Black Eyed Distilling Co., Fort Worth, Texas
Retrofit Team
Plumbing Consultant: O’Grady Plumbing, Fort Worth
Plumbing Supplier: Morrison Supply, Fort Worth
Materials
Owners Todd Gregory and Scott Billings purchased the distillery in August 2016 and knew there were a lot of items in the building that needed to be retrofitted. The basics of the plumbing were in place, but they had to replace a chiller, boiler and add a blending tank with a cooling jacket. They also needed a new air compressor and air lines.
Gregory and Billings have plumbing experience, so they planned to do much of the work themselves, which led Gregory to ask a contractor he knew, Randy Pair of O’Grady Plumbing, if he had a pipe threader they could borrow. Pair put him in touch with Viega Regional Manager Jaime Gomez.
“Gomez showed us the fittings and had a loaner set of tools we could use to retrofit,” Gregory says. “It allowed us to do the retrofitting ourselves as we got the pipe in. We would install and build what we needed to fit the particular equipment and it was quick and easy to use the tools.”
Gregory and Billings called on Pair to help advise or lend a hand, making sure they were using the right types of fittings for all the different lines they were running, including ProPress for chilled water, steam and compressed air lines in the distillery. They also used MegaPressG for natural gas lines.
“Threading didn’t make any sense for them,” Pair explains. “Press is a lot cleaner and then they wouldn’t be putting oil in the system.”
Piping Manufacturer: Viega
The Retrofit
Black Eyed Distilling Co. makes BLK EYE Vodka, a specialty vodka made with black-eyed peas and corn, sourced completely from Texas. It was discovered that black-eyed peas possess the starch needed to make fermented mash and yield a higher quality alcohol, leading to an ultra-premium finish.
Black Eyed Distilling is located in a historic firehouse, built in 1911, retrofitted for the owners’ needs. Production happens downstairs and there is a tasting room and offices upstairs. There also is a full bar where visitors can have a drink, whether it’s the BLK EYE Vodka or a sorghum whiskey the owners make in very small batches.
BLK EYE Vodka quickly is gaining notoriety. In 2017, Black Eyed Distilling earned the Best Traditional Vodka and a Double Gold Medal award at the 2017 Global Spirit Awards, Best Domestic Vodka–Gold Medal at the 2017 The Fifty Best Awards, a Silver Medal from the 2017 San Diego Spirits Festival and a Silver Medal at the 2017 New York World Wine and Spirits Competition.
Photos: Viega