Kyrö Distillery upgrades an old dairy into a modern and safe distillery

Gin and whisky made from home-grown rye have made Kyrö Distillery one of the hottest Finnish success stories. The old cooperative dairy in Isonkyrö, on the banks of the Kyrön river, and its renovation into a modern and safe production facility with a distillery and many other facilities, plays a key role in the story.

Kyrö Distillery Company's distillery manager Miko Heinilä is one of the founders and owners of the company. His home farm is located next to the cooperative dairy about 8 km away, and he now lives on the opposite bank of the river. He says the dairy property, built in 1908, has many stories to tell.

During the Kyrönmaan Osuusmeijer period, the building was used to develop Oltermanni cream cheese, which is well known to Finns. As a result of the popularity of the cheese, the dairy was expanded several times, which today is reflected in the modular structure of the building. After the end of the cooperative dairy's history, the dairy was for many years home to Kyrönmaa Cheese Makers, known for its Julius and Julia health cheeses and its then unique smoked cheese.

-In 2013, five young men came to see the handsome building and told us that the dairy should have a distillery. The previous year, during a sauna evening, we had decided to start making whisky and gin from rye," says Heinilä.

Kyrö Distillery's operations took on a whole new dimension in the summer of 2015. At that time, Kyrö Napue-gini was voted the world's best gin at the annual industry branding event at the International Wine and Spirits competition in London. In addition, the company's barrel-aged Koskue-gini won gold in the same event.

The distillery was completed in April 2014. At that stage, the distillery had about 100 square metres of space, the malt house 60 square metres and the laboratory and barrel house 80 square metres. In the first year, production totalled around 4 800 bottles, having grown to almost 350 000 bottles in 2016.

-When we went to renovate the dairy for our needs, the property was in a very poor state. From that stage, we have progressed piece by piece, so that in the beginning we had a few separate premises, where we had, for example, a distillery. Pretty soon we needed additional space for barrel storage and bottling, and as production grew, for many other needs.

During 2016, a new 100-square-metre gin distillery and a 400-square-metre bottling hall were completed. At the end of the year, the 400-square-metre space upstairs was renovated into an office, among other things.

Not only was there plenty to renovate, but the dairy was a child of its time in terms of building regulations. Kyrö Distillery has refined the whole into industrial production, including combustible liquids.

-We wanted to do things carefully because we don't want to neglect safety in any situation. It is important for us to protect both people and business. However, we were not familiar with safety solutions, which is why we wanted Protect to come in as an expert.

A rescue plan and explosion protection documentation were the starting points. From the very beginning, the PRO24 system has of course been used to store all the information.

Along the way, new regulatory requirements were introduced, which in turn required more detailed opinions and studies. As alcohol is produced on the premises, explosion pressure calculations were required, among other things.

Through -Protect's networks, we found a Finnish expert in the field who can make such a calculation. After a couple of weeks of work, he concluded that an explosion could not happen with our processes and in the facilities we use. This was, of course, a relief for us," Heinilä says.

The nature of the activity is also taken into account in other safety solutions, such as fire-fighting equipment. Instead of foam extinguishers, carbon dioxide extinguishers were purchased, which, when used, do not damage valuable distillation pans.

-There have been few distilleries built in Finland, which is why there is very little construction expertise in this area. In addition, the modularity of the building has posed its own challenges. Protect has been an important partner for us because they have also understood the business criticality. As a result, things have moved forward swiftly and flexibly when they have needed to.

According to Heinilä, there will continue to be plenty of construction work. In addition to offices, new space is being built for a laboratory, restaurant, meeting facilities and dry storage, among other things.

Miko Heinilä

Kyrö Distillery Company

miko@kyrodistillery.com

+358 40 8349 835

Pertti Salo

Protect

pertti.salo@protect.fi

+358 44 0665 916