WHERE QUALITY BECOMES ART

In the spotlight: QS

A LOOK INTO THE WORLD OF QUALITY ASSURANCE

The abbreviation QS stands for the Quality Assurance department. QA also plays an important role at Emil Scheibel distillery, where fine brandies & spirits, spirits, liqueurs and whisky are produced every day. The responsible employee here is Caroline Huber. She oversees the entire product cycle, from the incoming goods inspection of the fruit to the finished product in the bottle.

"Every detail counts when it comes to ensuring the high quality of our products," she explains. This is why Caroline Huber's tasks range from the careful inspection of incoming fresh fruit to product release.

1. incoming goods inspection: fresh fruit is checked for appearance, smell, taste, degree of ripeness, degree Oechsle and foreign matter, as well as the cleanliness of the large boxes in which the fruit is delivered.

2. mash control: As soon as the fruit has been mashed, the pH value and fermentation temperature are checked.

3. tastings: Several tastings take place; in the area of product development also occasionally different and several samples with different compositions in order to try out and decide which idea could make it into the Scheibel treasure trove* or the permanent range.

4. product releases: The finished product is tasted by management, distillers and QA as well as alternately by employees from other departments. Laboratory data and limit values (methanol, ethyl carbamate) are checked.

5. alcohol content checks: Samples are taken from the finished goods tanks and bottles and tested in the laboratory for alcohol content, among other things.

6. final product inspection: bottles are taken at random from the finished product warehouse and evaluated according to various criteria (closure, label fit, filling quantity, sensory properties, alcohol content, etc.).

7. complaint processing: QA deals with customer complaints, recovers bottles that have been complained about and carries out sensory tests to provide honest feedback.

8 Boiler water inspection: The boiler water from the steam pressure boiler is regularly inspected for various parameters to ensure quality and system function.

9. expansion and further development of the quality system: Caroline is working on improving transparency, traceability and quality system documentation.

10. hygiene and cleanliness in production: An important aspect of QA is ensuring high standards of hygiene and cleanliness in production.

11. sensory training for employees: regular training for all employees to sharpen their senses and develop a deep understanding of the sensory properties of the products.

* Scheibel treasure trove: limited special editions. Fine brandies made from old, sometimes almost forgotten fruit varieties are stored here until they are perfectly ripe. Once a year, always on September 1st, we bring a selection of the finest brandies to the market in a limited edition.