Bimber distillery

Bimber distillery was established in 2005 by Dariusz Plazewski in an industrial area in North Acton, west London. The name Bimber is taken from the Polish word for moonshine.

Production

Plazewski emphasizes that he experimented with barley for a long time before he found the right one on a farm in Hampshire. It is malted by hand in Warminster Maltings, one of the last suppliers in the country that has not yet industrialized the process.

For the fermentation - in self-made oak barrels - the Bimber boss allows a few extra days to pass. He heats the water to 67 degrees Celsius, two degrees more) higher than usual. And the two potstills, bulbous copper kettles for distillation, which were made according to his design, he mounted on gas stoves instead of heating them with steam as usual. He is convinced that all of this ensures a fruity, fuller taste.

A new Mash Tun and three new Washbacks were recently installed (all designed and built in the distillery), so that in the future 42,000 liters of alcohol can be produced per year, which corresponds to the daily filling of a barrel. In addition, the company’s own stocks have been moved to a new warehouse. With the space gained in this way, the aim is to offer visitors further amenities in the distillery, according to the founder and master distiller Dariusz Plazewski

History

The history of the Bimber distillery begins in Poland, says founder Dariusz Plazewski. “Distillation is in my blood,” laughs Plazewski, his parents and grandparents had distilled illegally during the communist era, and he was involved from an early age.

It’s been almost 20 years since Plazewski came to London during which time he has worked as an architect. His construction company, which he runs full-time with his partner, a designer, has almost 100 employees. The company financed the start-up costs for the distillery, which was founded in 2015. In 2019 Bimber distillery announced plans to massively expand its production capacity in the run-up to the release of its first single malt in September the same year. However, Bimber cannot boast of the first whiskey in London after a break of over 100 years. The London Distillery Company in the southeast was faster and filled the first bottles in mid-October, albeit with a rye whiskey that is more in the North American tradition.

Bimber factsheet

Can I tour Bimber?

Yes Bimber distillery is tourable. On Trip Advisor the distillery has been rated as excellent by 106 of 111 tours to date. This gives Bimber an overall rating of 5.0