While craft distilling is exploding in popularity, the percentage of customers choosing to buy craft spirits versus long-established brands is still relatively small. Every bottle of craft spirits sold is a triumph not just for that distillery, but also for the craft community as a whole. Recognizing the need to promote not only their brand, but also their industry, many craft distilleries are working together. Erik Martin, co-founder of Aria Portland Dry Gin, calls it “coopetition,” saying “it is easy to think that we are all competitors, but in reality, we are all in this together and it serves us well to work with one another in cooperation against the large, well financed, international brands.” In this cooperative spirit, many states now have distillers’ guilds that help individual distilleries accomplish more with a collective voice. All of the craft distilleries operating in a particular state will face the same challenges that are unique to that state, many of which come in the form of restrictive or prohibitive state laws. Craft distilling as we define it today, according to Coppersea Distilling CEO Michael Kinstlick’s white paper, “The U.S. Craft Distilling Market: 2011 and Beyond,” began in 1982, and did not experience much growth until the turn of the century. At most, the federal and state laws governing distilled spirits production have had 30 years to evolve and adapt to this young industry. In reality, since the rapid growth really only began around 2000, the legal landscape has had just over
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