with the impact we make in producing everything from Whisky to life saving inhalers.

An integral part of the event was the opportunity to hear first-hand from our engineers about their career development journey. These sessions provided invaluable insights into various career paths within the process engineering industry and the unique experiences that have shaped our team members’ professional growth. The MMG also had the opportunity to visit our production areas including our brand-new Pharmaceutical Systems Assembly (PSA) facility.

You can find out more about the IChemE here.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs are actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality. 

Posted in Engineering, UncategorisedTagged in , ,

Local students join Briggs for National Manufacturing Day

Briggs welcomed over 40 students from the John Taylor Free School to its Global Technical Centre on Thursday 28th September. The event was part of Make UK’s National Manufacturing Day, a nationwide initiative to inspire and educate young people about engineering and manufacturing.

Leaders, engineers and apprentices from Briggs shared their insights and experiences with the students. They learned about Briggs’ offering, recruitment opportunities and apprenticeship scheme. Learning Unlimited and Chesterfield College also partnered with Briggs to advise the students on how to apply for opportunities and what skills and qualifications they need.

The students toured our Manufacturing facility, including our new Pharmaceutical Systems Assembly facility. They saw how Briggs designs, manufactures and delivers high-quality products and solutions for various industries.

Our lead engineers also hosted two STEM activities to challenge the students’ creativity and problem-solving skills. The first activity was building a car out of spaghetti and marshmallows. The second activity was designing and constructing straw pipelines that can transport water.

The event was a great success, with positive feedback from both the students and the teachers. One of the students said: “I really enjoyed the day and learned a lot about Briggs and engineering. I liked seeing how things are made and testing our own designs. I think I might want to be an engineer in the future.”

Briggs is proud to support National Manufacturing Day and to showcase its commitment to innovation, excellence and sustainability. We hope that by opening our doors to young people, we can inspire them to pursue a career in engineering and manufacturing, and to join us in shaping the future of our industry.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs are actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality. 

Posted in Apprenticeships, Engineering, General, Manufacturing

Diamond Sponsors at WDSC 2023

Briggs of Burton (Briggs) are excited to be Diamond Sponsors at the Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference (WDSC) in Edinburgh and look forward to hosting global delegates at the Briggs Social Evening on Wednesday 10th May. Our team of engineers will be delivering presentations and workshops throughout the week, sharing their knowledge on core distilling technologies which can benefit your new and existing distillery operations.

We will be presenting the following talks :

  • Design, Development & Implementation of Brewstilleries
  • Water Usage & High Gravity Mashing
  • Electrifying Your Spirit Production

We have been providing engineering solutions for nearly 300 years and offer an unrivalled level of customer service and support. Our engineering approach is flexible, and our team can meet you at your facility to understand your needs and requirements, locally and quickly through our dedicated sales and engineering hubs. From technical consultancy to turnkey projects, new builds, and retrofits, we can help you at every stage of your distilling project.

As a global company with a strong reputation in the distilled spirits industry we are passionate about always offering safe, efficient, and sustainable distilleries. Scotland is a key market for Briggs, and we are pleased to share that we have opened a new office in Forres to further support our existing and new customers in Speyside. We are recognised as a trusted project partner globally by our
customers who value our ethos of being a safe, honest, and flexible engineering company who deliver what they promise.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs are actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality. 

Posted in Distilling, Engineering

IChemE reaccredits Briggs of Burton

The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Accredited Company Training Scheme (ACTS) programme have re-accredited our Engineering Graduate Scheme for a further four years.

The IChemE assessors were particularly impressed by the following efforts at Briggs;

  • Positive enthusiasm and attitude of scheme trainees and mentors
  • Scheme documentation and associated quality control
  • Company support for the scheme and its accreditation
  • Overall commitment to the development of the profession

The Briggs Engineering Graduate Training Scheme encourages our engineers to develop their practical engineering skills by delivering global multi-disciplinary projects. We encourage our engineers “to get chartered” by following a structured training programme. This accreditation increases engagement with the IChemE through obtaining membership, Chartered Chemical Engineer status (MIChemE) and benefitting from mentoring sessions.

We spoke to Mark Phillips, Technical Process Manager and Fellow of the IChemE; 

 

It’s fantastic to receive the re-accreditation award from the IChemE and is a major milestone in helping us build our Engineering Graduate Scheme. As a mentor and manager for the scheme, it is inspiring to see so many well-rounded engineers who have the passion and intent to succeed. 

Briggs’ ethos has always been to encourage young talent to further their professional development and providing them with opportunities to deliver global projects. It’s exciting to see both the training scheme and partnership with the IChemE continue to develop.

 

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs is actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality.

Posted in Engineering, Graduates

Briggs’ Engineering Director features in podcast

Briggs of Burton’s Engineering Director, George Crombie recently joined Thinking it Better’s ‘One Thought at a Time’ podcast.

George began his journey surrounded by engineering and crafting from a young age. Taking his passion of understanding how things are put together, he joined Briggs on a summer internship which led to his current role of managing large global engineering projects and overseeing all engineering activities for the group. You can read his profile here – https://www.briggsplc.com/leadership/george-crombie/ 

George highlighted Briggs’ growth over the last 5 years, delivering projects in the Brewing, Distilling, Pharmaceutical and Food industries. George spoke passionately about the Briggs team taking pride in supporting the creation of so many household brands. From breaking ground at a plant, to seeing a tangible product and being able to share it with family and friends is satisfying.

He continued to say:

“We can have the toughest day on the plant, but also be able to step away from that. With those same colleagues, friends and socialise with them. Have a sense of fun, look back at what you’ve done”.

Briggs always strives to encourage their team to separate the serious from the fun which helps them to deliver what we promise.

George adds that the team are always interested in the job they’re performing, which leads to a sense of pride. The team are eager to follow Briggs on a journey to deliver exciting projects. George, as an Engineering Director foresees a continuous plan to grow the company across sectors and bringing the team along on that journey.

To listen to the full podcast, follow this link: George Crombie | One Thought at a Time #10 – YouTube

 

Posted in Engineering, General

Briggs of Burton forms strategic partnership to explore new carbon reducing technologies

Ardgowan Distillery announced the appointment of Briggs of Burton in October 2021 last year to lead the design, build and engineering of their carbon negative distillery. Now, both Ardgowan and Briggs have joined forces with Heriot Watt University’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) exploring new carbon reducing technologies.

Close to 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced by Scottish malt and grain distilleries and breweries every year. Whisky washbacks, used in distilleries as fermentation vessels, are generally fitted with CO2 extractors but this CO2 is rarely collected. The North British Distillery is one of the notable exceptions, producing CO2 for the beverage industry. However, the high costs and multiple challenges involved in using the existing technology makes it difficult for smaller companies to use.

Ardgowan produces 755,000 kg of CO2 every year from fermentation processes. However plans are in place to use Briggs’ proven technologies to drive down carbon emissions. This includes the use of high temperature heat pumps.

Heriot-Watt University’s expertise across engineering and distilled spirits, will be able to explore and validate a wider range of carbon reduction technologies. The Ardgowan project is also designed to overlap with MSc Brewing and Distilling projects at the University.  Regardless of scale, this will expand the range of strategies explored and provide some facts about the various routes the industry could take.

Scott Davies, Head of Marketing commented:

“Both Ardgowan and Briggs of Burton will greatly benefit from research conducted by Heriot-Watt University, providing an independent perspective and broader scope when identifying opportunities across the overall malt whisky production process and its supply chain. The Ardgowan Distillery is being designed to accept process developments through its modular construction. This means research conducted through this partnership can be directly adopted at the distillery, enabling Ardgowan to continuously assess and seek to reduce its carbon impact from the outset. As a Heriot-Watt alumni, it’s a great opportunity to help give back to the next generation of brewing and distilling engineers and scientists.”

The project will be based at the ICBD at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh campus. The ICBD has access to its own pilot brewing, fermentation, and distillation facilities with labs for all aspects of brewing and distilling research including analytical capabilities.

The research is funded through the Food and Drink Net Zero Challenge fund, which was set up by Interface and the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership to support Scotland’s food and drink businesses as part of the Recovery Plan funded by the Scottish Government.

Each funded project is designed to accelerate businesses on the journey towards net zero and improve their environmental sustainability, utilising the world class knowledge base and facilities across Scottish universities, research institutes and colleges. The collaboration will update the academic community and wider industry on findings to encourage widespread adoption and impact.

Posted in Distilling, Engineering