At Distillery Schlitz – one of the oldest distilleries in the world – spirits are produced that have such illustrious names as “Rhönbucca”, “Schlitzer Wachtfeuer” or “Burgen Rhöndistel Dry Gin”. KAUP attachments are used for the in-house transport of numerous, tasteful products. One unusual attachment particularly catches the eye: a Cask Handler.
The long-established distillery trades under the official name 'Schlitzer Korn- und Edelobstbrennerei GmbH'. However, the products have been marketed for some time with the catchy name 'Schlitzer Destillerie'. In view of the long company history, however, “some time” is relative because the grain distillery with distillation was founded in Schlitz, which is now the fourth largest municipality in Hesse in terms of area, as early as 1585. This makes the 'Schlitzer Destillerie' one of the oldest active distilleries of its kind. As in centuries past, the production of the specialities takes place in the historic city centre, which is surrounded by five castles and features narrow streets and numerous half-timbered houses.
Cask Handlers are used to handle stacked casks as well as stack and retrieve them even in narrow passages – and this to the left or right in driving direction – inside...
Separation of production and warehouse
The success of the distillery's spirits, a steadily growing product range and the associated requirements for storage and maturation time made it necessary to expand beyond the distillery's historical boundaries. In 2024, part of the warehouse, therefore, moved to a historic building below the Hinterburg. The brick hall is located on the site of the Auerhahn brewery, which brewed beer here until 1985. There is no longer any smell of beer, but visitors can enjoy the typical aromas of spirits as the distillery stores are filled with wooden barrels and bottled spirits here. “Our space upstairs was simply no longer enough,” explains Johann Meider. He manages the warehouse at Schlitzer Destillerie and adds: “We needed additional storage space to allow all the barrels to mature long enough.”
A two-section warehouse was created in the historic building. While the front part features a modern, movable shelving system, the rear part houses sturdy, fixed wooden shelves. The stored goods are as diverse as the shelves used. In the front, numerous large and small boxes of spirits are stored, waiting to be shipped. At the back are numerous wooden wine casks mainly containing maturing whisky.
…or outside.
Attachments for different requirements
The ‘Schlitzer Destillerie’ needed attachments for both parts of the warehouse. The requirements could hardly be more different for a planned forklift. Pallets with boxes of different sizes and sometimes raw materials are picked up in the front part. The appropriate attachment was delivered with the lift truck, a Mitsubishi FB16ANT. But how can the wine barrels be brought into the narrow aisles at the back of the warehouse and picked up again? In addition, the barrels, which have been used for years, must be regularly turned or repositioned during the maturing process.
Tobias Wiedelbach, the distillery's managing director, came across the solution while researching it on the Internet: the KAUP Cask Handler.
Cask Handlers are part of the KAUP range of Drum Clamps. These attachments' arms look like mandrels, but they do not clamp. They are designed for use in the most confined spaces. Rather, they allow stacked wooden barrels to be transported and stored in narrow aisles, to and from storage – to the left or right in the direction of travel.
“We quickly knew: This is the device we need,” says Tobias Wiedelbach, “to be able to make the aisles between our racks as long and narrow as possible.”
However, the managing director did not want to buy a new device for the distillery immediately but first wanted to be convinced of the qualities of the T451W in a test run. KAUP offers a rental service for a wide range of attachments for such requirements. The Cask Handler for the ‘Schlitzer Destillerie’ came from this pool.
Device impresses immediately
Two things became clear shortly after the start of the operation. On the one hand, the attachment quickly convinced those in charge at the distillery enough so that managing director Wiedelbach said: “This attachment is staying here. We're buying it.” However, it was noticed that not all the attachment's functions – sideshift, travel and swivelling – could be easily controlled. An additional solenoid valve with a manual switch was needed and quickly installed.
“The device is running really well,” says warehouse manager Johann Meider in conclusion. He should know because the Cask Handler 0.3T451W has been successfully in regular use at the “Schlitzer Destillerie” since mid-2024.
