Distillery Consulting & Spirits Dev
From first drawings to first spirit — and better spirit after that.
Independent distillery consulting across the whole build: equipment upgrades, greenfield planning and buildout, and the production process and recipes that run on it.
Services
What I help with
Three connected disciplines — most projects draw on all of them, from the capital plan down to the cut points.
Project & Buildout
From a single still upgrade to a full greenfield distillery, planned and delivered without the costly surprises — for clients who are already funded.
- Costing & capital allocation
- Equipment specification & sizing
- Layout, services & process flow
- Install, commission & handover
Process & Production
Turning a plant into a repeatable, efficient operation — consistent ferments, clean cuts, measured yield.
- Mash & fermentation design
- Distillation & cut strategy
- Scale-up, yield & efficiency
- Production troubleshooting
Recipe & Spirit Development
Developing the liquid itself — new products, recipe rescues and a house style you can make every time.
- Product design & recipe prototyping
- Recipe scaling & scale-up
- “Recipe rescue” & reformulation
- Sensory, style & maturation
Who it's for
Two kinds of distillery
New distilleries setting up
You have a vision and a site, and need it turned into a plant that works — the right equipment, sized correctly, laid out sensibly, commissioned and producing spirit you're proud of from the first run.
Established distilleries optimising
You're making spirit, but want more of it, more consistently, or at lower cost — tighter ferments, better yields, a debottlenecked process, or a new product the market's asking for.
Approach
How a project runs
A straightforward path from idea to a plant that makes good spirit reliably. The order matters — each stage de-risks the next.
Scope & Feasibility
Goals, budget and constraints turned into a realistic, costed plan and capacity target.
Design & Engineering
Equipment specified and sized, process and services designed, suppliers shortlisted.
Build & Commission
Install overseen, systems proven, first ferments and runs dialled in on the real plant.
Optimise & Handover
Recipes locked, yields measured, your team trained to run it without me.
About
Hands-on, end to end
Distil-Pro is the consulting practice of Brad Plummer — a distiller with fifteen years in the spirits industry, working across the whole chain from plant layout and costing through to fermentation, distillation and the finished, award-winning spirit.
The work is deliberately hands-on: on site through commissioning, in the detail of a cut or a mash bill, and alongside your team until the plant runs the way it should. Alongside the production work, he has edited and authored books on distilling for the trade. Based in Auckland, with projects across New Zealand.
Recognition
A track record in the glass
The spirits I've designed and produced have earned 29 international medals and honours since 2015 — a selection of the top awards and the competitions behind them.
- Double GoldSunset Magazine
- Best in ClassChilled Magazine
- Best of ClassADI Judging of Craft Spirits
- GoldSan Francisco World Spirits Competition
- 95 pointsBeverage Testing Institute
In print
Books authored and edited for the distilling trade
- 2021The Distiller's Guide to Whiskey — Ian SmileyEditor
- 2019London Dry: The Real History of Gin — Ted BruningEditor
- 2018The Nano Distillery: The Future of Distilling
- 2016Scotland: A Whiskey Lover's Guide — Ted BruningEditor
- 2016The Maturation of Distilled Spirits — Hubert Germain-RobinEditor
- 2015The Craft Maltsters Handbook — Dave ThomasEditor
- 2015Branding: Distilled — Cynthia SterlingEditor
- 2013The Distiller, 2nd Edition — Harrison HallEditor & Publisher
Contact
Start a conversation
Tell me a little about the project and I'll get back to you. No obligation — a first chat is free.
hello@distil-pro.comAuckland, New Zealand — working with distilleries across the country.
Enquiries answered within two business days.