QA/QC
Quality Assurance
Reliable density meters help produce a
consistent product
Submitted by Anton Paar
Hiram Walker & Sons Limited is the
well-known Canadian distillery
with a 160-year tradition and the
largest distilling capacity in North America.
Around 180,000 litres of alcohol are distilled
every 24 hours, five to seven days a week.
To ensure the highest quality products, the
distillery relies on a state-of-the-art produc-tion
facility and the extensive know-how
of a strong quality assurance team. In the
quality control of liqueurs, and to deter-mine
the whisky strength before blending
and for tax purposes, Hiram Walker uses
measuring technology from Anton Paar.
Integral part of the quality routines
Jayna Paik, Ph.D., is a member of the quality
control team at the Hiram Walker produc-tion
plant in Windsor, Ont., and is responsi-ble
for managing the laboratory equipment.
Every day the quality team is involved in
testing about 20 different products, depend-ing
on the production schedule. The team
has a number of measuring devices at their
disposal to ensure the consistent quality of
ingredients and final products, ranging from
basic spectrophotometers, density meters
and near-infrareds (NIRs), to advanced
chromatographic equipment such as high-performance
liquid chromatography, gas
chromatography-flame ionization detec-tion
and gas chromatography-mass spec-trometry.
To determine the alcohol content
of the whiskies, rums and vodkas, the team
relies exclusively on density meters from
Anton Paar.
On her experience with the devices,
Paik said, “Hiram Walker has used Anton
Paar density meters for a good 20 years,
starting with the classic DMA density
meters which have now almost all been
replaced by the newer generation of DMA
M density meters. We use them heavily in
our distillery, blending and bottling labs as
part of our daily routines.”
There’s a lot going on at the production
plant, producing Canadian whiskies such
as J.P. Wiser’s, Pike Creek, Gooderham &
Worts and Lot No. 40, and also Lamb’s rum
and Polar Ice vodka, to name a few. The
quality of the spirits has to be spot-on and
Hiram Walker has invested heavily in first-class
technology to ensure that nothing is
left to chance. In a busy production envi-ronment,
everything has to run smoothly
and deliver reliable results.
The DMA M density meters are gener-ally
regarded as excellent tools for measur-ing
tasks. As Paik said, “What we appreci-ate
about the DMA M density meters are
their accuracy and ease of use. The density
meters are used often by our operators so
they need to be simple and robust. We
can’t afford to question any of the results.
Measuring devices are best when they just
run and run.” To ensure easy operation and
reproducible results, operators follow the
standard operating procedure, and filling is
simplified by the attached Xsample sample
changers, which fill the sample using a peri-staltic
pump.
Approved by Excise Canada
At any time Hiram Walker has around 1.6
million barrels of spirits maturing in the 14
warehouses at its Pike Creek facility located
in the forest some 20 kilometres outside
Windsor, Ont. A large part of these spirits
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