Artisan Spirit: Fall 2023

Fall 2023

BARLEY OF THE FUTURE

RYE

THE DELICATE

DIACETYL DANCE

A STYLE GUIDE FOR AMERICA'S FIRST WHISKEY

SELF-DETERMINATION through SELF-DISTRIBUTION

NEW PHONE, WHO DIS? the LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS OF

TEXTING YOUR CUSTOMERS

DRINK WITH YOUR EYES ®

BRAND STRATEGY | STORY DEVELOPMENT | NAMING LOGOS | PACKAGING | CUSTOM BOTTLES | PRINT | DIGITAL 2787 NAPA VALLEY CORPORATE DR, NAPA, CALIFORNIA 94558 T | 707 265 1891 WWW.CFNAPA.COM

TABLE of CONTENTS A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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THE GHOST OF TEMPERANCE PAST

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QUARTERLY GUILD & INDUSTRY REPORTS

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AT BEYOND DISTILLING, IT’S ALL RIGHT THERE IN THE NAME.

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AGE VERIFICATION

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TEXTING YOUR CUSTOMERS? 27

White Paper: Direct sales by alcohol beverage suppliers does not increase minors access to alcohol.

DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS

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OH, DISTILLER, DISTILLER — HOW DOES YOUR COMPLEX SPIRIT ARISE?

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TIME TO DO YOUR CHORES!

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CELEBRITY TEQUILA

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SELF-DISTRIBUTION 39

LEAP OF FAITH

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HOW TO DEFINE A DISTILLERY THROUGH INFORMATION

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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY’S DISTILLING PROGRAM REVIVED

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BAR CONVENT BROOKLYN 2023

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UPSIZING FIRE PROTECTION

100

THREE TIER WOES

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CODE NAME: TOP SHELF 103

Updates from guilds and associations within states, across the nation, and beyond!

PACKAGING & THE LIFECYCLE OF YOUR BRAND Brand Buzz with David Schuemann

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Dot your “i’s” and cross your TCPAs

It’s not just you. The struggles facing an industry.

License maintenance and upkeep

Playing a different game — Part 1

Disclosures, good writing, and consumer education vs. rules and guidelines

Bigger, better, and no bad bugs

An old system continues to bring new headaches

AMERICA’S ORIGINAL WHISKEY IS NOT A MONOLITH 54 It is a multitude.

Appreciating the good work done by old enemies

Beyond the Bottom Line

Only fully understood by OMICS I surmise.

The real hangover

Would you rather: Jump off a bridge or start a distillery?

A respected beverage education program carries on after the loss of its founder

Fire and Life Safety Corner

Oregon State University to release a new winter habit, GN0, malting barley targeted to the distilling industry

50 YEARS, 1 MISSION: THE 2023 DISCUS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

One distiller shares her thoughts on the event’s impact

THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS

StilL 630 and spirit production at the confluence of storytelling and customer feedback

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DEALING WITH DIACETYL 110 Is it good or bad? Management is the key.

A-HEAD OF THE GAME

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INNOVATING WITH ENZYMES

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NORTH TO ALASKA

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PRIVATE EVENTS

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ADVERTISER INDEX

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Crystal Head Vodka’s innovative spirit still shines

Alaskans are staking a claim in the new frontier of distilled spirits

Part 1 — The story behind an award-winning innovation

A quick look at incorporating private events to increase profitability

from the COVER Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co. in Louisville, Kentucky. Image by Amanda Joy Christensen.

ISSUE 44 /// Fall 2023

CONTINUOUS COLUMN DISTILLATION

PUBLISHER & EDITOR Brian Christensen

Learn from the BEST!

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Amanda Joy Christensen

3-day class with Master Distiller Jordan Via

SENIOR WRITERS Carrie Dow Reade A. Huddleston, MSc.

October 20-22, 2023 Savage & Cooke Distillery Mare Island, CA

Gabe Toth, MSc.

CONTRIBUTORS Jason Barrett Christopher Carlsson Corey Day Scott P. Fisk Sailor Guevara Doug Hall Taylor Harrison Patrick M. Hayes, Ph.D. Reade A. Huddleston, MSc. Paul Hughes, Ph.D. Aaron Knoll Rich Manning

Joana Montenegro, Ph.D. Campbell P. Morrissy Bentley Nettles Michael T. Reardon, P.E. David Schuemann Nicole Shriner, Ph.D. Gary Spedding, Ph.D. John P. Thomas, II Tom Woods Rachel Wright Lauren Voke

PHOTOGRAPHERS Amanda Joy Christensen Brian Christensen Austen Diamond Carrie Dow

Amanda Nikolic Chris Packer Ashley Prange David Weglarz

SALES & MARKETING Ashley Monroe ARTISAN SPIRIT is a quarterly publication by Artisan Spirit Media.

www.artisanspiritmag.com facebook.com/ArtisanSpiritMagazine ArtisanSpiritM General Inquiries (509) 944-5919 Advertising (509) 991-8112 PO Box 31494, Spokane, WA 99223 All contents ©2023. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Neither Artisan Spirit Media nor ARTISAN SPIRIT magazine assume responsibility for errors in content, photos, or advertisements.

While ARTISAN SPIRIT makes every effort to ensure accuracy in our content, the information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. We urge our readers to consult with professional service providers to meet their unique needs.

distilling.com/events

At ARTISAN SPIRIT, we take the opportunity to enjoy many different craft spirits and adult beverages. However, it’s also our responsibility, and yours, to always drink responsibly. Know your limit, and never drink and drive.

ARTISAN SPIRIT’s number one goal is to share and celebrate the art and science of artisan craft distilling. But please remember to follow all the laws, regulations, and safety procedures. Be safe, be legal, and we can all be proud of the industry we love.

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPONSORS. Our mission at Artisan Spirit Magazine is to share and celebrate the art and science of artisan craft distilling. We are humbled by the support of our sponsors. With their help, we can further our common goals of supporting creativity, innovation, and integrity within the industry we all love so much.

The American Spirits Exchange is a national importer and distributor serving the alcoholic beverage industry (spirits, wine, and beer). We provide domestic and international companies with access and support to the U.S. market. Regardless of your size — from micro, craft distiller to publicly traded multinational — our focus fuels your growth. Our flagship Foundations™ program provides companies with access to the U.S. market. We handle your business-to-business functions from start to finish: permitting, brand approvals, purchase order processing, invoicing, and compliance.

BSG is focused on supplying craft distillers with the best ingredients from around the world. The craft distilling market trusts BSG to deliver the finest ingredients at competitive prices, without sacrificing customer service. With distilling malts and grains from Rahr Malting Co., Weyermann®, Simpsons, Crisp and Malting Company of Ireland, as well as a full range of yeasts, yeast nutrients, enzymes, botanicals, and finishing products, we have a wide range of distilling ingredients to help you create high quality, artisanal spirits.

Cage and Sons Distilling Systems build premium distillation systems and equipment for premier distilleries.

Every element of Cage and Sons equipment is designed and crafted to provide you with the very best distilling experience at an affordable rate because we know that bottom line matters, but so does function. At Cage and Sons, adequate is never an option, and we continue to develop and design new high functioning, cutting-edge distillation systems that enhance the distillation industry. Cage and Sons works every day to bring you the very best distillation systems for the very best value.

For nearly 50 years, CF Napa Brand Design has set the standard for alcohol beverage branding.

Led by Owner & Creative Principal David Schuemann for the past 22 years, we focus on translating brand ethos visually, never using a one size fits all approach for projects. The result is a bespoke solution rooted in strategy and, most importantly, a design that sells.

CF Napa’s expertise lies in the intricacies of our process — from project conception to conclusion, our team brings a strategic yet thoughtful eye to every detail. We understand the market and target audiences on a global stage. We balance listening with leading to execute a design that the client loves, and the consumer buys again and again.

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The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) is the leading voice and advocate for distilled spirits in the United States. Representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits, DISCUS advocates on legislative, regulatory, and public affairs issues impacting the distilled spirits sector at the local, state, federal, and international levels; promotes the distilled spirits sector, raising awareness and opening markets in the United States and around the globe; and encourages responsible and moderate consumption of distilled spirits as part of a healthy adult lifestyle based on evidence-based research and policy. DISCUS also powers Spirits United, a grassroots platform for the distilled spirits industry. Spirits United is comprised of a community of advocates united with a common goal: to ensure adult consumers can enjoy distilled spirits where they want, how they want, and when they want. Learn more at distilledspirits.org and spiritsunited.org.

Trusted Oak Expertise Since 1912.

We’ve been in this industry for over 100 years, during which time we’ve learned a thing or two about what makes a great barrel to age great spirits. Our R&D team and account managers have hundreds of barrels currently in experimentation. Partnering with distillers, we think outside the box to develop new products that push your vision forward.

Our Mission: To craft world-class oak barrels and other cooperage products so our employees, customers, and communities flourish.

Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits is the industry leader in supplying fermentation products and valueadded services to the distilled spirits industry. We specialize in the research, development, production, and marketing of yeast and yeast nutrients as well as a solid belief in education of the distilled spirits industry.

A vital part of the alcohol production process, fermentation products from Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits have been designed and selected to create value by tailoring objective solutions to distillery needs.

Standing out in a crowded marketplace is an ongoing challenge for wine and spirits producers today.

MCC’s experienced team of label engineers take a consultative approach, helping guide your project from inception to finished label. Whether it's an existing design, or a highly embellished new project, we are poised to give your brand the look it deserves. Housing many different printing technologies under one roof allows us to match our passion and expertise to your project, each and every time, without compromise.

This ensures that your final packaging always achieves the desired look. With MCC and Fort Dearborn recently joining forces, we are poised to provide all spirits customers with amazing service and quality products.

Moonshine University is located in Louisville, Kentucky on the Beverage Campus with its sister company, Flavorman. Moonshine University offers a variety of classes for enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and those seeking careers in the distilling industry. Our distillery was designed as part of our classroom, and all classes incorporate hands-on learning and sensory evaluation in order to provide a complete and comprehensive education. In addition to its knowledgeable instructors, Moonshine University hosts a range of renowned industry experts for specialized instruction and training.

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Founded in France in 1897 and based in the USA for more than 30 years, Saverglass provides for the premium & super premium spirits and wines. Over the years, the Saverglass Group has distinguished itself by its undeniable quality of glass coupled with innovative decoration techniques.

Today, one of Saverglass’ main asset lies on its product offer: 110 original designs and 425 references which represent the largest selection on the market! Thirsty for genuineness, Saverglass has created exclusive bottles dedicated to Artisanal distilleries: The Craft Spirits collection is designed to convey the image of authentic, locally sourced and rare high-quality products. Recently, the Group has strengthened its presence and service offering in the U.S. by opening an ultra-modern bottle manufacturing and decorating plant in North America.

Southern Distilling Company is one of the largest artisan distilleries in the nation. We offer product development, contract distilling (standard and custom mash bill whiskeys, rum, and agave spirits), barrel warehouse aging, batching, blending, bottling, and co-packaging of award-winning products.

We also keep an extensive inventory of aged bourbon and rye whiskey available year-round.

Our spirits are distilled in top-of-the-line Vendome Copper & Brass Works continuous column stills. Our product development services include working with you to perfect an existing recipe and consultations to help you create your own recipe. We can barrel and warehouse age your product to meet both short and long-term goals. At Southern Distilling Company, you get standout spirits that make brands unforgettable.

For over 60 years Tapi USA has produced cork stoppers and a wide variety of bottle closures.

Family-owned and operated since its inception, our company continues to develop new products and enter new markets. Tapi USA is proud to support the growth of the artisan distillery industry and is honored to be the Bottle Closure Sponsor for Artisan Spirit Magazine.

Founded in 1999 in Thousand Oaks, California, the Thousand Oaks Barrel Co. manufactures a wide selection of products for distillery gift shops. We work with large and small distilleries and wineries, marketing and catalog companies, retailers, and web-based e-tailers. Our craftsmen provide made to order products or distilleries can select from our tried-and-true products such barrel heads, quarter barrels, flasks, and barrel key chains, to name a few, each with your distillery logo and branding. We look forward to providing you some of the best promotional products on the market and are sure they will be top sellers in your product line.

Total Wine & More is the country’s largest independent retailer of fine wine, beer, and spirits. Our strength is our people. We have over 5,000 associates, who must demonstrate comprehensive beverage knowledge before they are invited to join our team. After coming on board, all of our team members undergo an extensive initial training program. We believe that an educated consumer is our best customer. We want to demystify the buying experience for our customers so they will feel confident in choosing the bottle that is perfect for them. Total Wine & More works closely with community and business leaders in each market it operates to support local causes and charitable efforts.

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INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

since 1912

A barrel should be more than an aging vessel, it should be a partner in achieving your desired flavor profile. Using science-based research and experimentation, ISC barrel experts collaborate with world-class distillers to create innovative barrel solutions for their unique spirits.

iscbarrels.com

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: I’m a ridiculous optimist at heart, always have been. Which means despite the fact that a cursory look over the table of contents for this edition of Artisan Spirit Magazine may look like we are embracing more dread, it’s far from the truth. Our goal is to honestly highlight the shifting landscape of our industry and help you prepare and succeed during uncertain times.

You know the list — supply chains, archaic regulations, high taxes, overstressed employees, rising costs of almost everything we need to make spirits — the list feels exhausting.

However, the bright side is that while the industry is changing, the opportunities are not disappearing, just shifting. Rightsizing your distillery, finding new markets, owning your backyard, and taking advantage of economies of scale are some of the ways forward. That’s all covered in this issue of ASM. Read on and you will find that we have highlighted the bad, but only so you can find the good.

Finally, one quick note for our brewing brothers and sisters out there. Spirits are not the enemy, and specifically they are not your enemy. Recent rhetoric from several brewing associations paints spirits as an easy foil for the economic troubles the brewing industry is facing. The fact is we all love our family of beverage comrades. We don’t see beer (or wine or cider or even mead for that matter) as a threat. We face many of the same challenges and regulations, especially the smaller craft businesses. We are all going through the same squeeze. When things get hard, we can all come together to make it through. Brewers, we have your back, and I hope you will have ours too.

With greatest appreciation,

Brian Christensen (509) 944-5919 /// brian@artisanspiritmag.com /// PO Box 31494, Spokane, WA 99223

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Where Science Meets Art Yeast, Nutrients, and Process Aids

At Lallemand Distilling, our single source philosophy provides the highest quality ingredients, tailored technical service and education, and industry leading experience to support your needs. Your spirits are our passion, your needs are our motivation.

Contact us to learn more today. www.lallemanddistilling.com

© 2023

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Natural flavors... flavor solutions for spirits since 1946

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QUARTERLY REPORTS

QUARTERLY

U P DATES FR O M G U I L D S AN D A SSOC IATION S WI T H I N S TAT E S , A C ROSS TH E N AT I O N , AN D B E Y O N D !

GUILD & INDUSTRY REPORTS

Direct is the word of the day, with direct-to-consumer and direct distribution being the two standout missions across the country. The state guilds in California, Illinois, New York, and North Carolina are all working on legislation that would help spirits producers to reach consumers. It’s especially important in places like North Carolina where logistical constraints mean that smaller producers may no longer have easy access to ABC stores. It’s also worth reminding everyone that while legislation is one of the key goals of most state guilds they often do far more. Examples include distilling trails, consumer outreach, special tasting events (see the work in IL and FL specifically), and charity initiatives.

The last update has special significance as California takes time to honor their past president Jim Harrelson of Do Good Distillery, who passed far before his time.

As always, if you have news and updates your guild would like to share, reach out and let us know. It is our honor to give each state a soapbox to share your stories.

Brian Christensen Editor, Artisan Spirit Magazine

AMERICAN CRAFT SPIRITS ASSOCIATION The American Craft Spirits Association is More info on thrilled to announce that our e-book, "The The ACSA Guide to Starting and ACSA Guide to Starting and Operating a Operating a Distillery Distillery," is now available! The peer-reviewed guide is a comprehensive compendium of expert insights detailing all of the tools and techniques that new distilleries need to get their businesses up and running and help ensure a prosperous future.

On the advocacy front, the government affairs committee has been connecting with TTB regularly on behalf of craft distillers. We have submitted comments on the costs and complexity of the forms we all use for reporting, as well as a significant effort putting together comments 13

on trade practices and their effects on small producers. One of the biggest comments we hear from our members is that our distilleries can't access our customers — most of us can't get distribution, let alone space on retail shelves, and the pricey marketing support tactics deployed by deep pocketed industry players can hamper our ability to compete and succeed. As TTB studies all these issues, it

is important that they hear the small business perspective.

On the state level, ACSA continues providing logistical support and knowledge to the state guilds. Issues like DTC, limits on tasting room sales, evolving requirements for labeling and packaging all will be affecting craft producers' bottom lines. The large producers are making their voices heard, and it's

important for craft producers to be involved in crafting legislation, not just reacting to the status quo.

We need your help to create a spirits industry that is more accessible for small producers at every level! And don't forget to plan ahead for our convention in Denver, Colorado, February 26-28, 2024.

Rebecca L. Harris President, Head Distiller, Catoctin Creek Secretary, Board Member, STEPUP Foundation Board Member, American Craft Spirits Association

AMERICAN DISTILLING INSTITUTE At the time of this issue’s publication, the American Distilling Institute is counting down the days to our gala 20th anniversary conference August 23-24 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since 2003, the craft distilling movement has grown from a few intrepid souls to a thriving nationwide industry with thousands of businesses supporting many thousands of jobs in communities of every size. It has truly been an honor to be a central part of this remarkable industry for two decades.

Procrastinators may be able to register for the Las Vegas conference at the door (although tickets are going fast!). If you miss this year’s conference, please plan to join us next year for the 2024 ADI Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Continuing our 20-year focus on providing world-class educational opportunities to the craft spirits industry, ADI is also excited to introduce a new workshop on continuous column distillation led by master distiller

Jordan Via, who has been making craft spirits since 2008. The workshop takes place October 20-22 at Savage & Cooke Distillery on Mare Island in Vallejo, California. We’re also offering another session of our alwayssold-out blending, maturation, and warehousing workshop taught by independent master blender Nancy Fraley December 4-6 at Ironroot Republic Distillery in Denison, Texas. Visit www.distilling.com for more information and to register.

Registration for ADI’s 17th annual International Spirits Competition opens in August. All entrants receive written feedback from expert judges, maximizing value for competitors. Best in Class winners will be awarded medals on stage at the 21st Craft Spirits Conference Gala in Baltimore in 2024 — and be invited to schedule meetings with major retail partners like Binny’s Beverage Depot, K&L Wine Merchants, and Total Wine.

August also marks the opening of ADI’s Distilling Research Grant auction, which includes great donations from suppliers. All proceeds from the auction go to support the 501(c)3 Distilling Research Grant, which was founded by ADI to advance and disseminate knowledge of distilled beverage alcohol to benefit the entire industry. Last year’s grantees were professional distillers like you who investigated questions around bacterial fermentation in rum, managing EC in bourbon, and fermentation with seawater.

Learn more about Support work like this ADI's Distilling by bidding on great Research Grant goods and services, or by submitting your own grant proposal to investigate questions that matter to your business. Learn more at distillingresearch.org.

Erik Owens President, American Distilling Institute

DISTILLED SPIRITS COUNCIL OF THE UNITED STATES The 2023 DISCUS Annual Conference was a great success and brought together members from all parts of the distilled spirits industry to continue to innovate and stay on the cutting edge. The event exceeded 14

expectations, set an attendance record, and featured 15 sessions on a wide variety of topics. Attendees received the ultimate sendoff as they toasted their tequila sunrises and danced the night away to classic disco hits in true

‘70s style at the DISCUS 50th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Dinner. We would like to thank all who attended as well as the members, sponsors, and speakers who made the event spectacular. Congratulations again W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

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to the 2023 awards winners LP O’Brien, Dia Simms, Dana and Ted Huber, Bruce Joseph, Mary Barrazotto and Senator Bill Cassidy (RLA). We invite you to join the fun next year in sunny San Diego. Don’t forget to save the date for March 4-6, 2024!

Steric Systems Awarded First Place in the “Innovation Showcase” Competition at 2023 DISCUS Annual Conference in Chicago

Steric Systems was named the grand winner of our Innovation Showcase competition at our annual conference. Steric Systems CEO Bill Fay presented the company’s innovative proprietary technology during the Shark Tank-style competition, which was held in a live virtual three-part event prior to the conference. The technology, which uses electromagnetic energy, modifies spirits on a molecular level to reduce alcohol burn and harshness, balance flavors, and improve mouth feel of aged and unaged products without adding or filtering out anything.

The second-place winner was Brother Justus, presented by the company’s founder and CEO Phil Steger, for inventing the first cold-peated whiskey and the cold-peating Aitkin County Process™. The process, which involves filtration and infusion of peat into the finished product, keeps the peat in its solid form, rather than burning it. This environmentally responsible process eliminates greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter pollution while increasing living peatlands.

Third place was awarded to Voodoo Scientific, presented by the company’s CEO Martin Enriquez and Chief Science Officer Joana Montenegro, for its Firewater™ enzyme that can be added during the fermentation process to target and eliminate select compounds that cause a negative “bite.” The product is designed to work with all spirits types and does not affect any other flavor components.

We loved seeing the true entrepreneurial spirit, grit, and determination of the companies competing in this year’s Innovation

Showcase. These companies are developing technologies that will advance the spirits sector by supporting new product development and creating a more sustainable future for distilling.

We Don’t Serve Teens Shares Q3 Social Media Messaging

The We Don’t Serve Teens campaign shared social media messaging for advocates to take action in their community and remind their audience that it is illegal, unsafe, and irresponsible to serve alcohol to those under the legal drinking age. There is messaging for key observances and holidays in Q3, such as Labor Day, back to school, homecoming, and more, so that partners can continue to engage Join the We Don’t Serve their communities and Teens campaign emphasize that it is everyone's responsibility to keep alcohol out of teens’ hands. Check out the campaign’s website and digital toolkit to help support the We Don’t Serve Teens campaign and get these important messages out in your communities. Please share your stories of how you are activating around the We Don’t Serve Teens campaign and contact Erin Hildreth (erin.hildreth@responsibility.org) for resources or with questions.

Cocktails-To-Go Success Across the Country

As state legislative sessions wind down, many states have advanced cocktails to-go legislation with several states making the measure permanent. Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine and Washington all passed legislation making cocktails to-go permanent, bringing the total to 23 states plus the District of Columbia. We eagerly await Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature to add Michigan as the 24th state with cocktails to-go permanency. Also this year, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Vermont each passed significant extensions for the hospitality measure.

Bolivia Recognizes Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey as distinctive products of the United States

Bolivia recently became the 45th country to officially recognize “bourbon” and “Tennessee whiskey” as distinctive products of the United States in exchange for the U.S recognition of Bolivia’s native spirit “Singani” as a type of brandy. This important recognition ensures that only bourbon and Tennessee whiskey that are produced in the United States according to official U.S. standards may be sold in Bolivia. This action will protect the integrity of these popular American spirits products in this growing market. DISCUS commends the U.S. government for entering into this agreement to support the mutual recognition of Bolivia’s and the United States’ distinctive distilled spirits products, and will continue to seek opportunities to urge Bolivia to extend similar recognition to the fast-growing “American rye whiskey” and “American single malt whiskey.”

Updating Advertising Guidelines Based on Newly Released Census Data

DISCUS, alongside the American Craft Spirits Association and American Distilled Spirits Alliance, increased the adult demographic placement standard in our respective advertising and marketing codes to reflect the newly-released 2020 U.S. Census data showing that 73.8 percent of the U.S. population is 21 years of age and older.

Under the new demographic guideline, spirits advertising and marketing should be placed in media only where at least 73.8 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal purchase age (21+). The previous demographic standard was 71.6 percent over 21, which was grounded in the 2010 census data. In keeping with our longstanding commitment to responsible advertising, this new demographic percentage will apply prospectively to all new purchases of advertising and marketing for distilled spirits products.

Chris R. Swonger President & CEO, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

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AMERICAN STATE GUILDS CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA DISTILLERS ASSOCIATION

Summer is here and the fight for DTC continues. Californians support the effort, the legislature supports it as well, and yet we cannot get an agreement to permanently pass DTC shipping for spirits. AB #1088 Rubio/Blanca is the bill that we introduced as an extension to our current ability (gained during Covid-19) for one more year. CADG (now California Distillers Association CDA) is working with very limited funding and support to convert this to permanent status.

The biggest hurdle is getting our wholesale/ distributor partners and the Wine Institute to see the upside to letting brands ship. The biggest part of the struggle is the fact that DISCUS/Wine Institute want big distillers included in the craft distillers bill. With that

FLORIDA FLORIDA CRAFT SPIRITS ASSOCIATION Emerald Coast Spirits Festival SEPT. 22-23, SANTA ROSA BEACH, FL

Mark your calendars for the first ever Emerald Coast Spirits Festival hosted by Distillery 98 in Santa Rosa Beach. Guests will have the opportunity to sip, sample, and enjoy spirits featured by craft distillers from

ILLINOIS ILLINOIS CRAFT DISTILLERS ASSOCIATION

On June 13, the Illinois Craft Distillers Association (ICDA) successfully held its first consumer-facing fundraising event since before the pandemic. Working in partnership with DISCUS, Binny’s, and the Chicago chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG), it was a great evening with

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as our framework, the big players block a permanent bill because we can’t meet and find compromise. This makes small distillers the middle man with little leverage to move the legislation.

The CDA is also supporting SB #269 Laird on a bill that allows spirits, beer and wine to allow a “license holder to maintain a designated area upon that premises where retail sales and consumption authorized under those licenses may occur, subject to specified conditions.” Currently, a distillery license cannot share tasting rooms or retail space with a wine or beer license (even with common ownership). This bill will clear up that problem and allow common ownership and shared space for operations with the public.

This summer will also see the two barrels of single malt whiskey distilled to honor our past President Jim Harrelson of Do Good

Distillery from Modesto, CA. We lost Jim in August of 2017 to a heart attack. Several members of CADG (now CDA) gathered to distill the heavily peated malt from Bairds Malt (https://www.bairds-malt.co.uk) at Sutherlands Distilling. The two barrels have traveled California and will come back to Northern California to be bottled. This project will be 100 percent donated and go to fund a new scholarship at University of California, Davis in Jim’s name. We are actively working on the details of the bottle sales, and have big plans with UCD. More information will be available on the California Distillers Association (cadistillers.org).

As always, all DSPs are strongly encouraged to join CDA and be a part of the California distilling community.

all over Florida while also enjoying food, live music, vendors, and more. To get information regarding sponsorship or festival participation, email events@distillery98.com.

more. Stay tuned for more info!

Florida Distillery Trail

The Florida Distillery Trail is going digital! FCSA is close to finalizing the Florida Distillery Trail app which will enable guests to locate distilleries, track their visits, and

engaged consumers, legislative representatives, suppliers, Binny's staff members, industry bartenders, DISCUS members, national and local press, and also generated meaningful revenue to support the guild’s ongoing lobbying efforts.

The Illinois General Assembly did not pass any liquor legislation (for beer, wine, or spirits) in the spring session. However, we continue to push for direct-to-consumer shipping

Cris Steller

Executive Director, California Distillers Association

COMING SOON: E-Commerce

The association is finalizing an e-commerce partnership with Rackhouse through which our member distilleries will be able to sell their spirits online and share their talents with consumers all over the country.

Allison Gorrell Florida Craft Spirits Association

within the state and are also exploring introducing a new class of distilling license as well as special-use permits that would allow for off-site sales opportunities. To this end, our lobbyist team has been maintaining communication with key legislators in both the House and the Senate to push forward a liquor bill during the veto session on Oct-Nov 2023.

Ari Klafter

President, Illinois Craft Distillers Association Head Distiller, Thornton Distilling Company

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NEW YORK NEW YORK STATE DISTILLERS GUILD

The New York State Distillers Guild celebrated a significant legislative win in 2023 while strengthening its position to fight for direct-to-consumer shipping in 2024.

The guild saw enactment of amendments to the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Production Credit that was first enacted for the benefit of breweries then expanded to cover other beverage producers. But that expansion was executed in a way that provided very little benefit for distillers. This legislation, which the Guild

has sought for several years, increased the production credit to $6.44/gallon for most spirits — up from 14 cents/gallon.

The guild raised its visibility among policymakers during the 2023 session, holding a full-scale lobby day and helping members engage with their local legislators as well as key legislative leaders. The guild expects this work will bear fruit as the industry continues to fight hard for the right to ship spirits direct to consumers, which it has shown could be done safely when it was allowed under a temporary order during the pandemic.

The guild continues to engage with its counterpart trade associations of beverage producers in the Empire State, which strengthens the efforts of all parties. “Parity, parity, parity” is the guild’s key message.

The guild held its second member meeting of the year in June, which featured a roundtable discussion with distillery investment professionals and a presentation on state economic development grant funding available to beverage manufacturers. The guild also discussed upcoming public policy and marketing priorities.

Teresa Casey Executive Director, New York State Distillers Guild

NORTH CAROLINA DISTILLERS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH CAROLINA

The North Carolina General Assembly is still in session, and the Distillers Association of North Carolina (DANC) continues to advocate for our legislative priorities. Our priorities include taxation reductions, distillery regulation, and further parity with breweries and wineries. DANC is focused on North Carolina distilleries receiving the authority to offer direct distribution to ABC stores and mixed beverage customers. Under current state law, all suppliers must ship their products to the state ABC warehouse to be distributed to ABC stores. This requirement has

become an issue because of inadequate warehouse space. Recently, DANC was informed that the ABC warehouse is out of storage space and that the ABC Commission has stopped adding products to the warehouse as an emergency measure. This change means that North Carolina distilleries will not have direct access to the ABC distribution system for new products, and these products will be relegated to a special-order process that is difficult for ABC stores to use. The ABC Commission may reinstate profitability thresholds for NC products and list NC products as special-order products if they do not meet the thresholds. These changes are

making it more difficult for North Carolina distilleries to reach consumers and increase our sales. Inadequate warehouse space will continue to be a problem until a new warehouse is constructed. DANC is supporting funding for new warehouse construction in addition to requesting the authority for direct distribution.

Leah Howard President, Distillers Association of North Carolina CEO, Cultivated Cocktails

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We don’t give away participation trophies, but best in class winners do get meetings with the best US retailers.

Since 2007, ADI has upheld the highest standards in the industry by giving our judges the freedom to only award the very best, and being the first competition to provide written feedback for every entry. We accept entries in all classes and categories of distilled spirits, RTDs, cocktail bitters, no/low spirits, mixers, aperitifs & fortified wines.

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BRAND BUZZ W RITTE N B Y D AV I D S CH U E MAN N

PACKAGING & THE LIFECYCLE OF YOUR BRAND

Packaging is one of the most integral parts of your brand.

I

t is your 24/7 salesperson that advocates for your product, so nailing your packaging design is crucial. It’s also not a “set-it-and-forget-it” feature only to be addressed when your packaging stops hitting the mark. Instead, your packaging should continually evolve over time to suit the changing and hopefully growing needs of your brand.

Here are some key milestones along the lifecycle of your brand as to when you should be evaluating your packaging — whether it’s a tweak, a small refresh, or a complete overhaul.

INITIAL LAUNCH You only get one chance to make a first impression. If you don’t get it right the first time, there may not be a second time. Therefore, it is absolutely critical to nail your packaging at launch. When you get it right, here is what your exceptional packaging will do: 1) Invite Trial — Exceptional packaging encourages the consumer to pick up your brand as opposed to your competition. You can have the most incredible product on the market, but how is anyone going to know that unless they actually try it?

2) Reinforce Quality — Your customer’s perception of your product is profoundly influenced by the look and feel of your packaging. Studies

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show that when presented with the same product in different packages, consumers will perceive the taste and smell of a product quite differently depending on the packaging. They also often prefer the taste when it comes from a bottle with the packaging design that they love.

3) Assist Recall — How many times have you tried a new spirits brand at a party, only to get to the liquor store to purchase it yourself and all you can tell the helpful salesperson is, “I think it had a red label?” If your product has a memorable and strategic packaging design that connects with your target audience, recall can be vastly increased for consumers when they are ready to buy.

EXPANDING DISTRIBUTION You’ve made it here. Your initial launch was a success and now it’s time to expand your distribution. Whether you are expanding from a local market to a regional market, regional market to a national market, or even a national market to a global market, it’s the perfect time to reassess your packaging to make sure it’s ready to scale. Here are some important questions that should be asked at key milestones:

> Have I received any feedback from

customers or current/potential distributors on issues or desired changes to packaging?

> Is my packaging doing the best job

at representing my brand story,

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unique selling proposition, and my positioning?

> Are there category trends or category nomenclature that my packaging is not leveraging?

> Does my packaging include referenc-

es that only make sense to my smaller local market, but will be lost on consumers in regional and national distribution?

> Are there components of my pack-

aging that need to be streamlined or eliminated for cost or efficiency reasons?

> Does my product architecture make

sense? Do I need to better differentiate between SKUs? Do I need to create or better establish tiers in my portfolio to qualify differences in quality/pricing?

COMMUNICATION OF CHANGE A packaging redesign can often be leveraged as an outward expression of an inward change. Maybe you have reformulated flavor, improved the quality of your product, or maybe you have executed a complete brand overhaul and are relaunching. Perhaps you are expanding distribution and want to mark this new era with a fresh look. No matter the inward change, a refreshed packaging design is a signal to your consumer to take notice.

We see this in the world of consumer packaged goods (CPGs) all the time. A laundry detergent will redesign its packaging with the promise of “whiter whites and brighter colors” or a cereal will proclaim “now made with

100 percent whole grains.” CPG brands are fantastic at capitalizing on change. While the communication may not need to be as brash as CPG products, this is a tactic alcohol beverage brands should consider leveraging to maintain brand momentum and to potentially steal market share from competitors.

Many distillers make the mistake of assuming that because their sales are good, their packaging can, or should, stay the same.

Don’t leave money on the table. An outside, unbiased assessment of your packaging can reveal new opportunities for communication — especially during these key milestones in the lifecycle of your brand. We’ve seen that even the smallest of changes can translate to big dollars from increased sales.

David Schuemann is the owner and creative director of CF Napa Brand Design. For more information, visit www.cfnapa.com or call (707) 265-1891.

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TEXTING YOUR CUSTOMERS? Dot Your “I’s” and Cross Your TCPAs

T

he TCPA — an innocuous four-letter acronym — stands for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991,1 and though it was passed when cordless landlines were a sign of luxury, it covers not only telephone calls but texts as well.2 The TCPA, itself and through regulations passed by the Federal Communications Commission, sets express regulations on when, and how, you can call or text solicitations to your customers. While full of rules and exceptions, it boils down to a simple maxim: Don’t call or text customers or potential customers without getting their written permission first, and stop calling or texting them when that permission is revoked.

Importantly, the TCPA also sets draconian penalties for violators.

A negligent (read: unintentional) violation carries a per instance penalty of $500. An intentional violation is triple that, for each violation. In other words, if you text 10 customers without permission, the penalty is 10 times. Given the current state of texting technology, businesses can send text message ad campaigns to thousands of customers, those penalties can add up quickly. One court awarded a judgment of nearly a billion dollars against a single company.3 While that amount is an extreme example, even six-figure liability exposure can be enough to tank a business. Accordingly, it’s wise to know the basics of the TCPA so your business doesn’t inadvertently run afoul of its strictures.

1

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227

2

And for the three of you receiving this via fax machines … those too.

3 For the legal nerds out there, the defendant in that case appealed on the grounds that the award was unconstitutionally high. In a glimmer of hope the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Wakefield v. Visalus, Inc. recently reversed the decision. The Court determined that even if the individual penalties ($500 or $1,500) are appropriate, when aggregated across thousands (or millions) of consumers the amount may become impermissibly high. Unfortunately the Court didn’t expressly find the $925 million judgment to be excessive on its face. Instead, it ordered the trial court to assess the award under specific criteria and decide if the amount was appropriate.

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“But what about all of the spam calls and texts I’m getting every day? How are those people staying in business?” you mutter. Point well taken. Some of the companies are run offshore and would be difficult to find and sue. Others are judgment proof and don’t care. Still others hope that with so many violators out there, they can get lost in the noise. But those aren’t the people reading this article. Regardless, there is a healthy contingent of plaintiffs attorneys out there that do nothing but find angry customers that are willing to sue for the promise of some easy money.

Alright so now you’re thinking, “but I don’t text or call my customers with solicitations.” Yes, that’s a great way to avoid TCPA violations. However, there are some insidious business cases to watch out for to make sure you don’t slip into the danger zone.

For example, will someone deem your message a “hybrid” one to which these requirements apply?

First, if your business takes reservations, odds are good you have a system in place to text customers when their table/tour/ etc. is ready. They would have given you their number for that purpose and there is likely no issue texting them for that purpose.

Where you can run into trouble is if you then send them a text with a coupon or something unrelated to their reservation. That can’t be done unless you’ve received express written consent beforehand.

Second, your business’s point-of-sale system may have a customer relationship management system built in. Those systems can collect phone numbers and other customer contact information. Then when you bring in your new marketing director, they see a gold mine of contact information. However, if those customers didn’t consent to solicitations, it’s actually a landmine.

And third, you may be using a vendor to run ad campaigns for you. The law is developing on this issue, and whether you can 27

(2) You can’t call or text personal numbers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient’s time zone.

(3)

be held liable for your vendor violating the TCPA rests on several factors.

So, the most important thing to consider when selecting such a vendor is to discuss what their TCPA compliance program entails and make sure it’s robust.

For those of you who do market by phone or text here’s the most likely TCPA issues you’ll run into: (1) As mentioned above, you can’t solicit customers by text unless you have their prior express written consent.

4

https://www.donotcall.gov/

Businesses must maintain (and honor) an internal list of customers that have opted out of calls or texts. They must also honor the National Do Not Call Registry.4

(4) You can’t solicit residences using an artificial voice or a recording. Nor can you place any call or text using automated telephone equipment.

This was just a brief overview of some of the pitfalls the TCPA presents. If a vendor or you are going to be texting your customers, make sure you’ve reviewed the current state of the law, so you’re not left holding the bag when the summons comes in the mail.

And remember, when in doubt, talk it out … with an attorney.

Tom Woods is a Partner with the law firm Stoel Rives LLP where he is a commercial dispute and consumer practices litigator. He can be reached at tawoods@stoel.com or 916-319-4748.

Corey Day is an alcohol beverage attorney and litigator at Stoel Rives LLP and can be reached via email at corey.day@stoel.com or by phone at (916) 319-4670.

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended to be a source of general information, not an opinion or legal advice on any specific situation and does not create an attorney-client relationship with our readers.

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DEATH

BY A THOUSAND CUTS W R I T T E N B Y R E A D E A . H U DDLESTON, M SC.

IT’S NOT JUST YOU. THE STRUGGLES FACING AN INDUSTRY.

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et’s be honest for a second: Many craft distillers are struggling right now. Despite record growth in the spirits industry, which grew by 7.3 percent in 2021, many craft distillers are hurting and some of them are closing their doors for good. There is no one reason for these struggles, and each distiller’s situation is unique. However, there are some things that are affecting us as a whole, and the purpose of this article is to shed light on just a few of these issues.

In some ways, the problems craft spirits producers are dealing with are nothing new.

Well before the pandemic’s upending of the economic and logistic landscape, distillers were contending with problems like barrel and raw material shortages. Recently though, these problems seem to have spread to traditionally stable items. For example, quality malt, which is a key ingredient in many distilled product recipes, used to be easily and cheaply acquired by almost any distiller; however, things have changed. This past few years’ harvest of malt quality barley has been some of the lowest on record, and many maltsters and farmers expect that trend to continue. Part of the reason for this is climate change. Recent droughts and wildfires have put strain on growers, resulting in low yields with less than acceptable quality.

The other part, though, is good old-fashioned economics. “We’ve made malt-quality barley a losing proposition for growers,” said Matt W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

Drew, a maltster based in Missoula, Montana. “We’ve seen that year after year in data showing acreage being lost to soybeans, corn, and any number of other crops that are not only more lucrative, but that also require much less care, ongoing maintenance.” The problem of sourcing good malt has also been exacerbated by the recent closure of several maltsters; most notable is Skagit Valley Malting, which abruptly closed its doors in June. This means that distillers have to change how they use malt. Drew said “the reality is that things are different because it’s not uncommon to be forced to choose between turning the lights off or using 30 percent more grain to hit yield numbers.”

Raw materials shortages aren’t the only problem. The cost of doing business is also rising. “Cost of goods has skyrocketed,” said Colin Keegan, owner of Santa Fe Spirits. “We’ve seen a 38 percent increase this year across the board.”

Some of this is due to inflation, but it’s also thanks to increased logistics costs.

The American Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) published data showing that over the past year the cost of freight was at an all-time high. This means that distilleries had to pay more than ever to get their products to market, eating into their already small margins. Luckily, the BTS predicts that transportation costs should begin to normalize in the coming months, though they will never return to pre-pandemic levels. This is good news for some, but 31

for many distillers in small towns or out of the way markets, it is little comfort. “The problem is we are what is known as a deadhead here,” said Keegan.“There’s nothing to take out of this city, so truckers don’t want to come.” This lack of incentive keeps freight costs high in Santa Fe and similar locations, and makes it harder for small distilleries that can’t afford to fill an entire truck to compete.

Aside from increasing costs and raw material shortages craft distillers are also dealing with another problem: politics. The distilled spirits industry is no stranger to political opposition. Ask any distiller in a state with blue laws and they will tell you that the temperance movement is alive and well. However, distilled spirits have recently come under fire from a somewhat surprising place. Last June, the Beer Institute, which is a national trade organization dedicated to promoting the American beer industry, launched a website titled Standwithbeer.org. The stated goal of the website is to educate consumers on the dangers of liquor and to highlight the positive impact that beer has on the economy. Bill Crawford, the CEO of the Beer Institute, said that the website was “an unparalleled tool to teach consumers about the vibrant $409 billion beer industry while holding the liquor industry accountable.” This antagonistic statement shocked many in craft spirits, especially because not long-ago members of both groups had worked hand in hand to push forward the craft beverage modernization act, the passage of which opened the doors for craft producers on both sides of the aisle. The Beer Institute has also stated that it intends to fight any attempts made by liquor to achieve

tax equivalency, a move that many in the liquor industry believe is specifically designed to hamstring distillers’ entrance into the burgeoning canned cocktail market.

In recent years, the alcohol industry has seen a rapid shift in consumer appetites.

Fueled in part by the rise of hard seltzers, consumers are becoming less and less brand loyal and are instead looking for what’s new.

Although this has been a boon to some producers — especially those able to quickly pivot to canned cocktails — it can also put a real strain on distillers trying to make aged spirits. Robert Likarish, of Iron Root Republic in Denison, Texas, calls it the beerification of whiskey. “The enthusiast every month wants something new, unique, and interesting.” However, as every good distiller knows, great products take time, and sometimes you just have to “hurry up and wait.” This can be detrimental though because customers can get bored and lose interest; particularly when there are many other brands vying for their dollars. “There’s been a 500 percent increase in three years [of craft distillers in our downtown],” Keegan said. “Sometimes we just get squeezed out.” This can be especially painful for midsized distillers who are less agile than small distillers but still have high operating costs to attend to. “I wish I were either way smaller or way bigger” said one owner I talked to. “At this size I just can’t compete.”

Finally, and perhaps the most taboo problem to talk about with other distillers, is burnout. Distilling is hard work, and many craft distillers have to wear different hats and do more than one job in order for the company to survive. This variability in work can put a

real strain on people. “It seems whoever I talk to recently, no matter if they are big or small there isn’t enough time,” said one distiller I spoke with recently. For some businesses the long hours and often minimal benefits coupled with lower average pay can make working in a craft distillery tough. This can be doubly true for owner operators, who have often invested significantly into the startup and operation of a distillery. It can be disheartening to watch something you have put so many years into struggle. Once burnout sets in, it can lower morale and create a vicious cycle that puts the future of an entire distillery at risk.

This is just a short list of the myriad number of problems that craft distillers are facing right now; and unfortunately none of them have simple solutions. Many problems have deep roots and solving them will take time. Something some distillers just don’t have. However, that does not mean that the task is impossible; nor does it mean that we shouldn’t try. I believe that craft spirits' best days are still ahead, and that is a sentiment that I have heard echoed by almost every person I interviewed for this article. The first step in solving any problem is admitting you have one. If you are having problems, I encourage you to reach out to others in this community, they may have solutions and if nothing else at least you can share a drink together.

Reade A. Huddleston, MSc. in Brewing and Distilling, is a beverage industry consultant based in Tampa, Florida. He is fascinated with all things drinkable and is always searching for strange and forgotten spirits. If you would like to contact him about said spirits, or anything else, please email him at ReadeHuddleston@gmail.com.

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License Maintenance and Upkeep

F

ew things can dampen the fun of distilling like paperwork, especially when that paperwork comes with deadlines. However, operating in a highly regulated industry requires tedious license application processes and constant ongoing license maintenance.

Businesses of all sizes are required to manage alcohol licenses, among many others, and they each must be renewed and updated at all times to be in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. While undeniably boring, these tasks require vigilant oversight by licensees to quickly detect and effectively address administrative or liability problems that can arise under even the best-managed operations.

Maintaining all of these licenses can be a daunting and difficult task for a business owner that has infinite other responsibilities.

However, a simple oversight such as failing to maintain a proper mailing address or contact information may result in missing a license renewal notice, which could yield significant consequences such as license expiration.

Such consequences can be avoided by understanding exactly what obligations correspond with maintaining an accurate license and proactively addressing changes as they arise.

Understanding the Maintenance Required What exactly does license maintenance entail? First and foremost, it requires submitting timely renewals and payments to the issuing agency. Additionally, licensees must keep a close eye out for any notices, requests, or communications from these agencies, and they must respond when required. Licensees have a continuing duty to ensure that all information disclosed to the agency on the original application remains

TIME TO DO YOUR CHORES! Written by Lauren Voke & John P. Thomas, II with contributions by Bentley Nettles

accurate with current information. It is important to understand what license you have, which agency issued the license, and if there is more than one license that is applicable to your business operations. Bentley Nettles, an alcohol beverage consultant at GrayRobinson, P.A. and prior director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control, said that the most common violations when it comes to maintaining licenses are failing to renew the license and failing to disclose a change of officer.

It is important to understand the entirety of information disclosed to different government entities, even if it doesn’t relate directly to the alcohol beverage license. Tax information and payments, updates with secretaries of state, and business, health, and occupational permits can all wreak havoc on the alcohol license renewal process if not properly maintained. State and local governments will often compare the information listed in renewals with these other sources to ensure that there is consistency and that all changes have been disclosed.

Changes in the Business One aspect of license maintenance that is often overlooked are changes to the licensed business. Few things can dampen the excitement of a new investment or the addition of a new member to your team than learning that your licenses may be imperiled because you forgot to update the appropriate agencies.

These changes can encompass a wide variety of actions, and it is critical that licensees are aware of what requires disclosure and what doesn’t. Minor changes generally only require notice to the agency, such as sending a letter or other communication, and significant changes will require approval. What is considered “minor” versus “significant” will depend on the agency. Minor changes could be updating a mailing address, removing an officer, or undergoing a nominal (often deemed less than 10 percent) ownership change.

Significant changes could be adding or changing an officer, moving the licensed business to a new address, or undergoing a significant (often deemed more than 10 percent) ownership change. Importantly, while most states require notification of the change within a certain timeframe (generally 10-30 days) from the date that the change occurred, other states require pre-approval for these changes and must receive notification beforehand.

Understanding these timelines is critical to ensuring all updates are filed in a timely manner.

There are many sporadic changes that may occur with a business that may not obviously trigger notification requirements but nonetheless warrant disclosure. If an individual member or officer (or, in some states, even a store manager) is convicted of a crime, that individual may no longer be qualified to hold an alcohol license. Another scenario is if you undergo significant

If an individual member or officer (or, in some states, even a store manager) is convicted of a crime, that individual may no longer be qualified to hold an alcohol license.

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renovations to conditions to whether or not a license can be renewed. pay out on a claim. the licensed premIn addition to the statutory and regulatory In these circumstances, ises that would render sanctions, many licensees fail to consider the based on your policy, the inthe floor plan on file with the interplay of proper license maintenance and surer may refuse the claim because agency inaccurate, such as extendother crucial business operations. First, these your business was not fully licensed to ing the licensed premises to adding consequences could be a default on your fido business at the time of the claim, and the nancing as most financing documents include more alcohol storage or creating room for business was therefore conducting business language requiring that the business owner additional distilling equipment. In the event on that date in an unlawful manner. who borrowed the money for the licensed of an inspection, you could be subject to enNettles recommends implementing best business will maintain the applicable licensforcement action for serving, storing, or manpractices to avoid maintenance errors by es/permits and registrations in good standufacturing alcohol at an unlicensed premises monitoring permits, paying because the license was not close attention to renewal updated to reflect the renodates, submitting timely revations. Proper maintenance A good rule of thumb is to remember that any failure newal documents, utilizing of a license is crucial to avoid to conform with the information set forth in the original online licensing systems, and any interruptions in business leveraging licensing agenoperations, even if it may not license application may result in an enforcement action. cy personnel for assistance. seem that a change warrants Hiring a third-party comnotification. pany to manage your licenses is an effective ing. Meaning the failure to have all licenses A good rule of thumb is to remember that approach to maintaining licenses. In hiring a and permits paid and current may result in any failure to conform with the information third party, Nettles recommends being dila default on a loan note. Another scenario set forth in the original license application could be in relation to an insurance claim. igent in vetting that company to ensure that may result in an enforcement action. Any they are reputable and accountable in their If you file an insurance claim as a result of a such change must be reported through the management responsibilities, and also take storm, a patron injury, or any other type of inprocess that the agency requires, whether the time to stay informed and privy to corresurance claim, your insurance policy may rethrough a formal approval process or a simspondence relating to the license so you know quire that all applicable licenses, registrations, ple notification letter. Most agencies require the status of the license at all times. and permits are in good standing as one of the licensees to warrant that there have been no changes to the information the agency has on file during each renewal period.

Implications of Maintenance Failures Most state agencies impose direct consequences for failing to properly maintain licenses such as monetary penalties and late fees. In most cases, substantial or repetitive noncriminal violations can also result in license revocation. There are many instances where failure to comply with the statutes or regulations that set these requirements have predetermined penalties set forth in the statutes or regulations that the agency is obligated to enforce. For example, failing to renew a license in New Jersey will require the licensee to petition the agency for an opportunity to renew the license — a process that will cost a licensee time and money. Other state laws and regulations grant agencies discretion to d e te r m i n e

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John P. Thomas II is an associate in GrayRobinson’s Tampa office and a member of the firm’s Nationwide Alcohol Industry Group. John works with all three tiers and all three segments of the alcohol industry, including substantial work experience with distillers. Prior to joining GrayRobinson and while in law school, John served as a Senior Judicial Intern at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for the Honorable Amanda Arnold Sansome. Subsequently, he became a Gubernatorial Fellow for the Florida Gubernatorial Fellows Program, where he served within the Department of Management Services. Call (813) 273-5046 or email john.thomas@gray-robinson.com for more information.

Lauren Voke is an associate in GrayRobinson’s Miami office and a member of the firm’s Nationwide Alcohol Industry Group. Prior to becoming an associate, Lauren was a law clerk supporting the nationwide alcohol beverage department, where she developed an understanding of the three-tier alcohol beverage system, tied-house issues, trade practice compliance, and federal and state alcohol licensing. Her practice as an associate involves providing counsel on alcohol licensing and general regulatory compliance with a focus on complex regulatory matters concerning alcohol, tobacco, and gaming activities. Call (305) 420-3943 or email lauren.voke@ gray-robinson.com for more information.

Bentley Nettles is an alcohol beverage consultant for GrayRobinson’s Nationwide Alcohol Industry Group.

He serves as a seasoned guide for the team’s alcohol beverage, retail, and hospitality clients both in Texas and throughout the country. Following a successful career as an attorney and brigadier general for the Texas Army National Guard, Bentley was appointed executive director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). During his tenure with TABC, Bentley led the consolidation of multiple license and permit types, helped develop new standards simplifying the process for malt beverage manufacturers to enter the industry, and implemented efficiencies in policy and rulemaking to improve transparency and ensure stakeholder participation. Bentley and his team developed and implemented several historic legislative improvements and programs while at TABC including, but not limited to, the Alcohol Industry Management System (AIMS) and a standard penalty guideline for regulatory violations. Call (305) 294-0252 or email bentley.nettles@gray-robinson.com for more information.

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SELF-DISTRIBUTION

Part one of three

e m a G t n e r e f f i D A g n i P l ay

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ust ten years ago, there were fewer than 500 craft distillers in the United States. In August 2022, there were 2,687 according to the Craft Spirits Data Project. In 2020, craft spirits comprised 4.7 percent of spirits sales by volume and 7.1 percent by value, totaling $6.7 billion. And the craft spirits market share has nearly doubled since 2016. IWSR global trends report predicts that the value of craft spirits will double again by 2025. Yes, you read that right — set to double in just the next 18 months. Today, craft is no longer a rarity; it’s a rapidly growing part of the fabric of the spirits industry.

This rapid growth will impact everything from the way we make our products to the way we distribute them — and the way we contend with our competition. While there is, of course, competition among craft spirits producers, the impact of the big five multinational producers on the craft distilling market can’t be overstated. They have the money, connections, economies of scale, marketing, and access to public capital markets that we, as craft distillers, do not. And the fact is, we’re never going to beat the big five at their game. So, we must play a different game. One way we can do so is to reconsider our distribution models.

Build a New System

The current distribution model doesn’t work for most craft distillers, and it’s no surprise. It wasn’t built for us. And it certainly is not optimized to help us grow. If a distributor can make 35 percent selling a household name Kentucky bourbon vs. hand selling Black Button Distilling, then why wouldn’t they sell that big-name Kentucky bourbon? They have to do what is in their best interest.

When there were just a few hundred craft distilleries, the idea of going national was possible. But today, increasing competition among the thousands of craft distilleries nationwide, coupled with the strong brand presence of the big five, makes it hard for us as a New York whiskey to succeed in a state like Texas, for example. Texas had 173 active craft distillers in August 2022 (Craft Spirits Data Project). Why would a Texas distributor take on New York whiskey when there’s plenty of Texas whiskey to go around? Or, more importantly, why would a Texas consumer pick up a bottle of New York whiskey on a Texas shelf?

And, if a distributor gets paid by percentage, then volume is a key factor in their bottom line. For example, 20 percent of 2000 is better than 30 percent of 1,000. Distributors have the allure that you only pay a percentage of sales, but 35 percent of low sales volumes is still not enough money to live on. If this model doesn’t work for us, then it’s a good bet it isn’t working for other craft producers.

So, instead of fighting the system, we’re building our own.

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Building Relationships, Telling Our Story

More important than the economics of craft, is the relationship between us and the retailers. If the last three years have taught me anything, it’s how important these relationships are. The relationship is the difference between the bottom shelf and eye level.

The difference between being delisted or given a second chance.

The stores and their staff knowing our story and sharing that with customers is much of what moves the needle. And it starts with relationships.

In New York, we’re fortunate to have independent liquor stores.

When we self-distribute, we get to work with those small businesses with no one in between. We employ full-time dedicated Key Account Managers (KAM) for our brand, allowing us to be true partners to our accounts. They make their living telling our story and selling our products. We train them, manage them, coach them, and support them with a tasting team of our own part-time Brand Ambassador employees.

Instead of existing as one of hundreds of brands in a distributor’s books, our KAMs go beyond just today’s sale at an account. They look at the account and make recommendations on how to grow the business together for the long term. They seek opportunities to put point of sale in the right positions, create unique events that drive movement on the shelf, and provide digital marketing assets to get the word out to the store’s customers. We can go so much deeper in support of our accounts through our self-distribution team than we could afford through a traditional distribution model.

That is why we call our sales team members Key Account Managers, not sales reps. They are partners looking for every opportunity to grow the brand and support their accounts. Doing this is incredibly expensive, labor intensive, and time intensive, but it works for us.

Opportunities in In-State Markets

We sell tens of thousands of cases a year, and 99 percent of it is in upstate New York. That’s only one small part of the state. So, this year we’re going to redeploy our efforts and focus on the entire state of New York, where we already have a start on brand presence and name recognition. We plan to expand into sub-markets like the Hudson Valley, Long Island, and New York City, where there is a huge opportunity for us.

Instead of fighting the system, we’re building our own

Written by Jason Barrett

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We must be smart about how we market to and support accounts where physical shelf space is limited 40

Using KAMs also allows us to be more nimble. We work with a delivery company in New York, and in most parts of the state we can deliver within a few days of the order. One other advantage of the self-distribution model in New York is the ability for our KAMs to do deliveries. If an account is in a pinch and needs product quickly, a KAM can load their trunk with the product and bring it straight to the account on their own.

Currently, we are adding several additional KAMs in the New York City market from Westchester all the way to the end of Long Island. We’re increasing our sales presence in New York City this summer by 400 percent. The demographic and density of accounts in this marketplace make it one of the greatest opportunities for growth in the state.

In fact, as we grow into New York City, we believe we can increase our business five-fold without opening in any new states. And as our volume increases, the economics of self-distribution get better and better.

With that much opportunity, we need to have our dedicated KAMs positioned strategically to allow them to be successful. The New York City market comes with its own challenges logistically. We must be smart about how we market to and support accounts where physical shelf space is limited. Our KAMs also have to consider time their greatest resource when transit is much more difficult than upstate.

People are Your Biggest Asset

We are confident that the best way for Black Button Distilling to grow and be a great partner to our accounts is through our self-distribution model. For those looking to start a self-distribution team, assuming your state allows this model, the people you bring on are your most important asset. Having a KAM who is an “order taker” will make it hard to succeed. You need individuals who are self-motivated, always working to mutually improve their accounts, and have passion for the brand. When you find those special individuals — and it isn’t easy — your brand and accounts will benefit greatly.

Jason Barrett is the Founder/Master Distiller of Black Button Distilling, the first craft distillery in Rochester, NY since Prohibition.

This summer, Black Button Distilling is celebrating a decade of crafting grain-to-glass craft spirits. A New York State Farm Distillery, Black Button Distilling is the first distillery in New York to obtain the New York State Grown and Certified status for commitment to locally sourced ingredients and high standards of quality. Named New York Distillery of the Year (2016 & 2021) at The New York International Spirits Competition, Black Button Distilling has produced more than million bottles of spirits and has been named to the Inc. 5,000 list of fastest growing privately owned companies four times. To learn more about Black Button Distilling, visit www.blackbuttondistilling.com.

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A E N I F E D O T HOW H G U O R H T Y R DISTILLE INFORMATION Disclosures, Good Writing, and Consumer Education vs. Rules and Guidelines WRITTEN BY CHRISTOPHER CARLSSON

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his piece is a result of a long discussion on what defines craft distillation (at a bar with distillers, of course). After a full day of hearing lies, obfuscation, and innuendo about numerous products and their representatives who knowingly or unknowingly were trying to pass off mass-produced commercial products as handmade or craft at a liquor store trade show, I decided to write this proposal in an attempt to cut through some of the smoke and mirrors that are rife in the industry now.

This could have also been alternatively titled “How to Write a Press Release” or “What to Stick on Your Website” or some such.

Rather than depend on regulations, guidelines, labeling, and fairy stories, I propose we use information and disclosure to inform people about craft distilling and how a distillery and its products can be defined or identified as craft by a consumer.

Below is a list of questions or talking points to ask yourself and use by listing them on your website, company information handouts, or other PR materials to inform and promote your company and products to the public.

These questions or talking points will rapidly distinguish a real craft operation (or degree of craft at least) from the Potemkin

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village-type operations that cannot answer these questions. They should be used by both the industry to write better profiles and also be asked of distillers by consumers, journalists, and authors, and should be answered as fully as possible to show what you are about.

Now some of these questions may seem like they border on proprietary information, but most of the information outlined here can be found through public records or direct observation, at least in terms of equipment, so why not be forthcoming and educational on most points?

MATERIALS Are you farm to flask or tree to bottle? Do you grow your own raw material? Is your feedstock grown locally, or at least in your state?

What percentage is it of the total? What kind of water? Source, and characteristics, e.g., reverse osmosis, well water, limestone, deep aquifer, glacial melt, lakes or tap water.

PROCESSING Do you process your feedstock yourself as in malt, grind, press, macerate, mash, or otherwise prepare?

FERMENTATION Do you ferment material in-house? If so, what is the fermentation time? Special yeasts?

Music played? Agitation? Special sugars?

What other unique aspects to your fermentation? Do you buy already fermented products, e.g., beer or wine type material, and distill it? If so, what types, origins, ABV, etc.?

STILL Who is the manufacturer? What about size, type pot, column, pot column hybrid, alembic, charentais, custom, hand-built etc. What type of material (copper, wood, and/or stainless)? In the case of column types, what about the number of plates, height, etc.? In the case of pot stills what about Lyne arms, shape, reflux, thumpers, etc.? Type of firing (gas, coal, or wood; direct flame, steam, electric, water bath, oil bath, etc.)? Any other points that make your distillation equipment interesting or unique is illuminating and appreciated.

DISTILLATION AND BOTTLING METHODS Any unique points? Continuous or column still? Do you have a “one-of-a-kind” still? Use direct fire? Do you hand bottle, or utilize an automated line?

AGING Barrels used for aging, what are the different finishes? Length of time, type of storage/ warehouse?

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CAPACITY OR CURRENT PRODUCTION Preferably in bottles — not cases or gallons.

ALL NATURAL, GREEN, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY TALKING POINTS Organic, natural, non-GMO, or local material? Direct from the grower? Fair Trade, feedstock recycling for reuse by farmers or others for feed, composting, recycled into kitchen or bakery etc.? Is there waste heat recycling for preheating, heating building, gardens, ponds, etc.? Are heads and tails recycled as in burned in patio heaters, donated for cleaning, etc.? Is glass or paper recycled for bottling and labels? Organic ink ? Percentages? Any recycling programs for bottles or other waste products?

EMPLOYMENT How many? Local? Minority, women, veterans etc.? Training programs?

Compensation (minimum wage, health insurance, etc.)?

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ECONOMIC IMPACT How many other people do you spend money with, especially locally, and what percentage?

Considering label and graphics, printing, sales, advertising, freight, legal, etc. Overall, how much do you put in/spend in the local economy (10, 30, 50, 100-mile radius etc.)?

WHAT’S YOUR STORY? Who are you? Why do you do this? Do your relatives, friends, or old college buddies work here?

How is the operation funded, such as life savings, house, credit cards, bank, or grants? Who are the owners/principal investors? Is it a workers coop?

What kind of startup challenges did you face? Is there a human interest aspect? Children and pets?

Charitable causes/donations? Do you have tours or invite people (especially industry people) to the facility to learn more? Do you have handouts, visual aids, or AV materials both for tours and talks outside the distillery? Do you reach out to the local community and tell them what you do?

And while pictures are worth thousands of words, hard information with pictures is even better!

This information will be useful to not only distilling geeks but also fans of your products so they can talk more knowledgeably about your products and exactly how they came to be. This information could be in the body of a handout or website or could be placed in a separate area or link so as not to make your initial piece too wordy. Suggested titles — Geeky Details, Under the Hood, TMI, What Makes Us Craft, Our Craft Credentials, etc.

Don’t depend on truth in labeling — depend on truth in disclosure and information. And no, we did not come up with point systems so you could pull rank on each other. I’ll leave that up to you and the people that buy your products.

Christopher Carlsson is a journalist, photographer, certified cognac educator, professional spirits judge and consultant, writer, mixologist, adventurer, and social activist. You can find him at spiritsreview.com.

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BAR CONVENT BROOKLYN 2023:

Bigger, Better, & No Bad Bugs

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Professionals from bar and beverage gather to network and educate

Written by RICH MANNING Photos provided by BAR CONVENT BROOKLYN

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he first thing I saw when I entered Bar Convent Brooklyn were big name and craft spirits brands lining the bustling greenbelt laid between Buildings 7 and 8 of Brooklyn’s sprawling Industry City complex. This was expected and terrific.

The second thing I noticed, however, was the blast of cold air that hit me when I first stepped into Building 8 to check out more brands. This was hoped for, and its presence set a tone for the event that couldn’t necessarily be achieved by the mere presence of exceptional booze.

Understanding why requires a look back at last year’s event, affectionately known as BCB. The air conditioning in the same Industry City buildings failed on the first day, leading to sweltering conditions and periodic water station shortages. That initial sensation of artificial breeze erased any concerns about ungodly temperatures interfering with a good time. This naturally made it easier to focus on enjoying familiar brands and discovering new finds.

Good thing, too: BCB 2023 was massive. The need for more space to properly showcase participating brands turned the exhibition area into a two-story affair. The expanded floor plan turned out to be a blessing at one point: A brief but aggressive shock of rain on day two drove attendees exploring brands on the

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outdoor greenbelt inside for roughly 20 minutes, and it still didn’t feel all that constricted.

The larger display area allowed industry heavyweights to flex their creativity and budgeting muscles — Campari’s recreation of JFK’s TWA Hotel lounge and Brown-Forman’s Brooklyn bodega replica were most noteworthy — but it also provided the craft, independent, and small-batch brands plenty of room to command attention with their bottles and stories. This was by design. Like last year, BCB featured an Emerging Brands rectangular kiosk specifically designed to give fledgling labels with smaller budget options a chance to be seen

in a concentrated setting. “This year, we saw a wide range of products from around the world, from a Scottish-based alcohol-free spirit to a premium gin made in Mexico City,” explained Jackie Williams, Bar Convent Brooklyn’s event director. “We recognize it can be challenging for smaller brands to participate in such large events, so offering this turnkey option makes it a worthwhile investment of their time and resources.”

Artisan brands with a larger market presence shared the rest of the floor, with the big brands, and held their own rather impressively.

According to Williams, this slice of the craft sector sees the two-day

“We recognize it can be challenging for smaller brands to participate in such large events, so offering this turnkey option makes it a worthwhile investment of their time and resources.”

— JACKIE WILLIAMS Event Director, Bar Convent Brooklyn W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

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event as a prime opportunity to scale their market presence even higher. “We’ve seen this sector grow every year, and these brands see Bar Convent Brooklyn as a really important opportunity to get in-front of the right people,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of brands come back and tell us how fruitful it was to attend and/or participate.”

BEYOND THE TASTINGS Tasting spirits at a convention over two days is obviously fun, but taking deeper dives into the business of booze is important. BCB provided ample opportunity for the latter through its robust education program. The 55 sessions covered a host of angles that would be relevant to a distiller’s interests, from business-driven discussions like developing effective marketing strategies to nerdy science stuff like exploring connections between distilling and perfume creation. “The education programming is an essential part of Bar Convent Brooklyn,” Williams said. “Across the board, the event hosted 121 speakers, and all of the sessions were incredibly well attended.”

There was also a substantial increase in events around Brooklyn and Manhattan compared to last year. Plenty of bars in the two boroughs seized the opportunity to promote special one-night bar takeovers and pop-ups, while large and craft labels alike held brand activations of various sizes. On one level, it was a signal that whatever remnant of worry about the pandemic was unequivocally

whisked away. On another level, it indicated Bar Convent Brooklyn’s ability to draw different components of the overarching drinks industry is stronger than ever before.

The increase of activities outside BCB mirrored the main event’s expansion within Industry City. Williams already sees the need to reserve more floor space as a distinct possibility for 2024. “This year marked the largest show floor that Bar Convent Brooklyn has ever had, and we look to continue that upward trajectory each year,” she said. “Given this success, we do have an opportunity for growth next year, particularly in having more space so that we can continue showcasing more brands, while also allowing a little more room for attendees to spread out and explore.”

This begs a question that was bounced around during the convention’s second day: Will Bar Convent Brooklyn outgrow its current venue? It’s not an immediate issue to address — Industry City will host the fete once more in 2024, and the venue’s network of long, narrow multi-story buildings still has plenty of space to be utilized. For now, however, Williams is content with the support the event’s received in its current digs.

“Nothing is ever set in stone, so who knows what the event will look like five years down the line,” she said. “But we are incredibly appreciative of the support and hospitality that Industry City has shown us these last two years.”

It's quite clear the industry will show up, from the large brands to the small labels. Hopefully, the air conditioning will continue to be in full force, too.

Visit www.barconventbrooklyn.com for more information.

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The

SECOND EDITION

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Peer-reviewed, original scientific papers • Reporting significant research • Technical reports • Applicable analytical techniques and methods • Reviews

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THREE TIER WOES

AN OLD SYSTEM CONTINUES TO BRING NEW HEADACHES WRITTEN BY SAILOR GUEVARA PHOTOGRAPHY BY AUSTEN DIAMOND

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ith over 2,000 craft distilleries in the United States, you can expect to find a local distillery pretty much anywhere across this vast country. Still, discovering spirits made in Salt Lake City and the mountains of Utah is surprising considering its history of prohibition. Since Dented Brick Distillery opened its doors in 2016, its intention of offering artisan-made spirits carrying the distinct terroir of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains has provided craft spirits enthusiasts with the unexpected. However, like so many distilleries around the country, the old systems built around the alcohol industry haven't always made it easy.

Dented Brick’s owner, Marc Christiansen, built his distillery for capacity, but Christiansen has faced a continued uphill battle with the three-tier system and the beverage distributor system in the U.S. The three-tier system consists of importers or producers, distributors, and retailers. The W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

system's basic structure makes it so that producers can sell their products only to wholesale distributors, who then sell to retailers, and only retailers may sell to consumers. Some states are considered control states. Utah’s explanation of its system is; “The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (UDABC) is an independent state department. It operates a network of state stores and package agencies that sell all alcoholic beverages, except beer containing less than 5% alcohol by volume (ABV and sold in grocery and convenience stores) and maintains wholesale control.”

The UDABC has existed since 1935, two years after prohibition was repealed.

From 2003 through 2020, the UDABC has contributed about $2 billion to the state. Logic demands that the State of Utah and other such states benefiting from alcohol sales would encourage more alcohol businesses in their state and benefit further from solid

partnerships with in-state alcohol businesses to ensure healthy growth, and safe consumption. Yet alcohol still burdens under the weight of the so-called ‘sin tax.’ A tax referred to because, unlike a general sales tax, the tax is levied in part to discourage the consumption of alcohol and because of potential health costs to the consumer and the general public (such as increased health care costs).

Yet, it seems not all sin is created equal. The inequity in the regulations that beer and wine brands enjoy is a deep hardship for liquor brands. Often, beer and wine may sell directly to consumers or bypass certain levels of the three-tier system and often pay less taxes.

Alcohol taxes are selective sales taxes on the purchase of alcohol. Most states levy the tax as an amount per unit sold (i.e., per gallon of beer, wine, or liquor). The producer or seller

It seems not all sin is created equal.

The inequity in the regulations that beer and wine brands enjoy is a deep hardship for liquor brands.

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of the product pays the tax on the wholesale transaction, but it's assumed the tax is then included in the final purchase price and thus passed on to consumers. Additionally, some states and localities collect revenue from government-owned liquor stores.

In addition to the difficulty of selling within one’s state, every state is responsible for its regulations, which poses significant challenges for small craft liquor brands to navigate national distribution as an option. Speaking of national sales, in November of 2022, Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) completed its purchase of Young’s Market, a U.S. distributor. This consolidation created pains for many U.S. brands, bars, restaurants, and stores. Brands selling to certain accounts had their products removed without notice

in some cases, drastically reducing their sales.

Christiansen provides an example: Dented Brick won a competition for placement in one of the U.S.’s largest supermarket chains; they had spent months and thousands of dollars to win the placement. All was going well until their distributor was purchased, and they lost their placement without any hope of regaining the business because who they sell to is not always in their control.

In addition, Dented Brick cannot ship their products directly to consumers inside or outside the state. If Dented Brick captures any sales from a tourist, once that tourist returns home, Dented Brick cannot continue that relationship. The barriers of the three-tier system, and state regulations, prevent that sale from happening.

In 2022 a Direct-to-Consumer Spirits Shipping Report was prepared by Sovos, and the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) found that consumers want their favorite spirits shipped to their front doors and would regularly order if they were more widely available. “Eighty percent of regular craft spirits drinkers would purchase spirits DtC [direct to consumer] monthly if permitted in their state — yet spirits DtC interstate shipping is only currently available in eight states and Washington, D.C. The potential of this

Like so many distilleries around the country, the old systems built around the alcohol industry haven't always made it easy for Dented Brick Distillery.

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As the consolidation solidifies in the business of U.S. liquor distribution and more corporate liquor brands purchase smaller brands, it seems a real threat to craft spirits exists, and the way forward must be a united front.

There are initiatives to ex-

mostly untapped market is enormous. (Regular craft spirits drinkers are defined as those who drink craft spirits at least once per month.)”

Furthermore, consumers are often shocked to discover that laws prevent them from receiving spirits in the mail either from their state or the distillery’s state. Which leaves them perplexed as they receive their wine via the mail.

Consumer education is critical in the fight for spirits sales and distribution equity.

There may be hope for the future with the support of organizations like the American Distilling Institute, ACSA, and Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America. There are numerous initiatives to cure some of these issues, and many distillers form their own Guilds to work with their state’s leadership to create partnerships and educate on the barriers craft spirits face.

pand DtC models, where distilleries can sell directly to consumers.

As Christiansen’s distillery approaches the ten-year mark, he states that he only produces a fraction of the forecasted volume from when he started. He planned a distillery to focus on creating artisan spirits but has had to pivot plans to stay profitable. He is now deciding whether to purchase adjacent property to host a bar and restaurant, hoping to increase case depletion through pours and increase income as many distilleries have done in the last several years if their states allow. To do so Christiansen must purchase another liquor

license, however, on-premise licenses are not available in his county, so he will have to wait to explore that option.

As the consolidation solidifies in the business of U.S. liquor distribution and more corporate liquor brands purchase smaller brands, it seems a real threat to craft spirits exists, and the way forward must be a united front. Strong distillers guilds, support for the spirit organizations involved in legislation, and consumer education might be the answer to resolving the issues that craft distilleries face.

Sailor Guevara, a veteran of the spirits and hospitality industry, the 2020 winner of the World of Whiskey Icon award and an author and contributor to several spirits publications. As acclaimed podcast host and published mixologist Sailor enjoys sharing her passion for spirits and music with the world.

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R Y E

America’s original whiskey is not a monolith.

It is a multitude.

Written by Gabe Toth

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s rye whiskey has continued its slow climb back to prominence after all but disappearing by the middle of the last century, there is not one defined “rye whiskey.” Rather, regional styles have started to provide contrast among the rye whiskeys that come from certain states in the northeast where it originated.

From the founding of the country even up to the present day, rye has been widespread as a cover crop. However, unlike the current agricultural economy, the frugal nature of life in the American

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colonies encouraged farmers of the time to harvest and make use of the grain rather than simply growing it for its beneficial impact on soil and then plowing it under.

“Rye was the first whiskey made in the U.S., not bourbon,” Ralph Erenzo, founder of Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery, said. “Rye was very popular up until Prohibition, and the main places where it was made aside from Canada, where it’s still made in great volume, was the northeast. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York State were all growing quite a bit of rye.”

After Prohibition, rye didn’t come back into widespread production the way that bourbon did. The state laws in the northeast were very restrictive, and the equipment at many distilleries had been scrapped during the failed national experiment.

Erenzo and others in New York helped pave the way for the resurgence and regionality of the category, though. Of the rye styles that have emerged from the northeast, the most well-defined is Empire rye. After New York State passed legislation allowing for and defining farm distilleries, the number of craft producers boomed.

“New York, we’ve been leading innovation at the craft distilling level since the beginning,” he said. “The change in our law in 2008, which established the farm distilling license, put us way ahead of everybody else in state

recognition of the importance of the small distilling industry and the potential for it.”

As the industry grew, more and more producers in the state began looking at rye whiskey as a part of the state’s heritage. Erenzo eventually sat down with a small group of other distillers, “talking about how rye used to be considered a New York spirit, and that the Manhattan was originated with rye.” The group decided that it was time to codify a style of rye for their state. Those six distilleries created a trademark, Empire Rye, and specific guidelines that had to be met for a whiskey to be labeled as Empire Rye. Parameters for Empire Rye (which can be found at www.empirerye.com) include conformance with the state’s farm distiller requirement that at least 75 percent of the grain must be sourced from in-state; the whiskey must be distilled to less than 160 proof; it must be mashed, fermented, barreled, and aged at a single New York distillery; and it must be aged a minimum of two years in new charred oak barrels at an entry proof of no more than 115.

Most of these requirements mirror different aspects of state and federal definitions, but the required lower barrel-entry proof compared to a federal maximum of 125 proof helps to set the style apart. The lower proof during aging was common in the years before Prohibition but eventually fell by the wayside

There is not one defined “rye whiskey.”

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After Prohibition, rye didn’t come back into widespread production the way that bourbon did. in favor of a higher entry proof that required fewer barrels and less space for the same amount of whiskey.

However, the lower proof shifts the profile of compounds extracted from the oak; with less ethanol and more water, an increased amount of water-soluble compounds and decreased amount of ethanol-soluble compounds end up in the final whiskey. In addition, the lower barrel proof means less water added for bottling, therefore less dilution when going from barrel to bottle.

New York distillers also successfully lobbied the statehouse to designate a particular day and week as Rye Day and Rye Week, Erenzo said, “and that helped enormously.

The fact that the governor recognized it in a formal document, made it even more important for us.”

He said the Empire designation has been

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well received, and the increasing profile of rye seems to be pushing national and international distillers to add products and keep up with consumer demand. “Suddenly everyone was making rye, and some of the very largest producers have recognized the spreading popularity of rye,” he said.

At the same time, distillers in New York are experimenting with different varietals of rye grain and other parameters to help them widen what Empire Rye can be and help differentiate themselves.

“This is in the nature of the small distiller,” Erenzo said. “This is something that large producers from a practical standpoint cannot do. They have large production volumes, and they have to make decisions about a batch or a spirit well in advance to prepare the marketplace in a way that is far more extensive than a small distiller can.”

While the Empire Rye definition includes a requirement for charred, new-oak barrels, Erenzo said the hope, especially in light of the TTB’s pending recognition of American Single Malt, is that the door has been cracked open for other spirits to eventually be aged in used barrels. He said this would make American whiskeys more competitive with Scotch and Irish producers who rely on used

Given that rye doesn’t have the same level of restriction as bourbon, blending in ingredients such as tea, fig juice, or plum juice at up to two and a half percent would be legal.

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barrels, primarily from the bourbon industry, from both a qualitative and a financial standpoint.

“We’re hoping the next step would be to get a wider use of used barrels that the small distillers who spend a lot of money on oak that they only use once, that will change and we can use them two or three or four times, instead of once,” he said. “If you put whiskey into a new barrel for eight or ten years, it’s going to come out over-oaked. If you put it into a used barrel, it can sit for 15 years and be something very special at the end of that 15 years.”

Extinct In-State, but Not In Name Other states had a reputation for rye whiskey that survived Prohibition and even persisted through the complete exodus of rye whiskey producers. Pikesville Rye, once the last holdout of rye production in Maryland, was sold to Heaven Hill in the 1980s and saw production moved to Kentucky, though the brand continued to tout its Maryland roots.

In Denver, Colorado, Leopold Bros. released a Maryland-style rye in 2009 as a nod to the historical whiskeys that Todd Leopold had been able to find.

The old samples that Leopold was able to taste from mothballed Maryland distilleries generally put an emphasis on the fruit and pulled away from the rye spiciness. However, he recognized that the pre-Prohibition reality was much more nuanced.

“The idea behind it was to pay an homage to the distilleries that were gone, to try and do my interpretation of the samples that I had, and at the same time, it’s a bit like saying ‘West Coast IPA,’ where you conjure citrusy hops in your head. But does every West Coast brewery use citrusy hops in their IPA? No,” he said. “The truth of the matter, of course, is that these Maryland distillers were all over the place and made all different kinds.”

Leopold reached out to Michael Veach, a bourbon historian and former archivist at United Distillers, who said it was very possible that Maryland distillers were making small flavoring additions. Given that rye

doesn’t have the same level of restriction as bourbon, blending in ingredients such as tea, fig juice, or plum juice at up to two and a half percent would be legal. (Templeton Rye is an example of a modern-day rye that relies on an added flavor blend to create a specific profile.)

“You’re adding that one percent to the point that you can’t tell that it was added. It’s not in a meaningful enough amount to say, ‘This is not whiskey, this is fruit whiskey.’ So it was his opinion that that was something that was possibly done,” Leopold said, noting that he likes the concept from the perspective of a blending house, being able to add a subtle, signature note to the whiskey. However, he opted to rely on changes to yeast selection, grain bill (down to including or excluding specific rye varieties), and fermentation parameters.

Leopold said that he was hoping at the time to help provide a spark to the young craft industry and jump-start rye production around the country. He wanted to create an umbrella for the style, “have a place for it to live and have other distillers follow suit.”

“In my mind, as the years roll by and more distilleries started opening up and making rye, there’d be Pennsylvania style, which would be leaning heavily into the spiciness and the dryness and the oak, and Maryland style, which would lean into the fruits and away from the spicy, more into the floral,” he said. “That was my grand idea. And of course, Maryland distilleries started opening up and making rye, and they said, ‘Bollocks to Todd, we’re going to make rye the way we want to make it,’ which is obviously the correct choice, to tell me to go to hell and I’m not a Maryland distiller.”

One of the distilleries that picked up the rye torch in Maryland was Sagamore Spirits.

Distillery president Brian Treacy said he grew up in Maryland and was unaware of the state’s whiskey history until sitting at Sagamore Farm, a historical Baltimore-area thoroughbred horse racing estate founded in 1925 by the Vanderbilt family, with friends and future business partners talking about local agriculture. The question came up about growing grapes on the 540-acre farm.

The farm owner, Treacy said, was “more of a whiskey guy” and had a strong grasp of the state’s spirits history. The area, like other states in the northeast, has good cold and W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

warm seasons that allow for cash crops in the summer and rye as a cover crop in the winter.

Located in Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore also has the benefit of serving as a regional transit hub, providing access to a variety of products — including secondary grains such as barley, wheat, and corn — that came through the city and allowing for local spirits to be efficiently moved out to other markets, growing the national footprint of the style.

“In the 1700s, you had to be very resourceful, just what’s at your fingertips,” he said. “We were really able to touch a lot of different areas thanks to the infrastructure that was put in place here, and I think the resources, the weather, the climate, the immigration, it’s a multitude of things that caused rye to exist and flourish from here.”

In the 1500s and 1600s, the area was primarily a rum market. With the Molasses Tax Act of 1733 imposing duties on molasses imported from non-British territories, many Marylanders began looking to the ingredients they had at hand, finding a solution in rye.

“We had a lot of resourceful people here in the inner harbor of Baltimore, a lot of folks here from Germany, Poland, Scotland, Ireland, the second largest site for immigration next to Ellis Island,” Treacy said. “We had a lot of rye as a cover crop for our tobacco fields in the off-season, and guys just said, ‘We don’t want to pay taxes and tariffs, we just want a good dram.’”

Decades later, though, distillers with names like Mary and Jacob Beam or Basil Hayden left Maryland for less developed parts of the country because of the excise taxes that were being raised after the American Revolutionary War. Despite the exodus that helped to seed southern states with northern distilling experts, Maryland had developed a reputation for premium rye whiskey in the 1800s, and a century later, the state’s refusal to enforce national Prohibition put it in a pole position to supply American whiskey overseas, exporting to Scotland and the United Kingdom in particular.

“Eventually, you have the Agricultural Act of 1933, and that’s really when folks started subsidizing corn, farmers stopped growing rye, a lot of distilleries started switching over to ethanol production to support the efforts of World War II. And it never made much of a W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

comeback after that,” Treacy said.

It was compelling to the Sagamore founders, though, that the branding of Marylandstyle rye or Maryland whiskey could live on for decades without anyone in the state producing it. Heaven Hill saw value in the Pikesville name, and Leopold had picked up on it from halfway across the country.

“That was kind of an ‘aha’ moment for us,” he said. “There was this incredible industry here, and Maryland was really known as one of the best in the business, and it feels like the original American whiskey was rye whiskey, and it was born in this mid-Atlantic region, and the fact that no one was still doing it.”

They found it was an uphill battle to find local farmers who would grow locally. “We were so naive that there would be a lot of local grain or rye to choose from. There wasn’t really any. In fact, in Maryland, it’s uninsurable,” Treacy said. They agreed to pay for the cost of seed up front and, rather than set an expectation of yield per acre, held the farmers to a quality standard and agreed afterward to a price point that worked for all parties. Usage has increased over the years to more than a million pounds of Maryland rye in 2022 and now includes cooperative research with the University of Maryland on five different varietals.

The profile that they’re aiming for, or what defines Maryland-style at Sagamore, is a whiskey that contains a level of the classic rye baking spice but also a roundness, he said, “this approachability to it from some layers of sweet, fruit, and floral intertwined with it.” It’s a whiskey that’s not known for being as big and bold as a Monongahela but softer, rounder, and more balanced.

“We’ve seen it done in a few different ways.

We’ve seen mashbills being heavily influenced by corn, we’ve seen it where people are using more malted grain,” Treacy said. “It might still be a lot of rye in the mashbill, maybe even 100 percent, but a good chunk of it might be malted rye, which brings out some really interesting characteristics than raw rye.

We’ve also seen it done with yeast strains, like brewers yeast [tends] to do some things along those lines, bring out some fruit and florals.”

Maryland distillers have chosen not to try to put guardrails around the style. He said there is concern about limiting the creativity 57

of fellow distillers or potentially overreaching and having to exert more effort in unwinding a misguided attempt at defining the style.

“Maryland has never been pigeonholed into, ‘It has to be this mashbill or this distillation process.’ It’s a little bit like Kentucky bourbon at the end of the day. Kentucky bourbon is just made in Kentucky,” Treacy said. “Right now, we’re just kind of keeping it a little open-minded and seeing how things play out throughout the different distilleries.

There’s one distillery here in Maryland that makes a beautiful Maryland rye whiskey that’s got all the notes I think it should have, and I believe it’s 70 percent raw rye and 30 percent malted rye, so on paper it’s 100 percent rye, but it’s got some beautiful depth to it.”

At Sagamore Spirits, they rely on two mashbills, a 95/5 rye/malted barley and a 52/43/5 rye/corn/malt, relying on expert blending to create a variety of products from the two types of mash at different ends of the spectrum.

“We age both those mashbills separately, but there isn’t a single product we release that doesn’t include both of them in there,” Treacy said. “What we find is we do get that rye spice that we want from the high, and we get some interesting really sweet and fruit and floral notes from the low.”

He said industry members and consumers both seem to be embracing the concept of a uniquely Maryland whiskey, just as the wine world has embraced regionalisms. The governor signed a bill earlier this year declaring rye whiskey the official state spirit, and even consumers who have had rye before and have decided they aren’t fans are learning to love Maryland style.

“They come over and they give it a try, and they go, ‘Wow, that’s completely different from what I’ve had before,’” he said.

“Whether you want to talk Tennessee whiskey, Kentucky bourbon, Maryland style rye, Monongahela, hazy IPAs from New England, people love putting regionality on things.”

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Distilling On the Frontier Further out in the old British New World colonies, in what was then the great western wilderness, many of the Germanic and Scottish immigrants that first settled in Maryland decided to track west into western Pennsylvania. According to Taylor Bostock, senior distiller and master blender at Wigle Whiskey in Pittsburgh, they were predominantly barley growers.

“Our soil content, our weather, is not acclimated properly to create barley. Historically, rye was the easiest grain for farmers in western PA to produce,” he said, describing “an absurd amount” of stills operating in the area to preserve the annual excess grain.

After the American Revolution, these farmer-distillers, whose whiskey had gained popularity as a high-quality product, suddenly found their product subject to taxation as the newly formed Congress worked to pay off the country’s war debt. “Pretty much everyone in western Pennsylvania said, ‘No. We’re not going to do that,’” Bostock said.

This became the Whiskey Rebellion, a sometimes-violent resistance to the new federal government that ended with 10,000 federal troops being sent into the western part of the state to quell unrest. Philip Wigle, namesake of the Wigle Whiskey Distillery, was sentenced to death for treason after assaulting a tax collector and trying to drive him out of Pennsylvania.

The distillers fleeing western Pennsylvania, like those leaving Maryland, helped to feed the Kentucky industry, but “the people who did stay really enjoyed making rye whiskey,” Bostock said. As is common in frontier communities, the whiskey made in Pennsylvania, especially in the western part of the state where the Monongahela River terminates at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers, was a matter of surplus rather than style, Bostock said.

“Late 1700s early 1800s, we were out on the fringes out here in Pittsburgh. It was wagon train to get out here,” he said. As a result,

most mashbills consisted of 100 percent rye, or mostly rye, and a little of whatever else was available. “It was what we had. There’s some wheat coming in, occasionally you’ll see some malting barley being procured, but on the day-to-day operations it is mostly rye grain. Whatever would be spoilage would be converted to whatever they could use it for.”

While the founders of Wigle Whiskey appreciated the resourcefulness of early Pittsburgh distillers, he said, they were looking to go beyond post-Revolution subsistence distilling and create a commercially viable product.

“We could just do [100 percent] rye and be historically accurate, but we could add a little wheat and soften it. We could add some malted barley and get the conversion and get a better yield,” Bostock said. “It’s supposed to be bitey, it’s supposed to be perceived as that high rye, but most people don’t want it to be super aggressive.”

He said they don’t use a particular variety of rye, relying on whatever the farmer is comfortable producing, and he finds that they get the same sort of peppercorn, pepper-forward profile anywhere between 65 and 95 percent rye. They tend toward the lower range on rye, rounding things out with malt and wheat because of availability, but still push to have a punchy, spicy profile.

“We try to pride ourselves on always trying to find a bitey, peppercorn flavor. We want something that’s aggressive and in your face that you’re going to taste and go, ’That’s not bourbon,’” he said. “Any of the rye blends that we do, any of the single barrels that we release, that’s the first thing we’re looking for: Is this a peppery, bitey spirit? We don’t want to have any sweetness in it. We want it to be friendly.

We always talk about our cask-strength iteration as a punch in the face, and then a warm hug.”

While Wigle and other Pennsylvania distillers are operating with a common — if very broad — palette, he said they haven’t wanted W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

to make the leap from the whiskey having a sense of place to legislating how the whiskey should be made.

“I would say western PA and Monongahela style would be more aggressive, earthier, more true to the character of the grain that rye provides,” Bostock said. “Once you start codifying it and channeling it, you start limiting yourself.”

He said it was “of a piece with the anti-authoritarian mindset” of the Whiskey Rebellion to push back against efforts to put walls around the local whiskey. Wigle has done terroir research, for example, sourcing rye from different regions of Canada and across the United States, and experienced wildly different sensory experiences with the various grains.

“If I want to use grain from Saskatchewan, I don’t want to be limited by saying, ‘I’m a Monongahela rye producer,’” he said.

“Codification, to us, always seems a little too restrictive. Which also fits very well with our namesake punching a tax collector.”

That mindset, and the whiskey that accompanies it, has been well-received by the local market, according to Bostock. “The Pittsburgh crowd is pretty intense about homegrown stuff,” he said. “Any time you’re saying, ‘This is from your town,’ they are about it. This is our style from our place. I’ve spent some time in the tasting room and talked to customers, and I’ve never heard someone say, ‘I only drink Monogahela rye. I don’t care for Empire. I don’t care for Maryland.’ It’s, ‘Oh, here’s a new rye to try! I need to get a bottle for now and a bottle to add to my collection.’”

Three Chamber Meanwhile, in Denver, Leopold continues to stake new ground in the craft world, rejuvenating a type of still that hadn’t been operated since Prohibition or before.

Separate from but overlapping with both Pennsylvania and Maryland-style ryes is the use of a three-chamber still, also known more simply as a chamber still. Once the preferred tool for distilling rye, according to Leopold, the chamber still’s inefficiency, rivaled only by its intense and unique impact on the spirit, W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

eventually led to its extinction.

The fine points of operating a three-chamber still are beyond the scope of this article, but in short, it involves a still with three stacked chambers, each containing rye whiskey mash, with fresh mash in the top chamber, mash that has been distilled once in the middle chamber, and mash that has been distilled twice in the bottom chamber. With each subsequent distillation, steam is run through the still from bottom to top, and afterward, the mash in the bottom chamber is discarded, the middle chamber is transferred to the bottom, the top is transferred to the middle, and a fresh charge filled into the top. The chamber still produced a heavy, oily whiskey that was far richer and more full-bodied than traditional pot-distilled or column-distilled whiskey.

Leopold commissioned the fabrication of a three-chamber still to revive the method, having been aware of it during the production and release of their original Maryland rye, but lacking the funds for such a project.

Many of the historical ryes that he’d tasted or researched had been produced on a chamber still or used a dominant portion of chamber still rye for blending.

“There were a few prominent three-chamber distillers making Maryland rye. Baltimore Pure was probably the biggest one. The biggest distillery in Maryland with the widest distribution had a chamber still,” he said.

In Pennsylvania, Old Overholt was using the same technology to create a rich, full-bodied whiskey that he’s also been able to taste and compare with the Leopold Bros.

Three Chamber Rye. “The notes in that Old Overholt and the notes in the Three Chamber are almost identical. Pretty crazy,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say that the Old Overholt was older. We’ll have eight-year-old barrels next fall, and we’ll be able to see how similar they are.”

He also pointed to an IRS-commissioned

“Prohibition destroyed an awful lot of tradition and institutional knowledge.”

TODD LEOPOLD Leopold Bros.

research paper by C.A. Crampton and L.M. Tollman that examined whiskey production methods around the beginning of the 20th century. Half of the producers investigated for the paper were rye whiskey distillers, and “every single one of them except for one was using a three-chamber still. There was one guy that was running a column still for rye,” he said.

The takeaway, for Leopold, was crystal clear. “The chamber still was very clearly the tool of choice to make rye,” he said. “The whiskey is completely different. To me, there’s nothing that compares to three-chamber rye.”

Its usage wasn’t limited to the northeast, either. Hiram Walker in Peoria, Illinois, had records of producing three-chamber rye and a blended product, both under unknown labels. He doesn’t consider the chamber still a tool of one type of rye versus another, but its own unique style that was lost to Prohibition and the search for greater efficiency. In some cases, the spirits world is still recovering from the loss.

“All those traditions that they had for all those years, they just threw them out,” he said. “Prohibition destroyed an awful lot of tradition and institutional knowledge.”

Gabe Toth, M.Sc. is lead distiller at The Family Jones’ production facility in Loveland, Colorado and an industry writer focusing on the beer and spirits worlds. With a background in journalism, he has written books on floor malting and fermented food, as well as numerous articles for Artisan Spirit, The New Brewer, Brewer and Distiller International, and several other publications. He holds brewing and distilling certificates from the IBD and a master’s from the Rochester Institute of Technology, where his graduate studies centered on supply chain localization and sustainability. When not distilling or writing, he can be found gardening, messing around in the kitchen, or relaxing in the mountains. He can be reached at gabetoth@hotmail.com.

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The Spirit of St. Louis StilL 630 and spirit production at the confluence of storytelling and customer feedback WRITTEN BY AARON KNOLL PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID WEGLARZ

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“I

mean, craft distillers in the United States and abroad are doing absolutely phenomenal things,” said David Weglarz, distiller and owner of St. Louis-based StilL 630, while describing the emotions he felt when hearing their Confluence American Gin won “Best of Class” at the 2023 American Distilling Institute’s International Spirits Competition. “And just to be in the conversation with some of our heroes is more than I expected.”

Founded in 2011, StilL 630 opened its doors in early 2013. Situated in a space that used to be a Hardee’s fast food restaurant in downtown St. Louis. Nestled between an interstate highway and an old elevated rail line two blocks from the river, the location itself is evocative of St. Louis’s long history as a center of trade, a history that Weglarz and StilL 630’s spirits pay homage to every day.

Confluence Gin Confluence Gin starts from a base of 190-proof neutral wheat. The botanical bill is tightly curated; working from a foundation of juniper and coriander, they further include pink peppercorn, galangal root, and locally farmed horseradish. The botanicals, save for the juniper, are macerated for a full twenty hours before filtering and redistilled on a handmade, Missouri-built 150-gallon pot still.

“The Confluence was a name that I had squirreled away when we first launched our gins.

Just north of the distillery is the greatest confluence on this continent where the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers come together,” Weglarz added, showing his passion for the outdoors, “I've paddled on both and paddled up by the Confluence, and it's pretty awesome.” Just as the rivers form a natural confluence, the gin began

W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

somewhat similarly when two groups crossed paths.

“It started life as a partnership with The Last Hotel,” Weglarz began, “which was a cool boutique hotel downtown St. Louis. They were opening up. The same guy who owned it owned the Iron Horse Hotel up north in Wisconsin … [It was] just really an iconic place, true to its roots. Their whole kitchen was based on the idea of the Mississippi River Valley and the cuisine native to this area … They did a great job refurbishing this old shoe factory — a hundred years old!”

“They wanted their own signature whiskey and signature gin, and when they looked around to see who was doing the best stuff here in St. Louis, they came to us. We started talking about it. So we made a rye whiskey finished in port barrels. That was very nice.”

For the gin, they were briefed on designing something inspired by Mississippi River Valley culinary heritage that would work well in a gin-based Bloody Mary. The inspiration, as Weglarz describes it, was just across the river from the distillery. “Right over the river in Collinsville, Illinois, which is basically St. Louis East, it's the horseradish capital of the world.”

St. Louis sits on the border between Missouri and Illinois, with the Mississippi River dividing the two.

While a map might draw a line between them, economically speaking, Collinsville is considered part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community has a population of nearly 25,000 and is also well known for being home to the world’s largest ketchup bottle. While it might be debatable whether or not Collinsville is truly the capital of horseradish production in the entire world, the region is a prominent source of production, and the root plays an important part in the region’s cultural and agricultural history.

Thus it seemed a natural fit for Weglarz to try it in W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

the gin they were working on. However, that posed a personal challenge for him. “I am not a self-described horseradish enthusiast,” he laughed. “I didn't even think I liked it.”

“So when we were putting it in there, adding it to the botanical library, it was almost begrudgingly on my part, because I was like, that's not my thing. But then playing with it … I've been opened up to the flavor a lot more. We sourced it from a couple, specifically like two, different farms over here,” he says gesturing towards the river. “They're closer to the distillery than my house is.”

When it comes to ingredients sourced locally, Weglarz describes the importance of having relationships directly with farmers. “We've got certain specifications that we look for — size, weight, if they grow too long, they're too young, or they haven't fully matured yet. So the farm is really good about making sure that they're culling the [right] stuff for us.”

Since horseradish is not an ingredient distillers often work with, Weglarz describes his process and some of the trial and error that they conducted to get things where he wanted them. “So, I peel the outside of our fresh horseradish with just an old school peeler.

We use about 10 pounds per batch ... So it takes a little while. Then, I really kind of dice it up, about the size of a [die].” It then undergoes a similar 20-hour maceration period as the other ingredients. “When we do [maceration], we find the extraction is pretty thorough. They're pretty well exhausted by the end of our steeping time.”

“We played around a lot in the beginning with different steeping times and things and we got a little more of the juiciness of the juniper and things on the shorter end… for us if we go over a day or so, over 24 hours, you start extracting a little bit more of the non solubles, the literal kind of cellulose structure 61

of the botanicals rather than just their flavors and juices.” Weglarz adds that there is one major exception, “We'll add our juniper usually a little bit later... it gets about 12 hours.”

Confluence Gin is not StilL 630’s first gin — it’s their third. Over the course of a decade of running a distillery, Weglarz said one key lesson they learned is to “keep these gins on the reproducible side.”

“We love the idea of doing the distillates individually from an artistic standpoint because then you can really blend to taste, but part of the reason why we don't do that is strictly logistical. We don't have the space and capacity to have tanks of different botanicals and of various volumes just kind of laying around.

We do have three commercially year-round gins that are available. Volstead's Folly has twelve different botanicals; our navy strength has six; Confluence has five.”

The partnership at the genesis of the gin dissolved as the hotel fell on hard times, however, “we loved the gin and we didn't want it to go away or make it a seasonal thing.”

Weglarz describes its evolution and re-launch

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as Confluence Gin. “We wanted to make it more StilL 630 and highlight our place in the world — make a gin that might be recognizable or at least evoke the St. Louis Midwest region no matter where in the world you are.”

During this process, the team got word that they had won their most recent accolade from ADI. “That blew our minds. And also it totally accelerated our rebranding timeline.“

Designing award-winning products Weglarz also emphasizes the role testing has played in the development of StilL 630’s spirits.

“When we went through building Volstead's, we would put out a little recipe internally and we would change the number every time we added an ingredient and we would change the letter every time we'd changed the ratios … 156 different iterations it went through! Adding this, taking that away, this, that, and finally landed on it.

So there was a lot of legwork done in tasting

all the botanicals that we had at that time.

And my main man, Andrew Spaugh, we sat through and we tasted everything in the botanical library.”

The botanical library is one of the foundations of StilL 630’s testing program. Over 400 samples of common and unusual gin botanicals are distilled on a smaller one-liter electric still that they use specifically for building out this unusual collection. “Roots, fruits, herbs, seeds, leaves, flowers, berries, peppers, nuts.

We've got teas in there, all kinds of different things,” Weglarz excitedly described “They're all different colors to paint with.” This allows the team to taste and understand their ingredients, how the flavors of various ingredients will be expressed at various proofs on their base spirit before they begin designing a new product. For example, in their Navy Strength Gin, they went to their library for botanicals that they thought better expressed themselves at a higher ABV. However, StilL 630 conducts testing beyond just their in-house team. Weglarz describes a “user feedback” session they

W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

conducted to help them make their final decisions. “We invited everybody from the St. Louis Bartenders Guild and all the other bartenders that we knew,” he explained. “We probably had about 25, 30 people that came …We sampled the spirit neat. And then we made them into two different cocktails. Again, the only variable was the different gins.” By using their feedback, they ensured they were designing a product that their intended audience preferred, but it also got the bartenders more excited about it when they launched because they were part of the process.

They’ve also evolved their user feedback program into a tasting room experience for customers. “We've been releasing one brand new spirit per month. It's free to everybody that wants to come out,” he explained.“We have a short survey that's basically a couple questions. Did you like it? Should we make more of it?” Tell us what you want the future to taste like.” This helps them stay current with changing consumer preferences and learn from real drinkers’ reactions. While not every product that scores well turns into a full-scale

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“It's really about not trying to squirrel anything away for a rainy day, but like, put out the best possible batch that we can right now. And I think over time, that's really helped us [put] our best foot forward always.”

— DAVID WEGLARZ

production spirit, StilL 630 has a wealth of knowledge about potential future opportunities based on these short survey cards.

“We are very receptive and pride ourselves on taking all the constructive criticism we can get,” Weglarz added, describing the humility that this approach necessitates. “We literally want to put out the best possible batch. With the more feedback we have, the better able we are to do that.”

“Our main overall rule is to make the best possible batch,” Weglarz summed up his

overall philosophy. “I know that sounds trite or whatever, but it's kind of our ethos when it comes to blending up a spirit, creating a spirit, pulling a barrel to release something. It's really about not trying to squirrel anything away for a rainy day, but like, put out the best possible batch that we can right now. And I think over time, that's really helped us [put] our best foot forward always. I think it's done a good job of growing our loyalty amongst our customers … People are really confident and trust us to do our best.”

Aaron Knoll is a noted gin historian, critic, and consultant. He authored 2015's “Gin: The Art and Craft of the Artisan Revival,” which has since been translated into three languages, and additionally co-authored 2013's “The Craft of Gin.” He also founded leading gin website TheGinisIn.com in 2009.

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A-HEAD of the GAME Crystal Head Vodka’s Innovative Spirit Still Shines WRITTEN BY RICH MANNING /// PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CRYSTAL HEAD VODKA

T

here’s a big difference between a “celebrity-owned spirit” and a spirit owned by a celebrity.

This difference was abundantly clear when I talked to Dan Aykroyd about Crystal Head Vodka, the spirit he co-founded with artist John Alexander in 2008. Within two minutes, we were discussing the negative impact of glycerides and how fusel oils can add unwanted citrus flavors to a neutral grain spirit. Five minutes in and it was easy for me to forget I was talking to an Emmy winner, Academy Award nominee, and one of Saturday Night Live’s original Not Ready for Prime Time Players. I was having too much fun nerding out about things like TTB classifications with a fellow spirits geek to think about such things.

Aykroyd doesn’t just know his shit, he knows his shit.

This knowledge forms the soul of Crystal Head’s award-winning vodka.

The brand shies away from its star power and leans into its process and philosophy, a unique trait that increasingly runs counter to the growing glut of brands with celebrity ties. It’s the proper play, too: For fifteen years, Crystal Head has delivered innovation to a category not known for serious envelope pushing.

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Crystal Head’s flagship vodka is made with locally sourced Canadian corn and Newfoundland water. It does not contain any additives. This latter element is much more groundbreaking than it may appear at first glance.

When Aykroyd came up with the brand, he wanted to enjoy a pure vodka without the additives legally allowed in vodka. This is something that he could not find in the market in the late aughts. When the brand launched in 2008, he ended up becoming a pioneer in the process. “We do consider ourselves innovators,” he said. “We were the first vodka to clean up the category by not using additives.

We didn’t add fusel oils to produce extra viscosity. We didn’t add sugar. We didn’t add glycerin — they put that stuff in antifreeze.”

The lack of additives produces a pure, clean expression which has a delicate citrus and nuanced vanilla aromas that are not enhanced by artificial means. This brings a practical element to Crystal Head for the home imbiber.

“We all like to tend bar at home,” Aykroyd explained. “So, if I’m making a cocktail that calls for citrus, why would I want to use a vodka with citrus oil if I’m already going to be adding citrus into my drink?”

As unique as the notion of an additive-free

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PHOTO BY AMANDA NIKOLIC

THE ORIGIN STORY

vodka sounded at the time, acceptance of such a product — much less one founded and financed by people outside of the spirits industry — was not assured. Critical acclaim would change this. “We finally felt we got validity when [San Francisco World Spirits Competition founder] Anthony Dias-Blue gave us glowing reviews,” Aykroyd said. “That was our vindication.”

The success of the original Crystal Head has since led to more innovative expressions.

The most recent of these is Onyx. Released in 2020 and housed in a black skull, it is an additive-free vodka crafted around a unique source. “Onyx is the first commercially available vodka made with blue weber agave from a single-source farm in Mexico,” explains Jonathan Hemi, Crystal Skull’s managing partner. “We like the idea because we want to see how far we can push boundaries within the category while still keeping our company values of making everything additive-free.”

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“I’d say about 1/8th of our customers know I’m associated with it. The rest see the skull. That’s great. We want the brand to stand out on its own.”

— DAN AYKROYD

A PROGRESSIVE PACKAGE Bottles in neighborhood liquor stores or bars did not look like Crystal Head’s skull-shaped package in 2008. There were beautiful and distinct bottles like Louis XIII’s jagged-edged, bulbous container, but if it was a mass-produced bottle, it was going to be bottle-shaped. Crystal Head distinctive bottle — which was designed

by Aykroyd and Alexander — changed this.

“We set out to be leaders not only in liquid, but also in packaging,” Hemi said. “Packaging was getting better in the ‘90s and the ‘00s, but we felt what we did raised the bar. Now, you’re seeing more companies that are trying to do more with their packaging. It’s like a renaissance in glass.”

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The bottles still draw plenty of attention, and rightly so. Their visually arresting coolness hasn’t dissipated, and they periodically provide a canvas for the brand to show support of worthy causes, such as limited-edition rainbow skulls for Pride Month. “As a Canadian vodka, I think it’s incumbent for us to say that we’re not from Russia, and that our product does not come from a place that’s intolerant and suppressive,” Aykroyd said.

At the same time, having a bottle with such an eye-catching aesthetic puts Crystal Head in a unique conundrum. “They’re great for gift-giving, and we have great retail programs in place,” Aykroyd said. “However, people tend to forget that there’s liquid in the package — and it’s really good liquid!”

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT It’s become easy for the jaded among us to point and laugh when a celebrity spirit hits the market these days. It’s almost impossible to do this with Crystal Head, and not just because Aykroyd can carry on intricate conversations about the distilling process like a veteran Kentucky pro. As majority owner of the brand, he’s put enough sweat equity into building and maintaining Crystal Head that it seems beyond foolish to assume this is some sort of vanity project. “After all these years, Dan still gets on the road, rolls up his sleeves, and shakes hands,”

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said Hemi. “Every major retailer and distributor in the country has met Dan at this point.”

Besides, it would take vanity to have Crystal Head be a vanity project. According to Hemi, Aykroyd has shunned the notion of making the juice and its journey about him from the start. “Dan’s always made it a point to not make the brand about celebrity,” he said. “In fact, when we first started out, Dan said, ‘there better not be a cardboard cutout of me.’” (For the record, cardboard cutouts were made, but they never saw the light of day.)

Aykroyd’s refusal to use his star power to sell spirits has allowed him to retreat into the background, a tactic that puts the focus on the brand itself. “I’d say about 1/8th of our customers know I’m associated with it.

The rest see the skull,” he said. “That’s great. We want the brand to stand out on its own.”

This may not be the kind of quote one expects from a celebrity spirit, but it’s precisely the quote one hopes to hear coming from a spirit owned by a celebrity. And remember, there is a big difference between the two.

Visit www.crystalheadvodka.com for more info.

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NORTH TO ALASKA Alaskans are staking a claim in the new frontier of distilled spirits

T

he 1960 movie “North to Alaska,” and its accompanying hummable earworm of a song, chronicled the gold rush days of frontier Alaska.

After many struggles, the end of the movie sees John Wayne’s character Sam McCord get the gold and the girl. The hardy people of the North still stake claims today, but in a different kind of gold rush, the liquid gold of distilled spirits. Make no mistake, current state laws don’t make this path easy, but for those who have blazed a trail, other spirit prospectors and their fans will follow.

FAIRBANKS DISTILLING COMPANY 410 Cushman St., Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 (907) 452-5055 fairbanksdistilling.com

Distiller Patrick Levy dug deep into his 35-year history in Fairbanks when selecting a name for his award-winning vodka. In the winter of 1989, Fairbanks plunged into one of its annual deep freezes, which (prior to climate change) used to bottom out around 50-below-zero. But during that week-long cold snap, the running community joke was, “Oh yeah?

Well, out by my house it’s 68 below!”

“Somebody made a T-shirt that said, ‘I

Written by Carrie Dow and Lisa Truesdale

survived the winter of 1989’,” he said chuckling, and showed off the framed red shirt hanging in the tasting room.

When tasting Levy’s 68 Below Vodka, made from whole Alaskan Yukon gold potatoes, there is a refreshing plunge-pool briskness to it. He also makes E.T. Barnett’s Tanana River Naval Strength Golden Rum. A mouthful to say, but enjoyable to sip because he adds local birch syrup for subtle sweetness and a light golden color. But just as interesting as his spirits is the space he makes them in: a historic 1935 building that was once Fairbanks City Hall.

“This was the city council chambers from 1937 until 1994 where all the business of Fairbanks was done,” he said. During the gold rush, Fairbanks was also Alaska’s largest city. “Since it wasn’t until 1959 when Alaska became a state, a lot of the state business was done here too,” he added.

Because the building was also the headquarters of the Fairbanks police and fire departments, it has firetruck-sized doors that made it easier to install his equipment. The building also has one other important attribute. It is one of only a few connected to the municipal steam heating grid, which means Levy uses the city’s steam heating system to run his distillery instead of having to install a boiler. He then casually mentions the building’s basement was once the ‘drunk tank’ The tasting room inside the original City Hall at Fairbanks Distilling. PHOTO BY CARRIE DOW

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“I saw myself as having a vineyard when I retired. Then I slowly came to the realization that I was never leaving Fairbanks.”

— PATRICK LEVY

Fairbanks Distilling Company

where townsfolk arrested for public drunkenness stayed until they sobered up. Ironically, Levy will eventually store whiskey barrels down there.

Levy himself helped make history when distillers and brewers combined forces to lobby for changes to the state’s antiquated liquor laws. The result was the passage of Senate Bill 9 in 2022 that will allow a slight increase in licenses (which are capped by a municipality’s population), distilleries and breweries to ship directly to consumers, and tasting rooms to be open until 9 p.m. instead of the current 8 p.m. However, it didn’t change the tasting room limit of three ounces of distilled alcohol (about two cocktails) per person per day. And the new rules don’t go into effect until January 1, 2024.

“I fought real hard in the last legislature and we actually got it,” he said.

“That was a super irritation. Here we are, a manufacturer in Alaska, but we can’t send our product to any consumers.”

Visitors to Fairbanks can enjoy their two-drink limit with cocktails developed by Levy’s wife, Lori Neufeld, who’s also a local public radio host and programming director. While it’s fun to relax on the distillery’s patio when the days are 20 hours long, it’s those dark, bone-chilling winter days inside the old firehouse when the camaraderie and stories flow with the drinks, like the story of why Levy opened a distillery in the first place.

“I was actually involved in all things wine,” he reminisced. “I saw myself as having a vineyard when I retired. Then I slowly came to the realization that I was never leaving Fairbanks.” Since grape stocks can’t survive 68-below winters, Levy turned to potatoes and barley and the rest, as they say, is history. — C. Dow W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

The hand built bar in the tasting room at Hoarfrost Distilling. PHOTO BY CARRIE DOW

Alaska,” he laughed. “At the same time, we have a very strong tourism industry based on Asian tourists, especially during the aurora months during the winter.”

With Alaska holding a frontier mystic for 3501 Lathrop St., Unit F, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 international consumers, Luick makes ul( 907) 479-6128 tra-pure Alaskan barley vodka using techhoarfrost.vodka niques that go beyond a typical U.S. distillery.

Lifelong Fairbanks resident Toivo Luick is He even customized his equipment to reach a distiller with a purpose — to create a vodka his exacting standards — standards that forthat he would not only personally enjoy drinkeign markets will pay a premium for. ing, but could also rival the high-end vodkas “I fully understand the processes that go of Europe. into making vodka because as a chemist, the “Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland — this is processes are things I’ve dealt with for dethe vodka belt,” he announced. “The best vodcades,” he said, noting his work at Alyeska kas in the world are made over there and are Pipeline Service, a job he still does, only generally hard to find here. In Alaska, you’re working at the distillery during his off weeks. not going to find them … If you specialize “I’ve rebuilt my own condensers and my own in tasting vodkas, you quickly learn there’s a purification column and built my own actigreat breadth of scope and quality out there vated carbon column because I wanted it to and price isn’t necessardo what I want it to do.” ily a good indicator.” He The process starts on a “As a business proposition, says that is especially giant, custom-built colAlaska has a very good true of mass-produced umn still that is 10 inchromantic image, but it’s better U.S. vodkas. es in diameter and about “My goal was to make the further you get from Alaska. 10 feet tall and holds vodka on par with inaround 300 gallons.

At the same time, we have a ternational quality ones While the giant column very strong tourism industry that I could export,” he distills a refined product, continued. “As a busiit’s his carbon process based on Asian tourists, ness proposition, Alaska that puts the vodka over especially during the aurora has a very good romanthe top. months during the winter.” tic image, but it’s better “What separates most the further you get from — TOIVO LUICK, Hoarfrost Distillery vodka from really good

HOARFROST DISTILLERY

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vodka is the carbon part,” he said, and explained that even though most people call this process filtration, that’s not what’s chemically happening.

“It’s more of a column chromatography process where things get trapped in the carbon based on their electronegativity. Filtering is different, but it’s the common word in usage.”

To perform what he calls carbon trapping, there’s another 10-foot-tall column that is five inches in diameter. The process is purposely, agonizingly slow and he runs batches through it five times to fully remove the undesirable compounds left over in distillation. “[The column is] completely packed with a very fine carbon with a very high surface area,” he explained. “It takes about eight hours to send a tank through. We get about 96 ounces per minute flow rate so when the vodka hits the bottom of the column — it pumps from the bottom up — it takes about ten minutes to go ten feet giving it a lot of time interacting with the carbon because it’s a fairly small electronegative force that causes the organic molecules to stick.”

The results can be savored in his award-winning flagship products, Hoarfrost Premium Crystal and Hoarfrost Premium Brilliant. For Luick, smoothness is the most important element in what is supposed to be a tasteless, odorless, colorless spirit.

“It should just sort of warm you as it goes down and feels like it disappears,” he said. “All of sudden you feel warm on the inside, and if your vodka does that, it’s great.”

For Luick, focusing on foreign markets is a better business plan because he says European and Asian consumers will pay more to sip a high-end

Hoarfrost Distilling's vodka infusions and liqueurs. PHOTO BY CARRIE DOW

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vodka versus average American consumers who tend to buy cheaper vodkas for making cocktails and don’t often appreciate vodka the way they do whiskey. He also believes exporting is a more straightforward process, especially in remote Alaska, rather than dealing with the mishmash of individual state liquor laws.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s easier to export out of the country,” he explained. “It’s simpler and the taxes you’re facing are based more on wherever you’re exporting to. There’s a barrier to entry which you pay mostly in making connections. Not necessarily a money barrier, but a big knowledge and time investment barrier.”

While his financial focus is on foreign markets, he hasn’t forgotten about the local community nor the occasional tourist who ventures to the distillery in an industrial area on the edge of Fairbanks. With help from his Russian-born wife Natalya Medvedeva, they make a variety of vodka infusions and liqueurs, using local botanicals like spruce tips, for the tasting room. Another specialty is mountain ash vodka, known in Siberia as Rianbinovka, a bitter herbal liqueur infused with mountain ash berries that soaks for several months on a distillery shelf and is a favorite with local Russian expats. Other botanicals are grown on the couple’s property.

“We started with stuff we were growing around the house,” he said, “things like red and black currant and different kinds of cherries, things you don’t see in Alaska a lot. They are so far doing well, but I have to put up electric protection to keep the moose away.” Which is the most Alaskan thing this worldly distiller could have said.

— C. Dow

URSA MAJOR DISTILLERY 2922 Parks Highway, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709 (907) 347-8951 www.ursamajordistilling.com

When Brenda Riley’s business partner Rob Borland licensed his distillery in 2011, tasting rooms were not allowed.

“Then in 2015,” she said, “the law was changed, and tasting rooms could be a thing, so he opened up in this location.”

The location is the municipality of Ester along the Parks Highway that connects Fairbanks to Anchorage with Denali National Park in between. On a Sunday morning before the tasting room opens a group of trail riders gather in the parking lot prepping their bikes to ride the single tracks in the hills above the distillery. When they get back, Bloody Marys, daiquiris, and other concoctions await.

Borland, a former firefighter and assistant station chief, was working in the Flint Hills Refinery safety program where he learned about distillation and wanted to distill his own spirits.

Wanting to do it legally, he built a distilling shed on his property, applied for and received a distilling license, and using a small still which Riley says he ‘MacGyvered’ with spare and used parts from Amazon, began making whiskey with Alaskangrown barley from Delta Junction. When the refinery closed, it became his full-time job. Riley, the former executive director of the United Way of the Tanana Valley, came on board with her non-profit marketing and financial skills to help W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

PHOTO PROVIDED BY URSA MAJOR DISTILLERY

grow the nascent business. Unfortunately, Alaskan barley isn’t the most efficient grain to distill and profit margins were shrinking.

After much research and number crunching, they choose cane sugar as the base for all their clear spirits.

“The problem with barley grown here is it's very protein rich,” she explained. “It doesn’t have a lot of sugar. You don’t get a lot of yield out of it … When I came on, we started looking at numbers and the pandemic provided a really good time to pivot.”

Long story short, Borland reengineered the stills for cane sugar and now all their vodka, gin, rum, and AKavit (AK for Alaska, get it?) is made from sugar cane they buy by the pickup truckload from Costco. They still make barley whiskey, but only in small batches that locals quickly snap up. During the pandemic, they began canning their two most popular cocktails, Bloody Marys and mango daquiris, to sell from the tasting room and to local restaurants for supplemental income.

However, word of their canned creations

“Alaska is pretty unique. We are so isolated from the rest of the states. Things are always more difficult here.”

— BRENDA RILEY, Ursa Major Distillery

spread to other communities, so they connected with a new distributor for state-wide delivery.

Despite supply chain difficulties like delays on mango concentrate for the daquiris and canning on their small line with only a fulltime staff of three, the ready-todrink cocktails have become best sellers and they’re working on a third, a Thai-spiced tea.

Riley remembers during the early days of the pandemic shutdown, Ursa Major’s outdoor deck and patio became a bright spot.

“We were able to reopen in June of 2020,” she said, “and we put that window in at the bar so people could stay outside and order.” She then mentions an Ester resident who loved the distillery’s The patio at Ursa Major Distillery.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY URSA MAJOR DISTILLERY

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Bloody Marys but was diagnosed with cancer. Because treatments compromised her immune system, the distillery’s deck was the only place outside of her home where she could enjoy a cocktail without getting close to other people. Riley says that’s when Ursa Major found its niche.

“Alaska is pretty unique,” she continued. “We are so isolated from the rest of the states. Things are always more difficult here.

The winters are longer; shipping is impossible. Everything costs more … We’d like to be distributing on a wider level, but the most important thing we have going is our tasting room and our customers. The community that we’ve built. It’s the best feeling for both of us. We’ll never be a national brand. We want to stay true to what we call the greater Ester — C. Dow industrial area.”

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ANCHORAGE DISTILLERY 6310 A St., Anchorage, Alaska 99518 907-561-2100 www.anchoragedistillery.com

PHOTO BY ASHLEY PRANGE

Travis Lee is a homegrown Alaskan — just like the ingredients he uses when helping create the “frontier-crafted spirits” at Anchorage Distillery.

“I didn’t have any distilling experience when I started, although I had done some home brewing,” said Lee, who has been with the company since its beginnings in 2012. “They figured it was either train an Alaskan, or import a distiller.”

He and the other distiller, Devin Wagner, both appreciate the Alaska-grown aspect of what they do. “The ingredients in the base for our gin, vodka, and whiskey are all sourced locally,” Lee said. “The barley is from Delta Junction, and the wheat and rye are from Palmer. Then there’s the fresh Alaskan water from the nearby Eklutna glacier.”

The distillery’s flagship spirit is Aurora Gin, presented in a stunning blue bottle

inspired by the colors of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, which can be seen swirling through the skies of Anchorage from about the middle of August to April.

It’s proofed down to exactly 49 percent— because Alaska is the 49th state, of course.

The citrus-forward gin’s botanicals, including juniper, cardamom, coriander, lemon, and orange, lend it a taste that’s as crisp and fresh as that glacier water, and it caught the eye (and the taste buds) of the judges at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, where it earned a gold medal.

The Glacier Vodka is also popular, and it comes in award-winning flavors like blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, and don’tknock-it-until-you’ve-tried-it ghost pepper.

“Each bottle gets exactly one ghost pepper,” explained Wagner, though the heat level varies from pepper to pepper, and therefore from bottle to bottle. In the tasting room, Ghost Pepper Vodka is incorporated into Bloody Marys, naturally, but also a Ghostarita, a mule, and others. “It has a great ability to kick a cocktail into the spicy zone,” Lee explained, “but most people wouldn’t just sip on it.”

Wagner, who started at the distillery in late 2022, is anxious to help with the

“We’re turning Alaskan agricultural products into finished products.”

— TRAVIS LEE, Anchorage Distillery

whiskies and bourbons. “Creating them is an act of patience,” he said, “and it’s exciting knowing that I might not know what will come of them in six years.” Alaska isn’t known for its corn, so that’s currently imported from Texas. Wagner’s goal is to someday source enough corn from his state, so they can call the bourbons Alaskagrown like the gin and vodka.

One of Wagner’s favorite parts of his job, he said, is “to be able to supply the tasting room with the canvas to make the creative cocktails.” Alaska’s strict laws regarding tasting rooms have required the folks at Anchorage Distillery to get creative. Under current law, which is set to change in 2024, they can’t have TVs or live entertainment; they have to stop serving at 8 p.m.; patrons can’t sit at the bar; and no games can be played.

Yet the distillery’s tasting room is thriving, thanks to a homey atmosphere inspired by a 19th-century mining shaft, with thick, exposed beams and barrels as tables.

Works from local artists hang on the walls for a month at a time, making each visit a unique one. (In May, the featured works were black-and-white landscape and travel photographs taken by Wagner, who calls photography his other creative pursuit, besides distilling.) And of course there are the unique cocktails, like the April Showers G+T, featuring Aurora Gin, grapefruit, lemon, and lavender; and the Snowbird, a twist on a margarita, with Glacier Vodka, pineapple juice, roasted jalapeno, and orange-infused agave. If you can’t make it to Alaska, recipes for dozens of tasty concoctions are helpfully available on the distillery’s website and posted regularly on their social media.

When asked what the distillery does best, Lee is quick to answer. “It’s the Alaska-grown aspect of what we do,” he said. “We’re turning Alaskan agricultural products into finished products.”

And very tasty ones, at that.

— L. Truesdale

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The Ghost of Temperance Past

Evanston, Illinois is the home of FEW Spirits, and, long ago, the

home of Frances Elizabeth Willard,

a founding member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and a figurehead of Prohibition history.

Appreciating th e good work done by old en emies.

W RI TT EN BY

O

SY D N EY JO

N ES

n the days whe n I’m assigned to the early shift alarm goes off , my at 5 a.m. The st reetlights are st outside my apar ill on tment, casting fade in dawn’s gr a dying glow as adual wake. Th th ey e peace of the ea punctuated by rly hour is only the occasional chug of the L tr rumbles by my ain as it steadily windows, a soun d that is more co abrasive. I like mforting than Chicago best as the sun rises ov that as I step ou er it. It’s so quiet t of my buildin g’s front door w sometimes hear ith my bike, I ca the waves of Lak n e Michigan lapp line two blocks ing at its shoreaway.

I moved here a little over two ye ars ago for The distilling whisk Dream Job — ey for FEW Spir its , an operation I had from afar. At th long admired e time, I was th e first full-fledg to join the com ed female distill pany. I claim Fl er orida as home, Midwest was no and a move to t something I ev th e er predicted. A nity to further m chance opportuy career presen te d itself, so I took I flew into O’H a leap of faith. are for the first time in March ly hopped in an 20 21 and promptUber to Evanst on, a suburb di northside Chica re ct ly adjacent to go. Evanston is the home of FE the home of Fr W, and, long ag ances Elizabeth o, Willard, a foun the Women’s C ding member of hristian Tempe rance Union an Prohibition hist d a figurehead or y. Prior to th of e move, I knew about her, save little to nothin for what I learne g d from FEW ed rials and the di ucational matestiller y’s obviou s similarity to he initials. r W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

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Frances Elizabeth Willard infamously rode a bicycle as her primary means of transportation, something I think of a lot as I ride my own.

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The bike ride into work is an easy-going two miles. I weave through neighborhoods, avoiding the main roads and the Chicagoan traffic they guarantee. The commute takes me alongside Calvary Catholic Cemetery, one of the oldest Catholic graveyards in the country. It was established in 1859, a year after 18-year-old Frances moved to Evanston to attend the Methodist North Western Female College. I can’t help but wonder, on the days I cycle by, if she knew any of its occupants. In a place as historic as Evanston, surrounded by hundred-year-old architecture and monuments, it’s hard not to feel a sort of connection to these ghosts of the past. After two years of working in this town, I feel more kinship than scorn towards Frances Elizabeth Willard than one might expect from a professional alcohol maker. Had her campaign truly succeeded, I would be out of a job.

I arrive at work as the sun begins winking through the FEW alleyway, providing backlight for the train that runs directly behind our building. The tasks for opening the distillery feel like muscle-memory, a smooth kind of auto-pilot set to the Spotify playlist of the day. Transfer low wines into the finishing still. Get corn into the tun for the day’s mash. Fire up the column. The rhythmic motions fall into a perfect order of operations, each activity briskly following the last as I rearrange hoses, nudge valves open and closed, and delicately maneuver the forklift across the production floor. I deeply love my job. I love how natural it feels, how my brain has become programmed to order whiskey production into a tidy checklist. Distilling gives me a sense of purpose and peace.

Lost on many is the connection between female Prohibitionists and the budding Suffrage movement, but the two were closely intertwined. Frances wasn’t just opposed to alcohol for the sake of being a killjoy; she championed several social interests during an era when many populations, such as women, lacked basic human rights. It’s no wonder alcohol became a target as it was often an aggravating factor in the domestic violence that plagued the time. While she’s notoriously remembered for her staunch opposition to booze, Frances campaigned for women’s rights, education, and labor reforms. She spoke on an international stage at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, a huge accomplishment for anyone, let alone a woman in the 1890s, and she became one of the most famous women in the world, growing the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to a membership of over 150,000 by the mid-1890s.

My work day averages 8 to 10 hours, and is often dependent on several factors: the efficiency of my distillations, how hot the distillery’s ambient temperature is, or if a grain delivery needs to be off-loaded. At the end of the day, I’m relieved W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

by the PM shift distiller, and I hand over the reins before heading home. Sometimes, my mind wanders to Frances as I ride the route back to my tiny apartment. The ties between us feel both subtle and obvious.

She infamously rode a bicycle as her primary means of transportation, something I think of a lot as I ride my own. I embody many of the feminist ideals she vigorously promoted — I’m able to vote, live independently as an unmarried woman, and I’m able to pursue the career I love. We both moved to the northern Chicagoland area as young women; we both have ties to the Methodist church. And yet, I drink. I am a distiller, and I’m audacious enough to do it in her home city. What would she think of me? Would she be proud?

Or would I be the living culmination of her worst nightmare?

Frances Elizabeth Willard unfortunately never witnessed the fruits of her labor.

Her health sharply declined in 1897, and she passed away at the age of 58 in 1898.

Twenty-two years later the 18th and 19th Amendments were passed. The former prohibited the consumption of alcohol, while the latter guaranteed women the right to vote. Thirteen years after its ratification, the 18th Amendment was dismantled by the 21st Amendment. Alcohol consumption was legalized once again on December 5, 1933, a date now known as Repeal Day. However, the 19th Amendment continues to stand to this day, giving women the privilege of participating in local, state, and national elections for the past 103 years. Of the two causes she furthered, I’d like to believe that Frances would have preferred the long-lasting liberty that the 19th Amendment has granted over the short-term failure of the 18th.

I will never truly know what Frances Elizabeth Willard would think of the present distilling industry and the role of women within it. As much as one could speculate, it’s important to keep in mind that the reality of the current world is something she may not have been capable of imagining. But if I could speak to her, here are the things I would tell her: Distilling alcohol has given me, a young woman, autonomy. It has given me financial independence, self-confidence, and a beautiful community that I would not trade for the world. The alcohol industry is transforming, increasingly populated by powerful, talented women not only in the United States, but across the globe. It is by no means a perfect world, but it is one that we are trying to shape into a better tomorrow. There is a new generation of female distillers that are creating and leading, and inspiring. I hope she would understand. I hope she would be proud.

Frances Elizabeth Willard, spoke on an international stage at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, a huge accomplishment for anyone, let alone a woman in the 1890s.

Sydney Jones is currently the head distiller for FEW Spirits in Evanston, Illinois, where she specializes in gin and whiskey production, as well as spirits education. She is the proud parent of a very cute dog and a very devilish cat, both of whom she adores.

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BEYOND

the

BOTTOM

LINE

BEYOND DISTILLING AT

IT’S ALL RIGHT THERE IN THE NAME Written by Gabe Toth

///

Photos provided by Beyond Distilling

T

he Charleston, South Carolina business is more than just a distillery. It’s a calling, an opportunity to employ an underserved community of adults with mental disabilities.

“The logo, our name, everything is a subtle nod to what we’re trying to do,” co-owner and program director Kerianne Krause said.

The distillery was planned and designed with the mission in mind, making sure that operations would be suitable for the employees they aimed to bring in rather than trying to shoehorn that aspect in after the fact. “It was really cool to be able to create it from the ground up,” she said. “A lot of times people try to make it inclusive after already being established, which is awesome, but we were able to create the environment we wanted.”

Even before deciding to open a distillery, the “Beyond” existed. Krause was just trying to figure out the rest. She owns a business in nearby Summerville, providing therapy as a board-certified behavior analyst for children ages 2 to 21 who have autism and other disabilities.

“When a few of my clients became 21, there was nowhere for them to go. It became really frustrating over the years to realize, you do all this work and then the support and everything just kind of drops off once you turn 21,” she said. “My husband had heard me talking nonstop about, let’s find a business where we can employ adults with disabilities.”

At the same time, Tyler LaCorata was working at StilltheOne Distillery in upstate New York, looking for an opportunity to leave with friend and co-worker Ryan Sadis to start their own business. Krause’s husband suggested reaching out to LaCorata, his best friend from high school and godfather to the Krauses’ oldest son.

With the connection made and a plan set in motion, Sadis and then LaCorata headed down to South Carolina to help get things set up. According to LaCorata, they wanted to come out with three core spirits: a bourbon, a coconut rum, and a tropical gin featuring watermelon, papaya, pineapple, mango, and a more traditional foundation of juniper, coriander, lemon peel, and angelica. They’re not standard gin-and-tonic or rum-and-Coke spirits, which is exactly what the team wanted.

“We wanted to make them very cocktail forward,” he said. “Gin is my favorite thing to

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“A lot of times people try to make it inclusive after already being established, which is awesome, but we were able to create the environment we wanted.”

— Kerianne Krause distill, one of my favorite things to drink. A lot of the people who drink our gin weren’t gin drinkers before that, they were nervous of gin.”

Beyond is currently distributed in New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Tennessee. They’re also looking at possibly distributing in Washington State after visiting there earlier this year. With the closure of StilltheOne in 2019, they were able to purchase a lot of the barrels that LaCorata and Sadis had put up during their time there. As a result, the new distillery was able to release bourbon at five years old and is planning a

release of seven-year-old rye.

“We’ve got a lot of cool stuff coming out,” LaCorata said. “Back in the day, Ryan and I had distilled a lot of stuff from beer, so we have a lot of single malts distilled from craft beer. We have a pale ale, a stout and a Belgian beer that we’re really excited about. We have our single-grain series, where we had 100 percent rye, 100 percent wheat whiskey, and 100 percent corn bourbon that we’re going to be coming out with. A bunch of rums, a bunch of aged gins. Anything that pops into our head to do, we like to do it right away.”

While the guys were dialing in recipes and 77

processes, Krause was taking notes and figuring out how to make things approachable and manageable for the staff they were trying to bring in. “It was a cool process,” LaCorata said. “She just stood there and wrote things down, and figured out how to do it in her own way that she knows would work with our employees. That was a learning process for all of us. It was pretty humbling for me.”

Krause said the first employees trained for six to eight months while all of the distillery licensing and paperwork was getting finalized, but it gave them the opportunity to work through things. “Every choice we made, in the back of our minds, was, will this be safe? Will this be the easiest for people who might have gross motor/fine motor delays?” she said.

“As we were building the company on the side of distilling the spirits and everything that they were perfecting, on my side it was, how long will I need to write this training manual? To make sure everyone who comes in will be prepared, not only the people with disabilities but the people who [are] managing, because I have a very unique way of thinking when it comes to managing.”

Part of their success with disabled employees, LaCorata said, is simply creating the sort of positive and supportive work environment

78

“We’ve worked for a lot of jerks in the past, and it was a lot of negative reinforcement, and it didn’t work, and we wanted to switch that whole thing around.”

— Tyler LaCorata that employees of any ability level would thrive in.

“We’ve worked for a lot of jerks in the past, and it was a lot of negative reinforcement, and it didn’t work, and we wanted to switch that whole thing around,” he said. “We want our employees to want to come in to work. We’re gonna work a lot, and we’re gonna get a lot done, but we’re gonna have fun doing it.”

Another big part of their success is allowing the employees, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum between disabled and neurotypical (not exhibiting any sort of neurological or intellectual disability), to show what they’re capable of. Employees have a variety of conditions, including Down syndrome, autism, intellectual disabilities that come with motor delays, and deafness, but Krause said they don’t always know precise

diagnoses. The parents will often discuss it with her or the other owners, but “if they don’t tell us, we don’t ask,” she said.

While working to meet people at their ability level, the Beyond team is finding their employees able to handle more than expected. Krause said a lot of their in-house training went into helping people to unlearn the things they’ve learned about how to talk to and work with people with disabilities: to recognize their own biases, to not infantilize disabled employees, and to not make unfounded assumptions about what they could or couldn’t do.

“I learned in the beginning of all of this, I’d be in my head going, ‘Oh, he’s not going to be able to do this,’ and they always end up doing it,” she said. “Once I realized that I was having this unconscious bias about our employees unnecessarily, it was like, ok, we’re throwing that out the door and giving everyone the opportunity.”

She continued, “Wherever they’re most comfortable is where we’re putting them. We have one individual who has autism who literally checks every bottle before it goes into a box, because he will notice if the label is a little crooked, he’s a perfectionist.”

They have another employee who is deaf and has Down syndrome, and she had concerns about impulse control at first. “He’s the best person on the labeler, but in the beginning I didn’t let him do the labeler,” she said.

“Of course he proved me wrong, he’s the one I put on the labeler all the time. So we made a new handbook. Everyone is going to try it, and whatever they like the best and whatever they’re the most comfortable with is probably where we’re going to end up putting them.”

They were able to hire someone who had worked as an aide for one of their hearing-impaired employees, bringing them on to help manage the staff. Krause said it was a natural

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progression for that person, and the Beyond team had been trying to figure out where to find someone with a background in both working with disabled adults and in distillery operations.

Despite building out their operations with the safety of their employees front and center, the procedures there wouldn’t be out of place in other distilleries. There are certain things they have to monitor, but for the most part it’s just a regular distillery.

“The most accommodation we had [to provide] was that one of our employees is a size three shoe. We couldn’t find steel-toe boots, so we had to figure that out,” she said. “Plus she’s four [feet] nine [inches], so we had to get a stool for a lot of things. Other than that, it’s just, some people are not going to use the heat gun, because they don’t have the ability to not touch the silver part that’s really hot.”

Their employees don’t drive, and often rely on a state-run service that regularly runs late.

It doesn’t impact operations much, though.

“That’s just something we have to be flexible with. If someone’s shift ends at two and the bus doesn’t come until four, we just play basketball and hang out,” Krause said. “We’re not doing brain surgery. If someone is an hour late, we just put them back where they need to go.”

They started off with a target of hiring 50 percent of their employees from among the disabled population, but are now at 100 percent, LaCorata said. He and Sadis run the still, but the employees help with bottling, blending, proofing, tasting, and barrel selection, every part of operating a distillery except running the still.

“Their palates are phenomenal. I say there’s no wrong answer with what you’re picking up on, everyone’s palate is different,” he said.

Krause said they initially planned for their disabled employees to only work the bottling line, “but then we realized that the capabilities were more than we even thought, because we’re all biased. Our second employee was really interested in everything Tyler was doing, and followed him around.”

At one point, LaCorata made a batch of mead at the distillery, and he was taken aback by the level of interest in the project.

“Everyone was asking so many questions, and I was like, ‘You know what? Awesome. How W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

about we make whatever flavor you guys think of,’ he said. They made a cherry limeade mead for one employee who loves cherry limeade from Sonic. “One of our employees walked into the refrigerator and picked out random things — banana juice, mango juice, pineapple juice, and watermelon juice — and put it all together. That one came out interesting.”

“It was just awesome. They were so into the fermentation process, and loved coming in each day and seeing the fermentation moving, the airlocks and everything. The day we did it, I got text messages from three of our employees about how much fun they had, how much they loved doing it, and other recipes they wanted to do later on,” he said.

Their efforts to include disabled adults in the workforce has rippled out beyond the distillery, as well. Because of a gap in federal labor law, an adult with an intellectual disability doesn’t have to be paid for their work.

Companies often take advantage of this loophole by claiming that the workers are interning or being given a learning opportunity. “I had adults who were working for two years and not getting paid anything, because they were getting quote/unquote experience,” Krause said.

How to talk to and work with people with disabilities: > Recognize your own biases. > Do not infantilize disabled people. > Do not make unfounded assumptions about what they can or can’t do.

She added that 15 states have outlawed the practice, and the distillery helped to put a face on successful efforts to add South Carolina to that list. “People have been working behind the scenes on it for years. All we really did to help was exist. It got buzz because it was a distillery and it was people with disabilities, and it captured more attention,” she said.

There were hurdles in getting the company set up initially, but Krause was used to handling businesses that are hesitant to deal with disabled individuals. An early test was getting workman’s compensation liability insurance for the distillery. She said there were only 79

two companies willing to insure the company based on their mission.

“I was like, would you say that about any other group of people? Isn’t that illegal? Isn’t that against ADA?” she said. “There were a lot of legal things that I guess people don’t realize are flat-out discriminatory when it comes to people with disabilities. But if you think about any other minority group, you would never do those things. If you erase ‘disability’ and insert ‘women’ or ‘people of color,’ and that makes you uncomfortable, then don’t say it about people with disabilities.”

The public reception to their workforce choices was mixed at first, she said, but they’ve worked to change the stereotypes that consumers might bring with them.

“In the beginning, we had some pushback.

People thought that alcohol around people with disabilities, even if they’re 30 years old, a person with Down syndrome holding a cocktail makes people confused,” Krause said.

Customers see that the distillery is just a regularly functioning business, and the mission

80

“If you give people, any people, no matter their ability level, the opportunity to show you what they can do, they’re going to.”

— Kerianne Krause has particularly resonated with people who have disabled relatives. “People will come up to the distillery and say, ‘My sister … I wish there was stuff like this when we were younger.’ ‘Johnny is 25, [and] wants a job at the distillery.’ At one point, we had like 50 people on the waitlist. Hiring people one at a time has been difficult.”

Even parents of employees have been impressed by the capability being shown on the distillery floor. They have to be told sometimes that Beyond is a business, not a charity,

and the staff works hard, has fun, and does a good job.

“I’ll tell parents the first few months, ‘He’s doing great, she’s doing great. They’re really good at this or they’re really good at that,” Krause said. “The parents will be like, ‘You can tell me if they’re not doing well.’ Then I’ll give them a bottle and go, ‘They were a part of every single part of bottling this, every single step.’ If you give people, any people, no matter their ability level, the opportunity to show you what they can do, they’re going to.”

Beyond Distilling Company is located in North Charleston, South Carolina.

For more information visit www.beyonddistillingcompany.com or call (843) 420-3034.

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A

Age Verification

s the direct-to-consumer (DTC) alcohol market continues to grow, so does the scrutiny. Some critics argue that DTC sales make it too easy for minors to obtain alcohol, which leads them to suggest restrictions or even banning DTC sales altogether.

Producers who sell their products online need to be prepared to defend their DTC businesses against such criticism. A recently distributed age verification study published by Zero Link Markets shows DTC sales can be conducted safely and responsibly.

The study revealed that a layer of embedded pre-purchase age verification technology is 100 percent effective at preventing minors from purchasing alcohol online, far surpassing the compliance rates of traditional brick-and-mortar outlets. Furthermore, the study concluded that minors were not utilizing DTC to make purchases of alcohol online. This led to the conclusion that companies who use pre-purchase age verification technology can be confident that they are complying with the law and that they are not putting minors at risk.

Although some have criticized the study's data as not being statistically relevant to the overall market, it is relevant mathematically.

To accurately represent the 50 million alcohol shipments per year with a 99 percent confidence level and a 0.25 percent margin of error, the study would require a sample size of 264,000 shipments.

Vinoshipper used over 350,000

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annual data points, which is more than enough to be considered a statistically significant representation of nationwide shipments.

There is debate over the best way for consumers to access alcohol at home. Parties are divided over direct-to-consumer shipping and local delivery.

When comparing the two, it becomes clear that DTC shipping offers advantages to the consumer, producer, and authorities. Firstly, DTC alcohol shipping provides the widest selection of products, including rare and unique options that may not be available locally. When shipped, tax is charged on these items at the state, county, and/or city level, providing tax revenue to all from this new channel. Embedded pre-purchase age verification should put local government agencies, who have a focus on stopping access of alcohol to minors, at ease.

Those who sell their products online can use the results of the Zero Link Markets study to show that DTC sales can be conducted safely, responsibly, and conveniently, helping them to defend their DTC businesses against criticism and to continue to grow in a safe, sustainable way.

White Paper: Direct sales by alcohol beverage suppliers does not increase minors access to alcohol.

Written by Taylor Harrison

81

Originally written February 1, 2023

Abstract Certain segments of the market have claimed for decades DTC shipments of alcohol increases the risk of minors accessing alcohol.1 New data, collected through direct-to-consumer transactions from 2020-2022, provides the opposite conclusion. In fact, the application of electronic age verification software used during the pre-purchase checkout of alcohol online represents the most reliable way for reducing the ills of minors’ access to alcohol.

Properly employed pre-purchase age verification software has resulted in a 100 percent compliance rate. Furthermore, it provides precise data on whether minors are utilizing online platforms to attempt purchases of alcohol.

The findings in this paper point to direct-to-consumer sales as the safest way for alcohol to be sold, and pre-purchase age verification software is a cost effective and reliable way to block and measure minors’ attempt to purchase alcohol online. Further, it demonstrates that minors are not attempting to use direct-to-consumer avenues in any significant number to secure alcohol.

Data analyzed is from online transactions that lead to shipments by common carriers such as FedEx and UPS and not by local delivery services such as Drizly, Instacart, etc.

Introduction During the Covid-19 pandemic, most hospitality venues were closed, and foot traffic decreased dramatically.2 For those in the alcohol industry that relied heavily on in-person transactions, especially those operating tasting rooms, this was disastrous. To counteract this reduction in sales, many businesses turned to e-commerce to stay afloat.

The increased reliance on remote purchases and emphasis on electronic marketing resulted in e-commerce purchases surging in 2020, increasing 43 percent.3 Within the direct-to-consumer market for wine, according to the latest report from Sovos Ship Compliant, the value of direct-to-consumer shipments increased 28.2 percent from 2019 to 2022.4 With an observed increase in alcohol e-commerce transactions, the FTC advised in their 2022 paper titled Competition in the

Markets for Beer, Wine, and Spirits that, “State officials need evaluate the direct-to consumer distribution model, both in terms of the distribution opportunities it presents for small producers and the comparative risks it may present of making alcohol available to underage drinkers.”5 This White Paper examines the “comparative risk.”

Historical Background Electronic, pre-purchase age verification data is provided by Vinoshipper. Established in 2006, Vinoshipper is a cloud-based sales platform that enables micro- to medium-sized beverage alcohol brands to sell and ship wine nationally (where allowed) while staying compliant with all state regulatory, shipping, and tax rules.

Vinoshipper shopping carts are embedded with the IDology age verification software. Established in 2003, IDology is a leader in digital identification and authentication. IDology’s ExpectID Age is an age verification software system that deters and prevents attempted purchases from minors in digital channels by confirming minimum age requirements. IDology is an approved age verification solution in several U.S. states including Michigan, Maryland, South Dakota, Kansas, and Massachusetts.

Embedded age verification works behind the scenes to determine if a user’s age/identity is real. Buyers must enter data including their name, residence zip code, and year of birth. These inputs are then checked against billions of public data records from thousands of sources to confirm whether a buyer is of age or not.

Brick-and-mortar data used in this review is provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in their 2021 state reports titled “Underage Drinking Prevention and Enforcement.”6

Methodology The e-commerce transaction data analyzed in this White Paper is compiled from over 2,000 Vinoshipper client shopping carts (both retailers and direct selling producers) amounting to over 1.05 million shipments. The clients and buyers are spread across 47 states. The data runs from Q1 2020 through Q4 2022. All transactions took place through the Vinoshipper platform, which is embedded with IDology

Figure 1: Value of direct-to-consumer wine shipments with annual value growth 2011-2011. (Source Sovos) $4.5B $4B

-1.6%

2021

2022

14.9%

$3.5B $3B

15.5%

$2.5B $2B $1.5B

13.4%

12.5%

9.9%

7.5%

2012

2013

15.5%

8.1%

11.6%

7.4%

18.5%

$1B $500M $2011

82

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

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60%

Underage

40%

100%

Q1

Underage

Confirm age

Of age

Confirm age

Of age

80%

2020 Q1 60%2020 Q2

2020 Q2

2020 Q3

Confirm age

Of age

20%

0%

Underage

Figure ageverification verificationresults. results.

(Source Vinoshipper Figure2: 2: Quarterly Quarterly age (Source Vinoshipper and IDology) and IDology)

2020 Q3

2020 Q3

2020 Q4

2020 Q4 2021 Q1 40%

2020 Q4

2021 Q1

2021 Q2

2021 Q1

2021 Q2

2021 Q3

2021 Q2

2021 Q3

2021 Q4

2021 Q3

2021 Q4

2022 Q1

2021 Q4

2022 Q1

2022 Q2

2022 Q1

2022 Q2

2022 Q3

2022 Q2

2022 Q3

2022 Q3

2022 Q4

Underage

2022 Q4

Confirm age

2022 Q4

Of age

Table 1: Quarterly age verification results, shown as absolutes (Source Vinoshipper and IDology) uarterly age verification results, 2020 shown as2020 absolutes (Source Vinoshipper and IDology) 20%2020 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022 Q1 shown Q2 as absolutes Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 andQ3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 ge verification results, (Source Vinoshipper IDology) 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022 2022

2022 Q4

Totals

Totals Q1 Q2 Of age 23,187 Q3 81,247 Q4 45,888 Q1 82,372 Q2 36,239 Q3 31,996 Q4 27,799 Q1 50,007 Q2 21,828 Q3 19,861 Q4 21,151 35,813 477,388 2020 2020 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022 2022 Totals 0% Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 23,187 81,247 45,888 82,372 36,239 31,996 27,799 50,007 21,828 19,861 21,151 35,813 477,388 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q410,616 2021 Q1 10,012 2021 Q2 8,774 2021 Q3 18,051 2021 Q4 2022 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 Confirm age 6,5252020 Q1 22,978 12,826 30,727 6,897 6,942 7,481 13,825 155,654 81,247 45,888 82,372 36,239 31,996 27,799 50,007 21,828 19,861 21,151 35,813 477,388 6,525 22,978 12,826 30,727 10,616 10,012 8,774 18,051 6,897 6,942 7,481 13,825 155,654 Underage 32 119 155 118 118 85 68 122 49 18 24 35 943 22,978 12,826 30,727software.

10,616 10,012 8,774 18,051 6,897 6,942 7,481 13,825 155,654 age verification There were a total of 633,985 buyers registering across 32 119 155 118 118 85 68 122 49 18 24 35 943 Total the three29,744 years of104,344 data under58,869 review. 113,217 46,973 42,093 36,641 68,180 28,774 26,821 28,656 49,673 633,985 From 2020 purchases through the 119 155 118 118 age verification 85 68 results, 122 shown49as absolutes 18 24 35 to 2022, 943 e-commerce Tablethe1:58,869 Quarterly and 633,985 IDology) During checkout process one of four actions took place: 68,180 28,774 (Source 29,744 104,344 113,217 46,973 42,093 36,641 26,821 Vinoshipper 28,656 49,673

Results

Vinoshipper platform made with an embedded layer of age

04,344

58,869 46,973 42,093 36,641 68,180 28,774 26,821 49,673 633,985 1. Of 113,217 Age – The information submitted during the purchase was validated 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021 2021by 28,656 2021 2021 2022 2022 verification software resulted2022 in a 1002022 percent compliance Totals Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 represents Q1of Q2 Q3 The(Source Q4 showed Q1 Q3 IDology and transaction was processed. purchasers Table 2: Quarterly agetheir verification results, shownThis as percent quarterly buyers.

Vinoshipper rate. data that overQ2 theand threeIDology) years, 75.3Q4percent

entering address as theasship to address. of those that passed, didIDology) so19,861 first time21,151 with the35,813 information age their home 23,187 81,247 45,888 82,372 36,239 buyers.

31,996 (Source 27,799 50,007 21,828 477,388 uarterly age Of verification results, shown percent of quarterly Vinoshipper and 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022 2022 provided, 24.6 percent of buyers required additional informaTotals 2.

Confirm Age – The information initially entered did not match IDology ge verification results, of12,826 quarterly and Q1age shown Q2 as percent Q3 Q4 Q1buyers.

Q2(Source Q3Vinoshipper Q4 Q1 IDology) Q2 Q3 Q4 Confirm 6,525 22,978 30,727 10,616 10,012 8,774 18,051 6,897 6,942 7,481 13,825 155,654

2020 2020 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022 tion and their age was 2022 confirmed, and 0.15 percent of potenrecords (the ship to2020 address may be a business, Access Point or other delivTotals Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Of age 77.96% 77.86% 77.95% 72.76% 77.15% 76.01% 75.87% 73.35% 75.86% 74.05% 73.81% 72.10% tial buyers were categorized as minors and had75.3% their pending 2020 2020ery address 2020 rather 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022 2022 than address)155 and the buyer Underage 32 home 119 118 was asked 118 to submit 85 68 122 49 18 24 35 943 Totals Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 77.96% 77.86% 77.95% 72.76% 77.15% 76.01% 75.87% 73.35% 75.86% 74.05% 73.81% 72.10% 75.3% canceled and no payment was taken. Quarterly to validate their ID. The purchaser given two23.95% additional26.48%transaction Confirm age additional 21.94% data 22.02% 21.79% 27.14% 22.60% is 23.79% 23.97% 25.88% 26.11% 27.83% 24.6% results 72.10% from the three years 26,821 can be seen graphically in Figure Total 29,744 58,869 113,217 46,973on hold.

42,093 73.81% 36,641 68,180 28,774 28,656 49,673 633,985 77.86% 77.95% 72.76% 77.15% 76.01% 75.87% 73.35% is placed 75.86% 74.05% 75.3% attempts to enter correct104,344 data before the transaction 21.94% 22.02% 21.79% 27.14% 22.60% 23.79% 23.95% 26.48% 23.97% 25.88% 26.11% 27.83% 24.6% 2 and 0.17% in absolute0.07% numbers0.08% in Table 1.0.07% Underage 0.11% 0.11% 0.26% 0.10% 0.25% 0.20% 0.19% 0.18% 0.15% 3. Manual Validation during step 2 they 26.48% could not23.97% be validated, they 26.11% 27.83% 22.02% 21.79% 27.14% 22.60%– If23.79% 23.95% 25.88% 24.6% span, of the 633,985 registered buyDuring the three-year 0.11% 0.11% 0.26% a government 0.10% 0.25% 0.20% scanning 0.19% within 0.18% 0.17% 0.07% 0.08% 0.07% 0.15% had to submit ID for electronic the IDology

ers, only 0.15 percent or 943 of the buyers were attempted purchases by minors. Less than one minor a day attempted to During the 3-year span, of the 633,985 registered buyers, only 0.15%make or 943 ofpurchase the buyers were attempted 4. Underage/ID Failure – If their information is marked as underage or the a DTC across the network of more 2022 than 2,000 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022 Totals e purchases 3-year span, of the 633,985 registered buyers, only 0.15% or 943 of the buyers were attempted by minors.

Less than one minor a day attempted to make a DTC purchase across the network of ID submitted does not pass validation, the pending transaction is canceled.

Vinoshipper shopping carts.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 0.11%

0.26% 0.10% 0.25% age 0.20% 0.19% results, 0.18% shown 0.17%as percent 0.07% of0.08% 0.07% 0.15% system.

Table 2: Quarterly verification quarterly buyers.

(Source Vinoshipper and IDology)

pan, of the 633,985 registered buyers, only 0.15% 943 of the buyers wereacross attempted by minors.

Less than one minor a day77.95% attempted toormake a DTC purchase the network of 2,000+ Vinoshipper shopping carts.

Of age 77.96% 77.86% 72.76% 77.15% 76.01% 75.87% 73.35% 75.86% 74.05% 73.81% 72.10% 75.3% 1: Quarterly verification results, shown as absolutes.

(Source Vinoshipper IDology) of s. Less Table thanshopping one minor aage day attempted to make a DTC purchase across theandnetwork inoshipper carts.

Comparatively, using a conglomeration of2020 2021 state2021 reports, traditional on2022 and off2022 trade Confirm age 21.94% 22.02% 2020 21.79% 27.14%SAMHSA 22.60% 2021 23.79% 23.95% 2021 26.48% 2022 23.97% 25.88% 26.11%2022 27.83% 24.6% 2020 2020 2021 r shopping carts.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Totals ively, using athe conglomeration of 20210.26% SAMHSA state reports, traditional on0.18% and off0.17% trade retailers inUnderage United 0.11% States averaged an 89.6% compliance rate.

0.11%45,888 0.10%36,239 0.25%31,996 0.20%27,799 0.19%50,007 0.15% Of age 23,187 81,247 82,372 21,828 19,8610.07% 21,1510.08% 35,8130.07%477,388 ng a conglomeration of 2021 an SAMHSA state reports, traditional on and off trade n the United States averaged 89.6% compliance rate.

Confirm age 6,525 22,978 12,826 30,727 of 10,616 8,774 18,051the number 6,897 6,942 7,481 13,825 155,654 agencies submit to SAMHSA the number retail10,012 licensees in state, of licensees edState States averaged an 89.6% compliance rate.

Underage 32 the 119 155 118licensees 85 122of licensees 18 24 35 943 ncies submit tocompliance SAMHSA number of retail in state, the68number checked for by state agencies, and the 118 number of licensees that failed49state compliance During 3-year span, of the 633,985 registered buyers, 0.15% or 943 of the buyers were Total the 29,744 104,344 58,869 113,217 46,973 42,093 36,641only 68,180 28,774 26,821 28,656 49,673 attempted 633,985 mit to SAMHSAbythe number of retail in of state, the number of licensees or compliance state agencies, and licensees the number licensees that failed state compliance purchases by minors. Less than one minor a day attempted to make a DTC purchase across the network of ance byTable state2:agencies, and the numberresults, of licensees that failed state compliance Quarterly age verification shown as percent of quarterly buyers. (Source Vinoshipper and IDology) 2,000+ Vinoshipper shopping carts.

2020 Q1

2020 Q2

2020 Q3

2020 Q4

2021 Q1

2021 Q2

2021 Q3

2021 Q4

2022 Q1

2022 Q2

2022 Q3

2022 Q4

Totals

Comparatively, using conglomeration of 2021 SAMHSA state reports, traditional on and off trade 230201 Zero Markets, Inc.a 77.95% Of Link age 77.96% 77.86% 72.76% 77.15% 76.01% 75.87% 73.35% 75.86% 74.05% 73.81% 72.10% 4 75.3% retailers in the United States averaged an 89.6% compliance rate.

4 ero LinkConfirm Markets, age Inc. 21.94% 22.02% 21.79% 27.14% 22.60% 23.79% 23.95% 26.48% 23.97% 25.88% 26.11% 27.83% 24.6% Underage 0.11% 0.11% 0.26% 0.10% 0.25% 0.20% 0.19% 0.18% 0.17% 40.07% 0.08% 0.07% 0.15% Markets, Inc. State agencies submit to SAMHSA the number of retail licensees in state, the number of licensees checked for compliance by state agencies, and the number of licensees that failed state compliance W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

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In the data reported to SAMHSA, States reported checking 14.1%, or 94,841, of the 673,975 reported In theretail data reported to SAMHSA, States checking 14.1%, or 94,841, of the 673,975 reported establishments throughout thereported United States.

Number Failed 10.4%, 9,908 retail establishments throughout the United States.

Figure 3: Underage drinking prevention and enforcement summary. Source (SAMHSA) Figure 3: Underage drinking prevention enforcement summary.

Source (SAMHSA) SAMHSA 2021 and - Underage Drinking Prevention and Enforcement Summary Number Licensees

94,841 and Enforcement Figure 3: Underage prevention and enforcement summary. (Source SAMHSA) SAMHSA 2021Checked -drinking Underage Drinking14.1%, Prevention Summary

Number Failed 10.4%, 9,908 Number of Number Failed 10.4%, 9,908 Retail icensees Number Licensees Checked Number Licensees Checked

SOURCES

100.0%

- 14.1%, 94,841 100,000 14.1%, 94,841

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

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In the 2021 reports, the states varied in compliance rates. Delaware had the lowest compliance rat Number of 100.0%, 673,975 63.9% and Rhode Island had the highest compliance rate at 100%. There were twelve states that d Retailoficensees Number 100.0%, 673,975 report any statistics.

Retail icensees

1. WSWA (n.d.) DTC: Know the whole story, WSWA, www.wswa.org/DTC-knowthe-whole-story, accessed December 2022.

-

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

Figure 4: Compliance rates by state as reported in the 2021 reports. (Source SAMHSA)

100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 2. Jeff Quackenbush (01 Dec 2022) Really a cause for alarm: In the 2021 reports, the states varied in compliance rates. Delaware had the lowest compliance rate at Figure 4: Compliance rates by state as reported in the 2021 reports. (Source SAMHSA) Wineries urged to go digital In the63.9% 2021 reports, the states compliance rates. Delaware had the lowest ratethat at did not as tasting room traffic decline, and Rhode Islandvaried had theinhighest compliance rate at 100%.

There werecompliance twelve states North Bay Business Journal, 100% 63.9%report and Rhode Island had the highest compliance rate at 100%.

There were twelve states that did not any statistics. www.northbaybusinessjournal.

95% report any statistics. com/article/industrynews/ really-a-cause-for-alarmFigure 4: Compliance rates by state as reported in the 2021 reports. (Source SAMHSA) 90% wineries-urged-to-go-digitalFigure 4: Compliance rates by state as reported in the 2021 reports. (Source SAMHSA) as-tasting-room-tr/, accessed 85% December 2022.

SAMHSA Compliance rates by State

3. Mayumi Brewster (27 April 100% 2022) E-Commerce Sales 100% Surged During the Pandemic, 95% United States Census Bureau, 95% 90% www.census.gov/library/ stories/2022/04/ecommerce-90% 85% sales-surged-during-pandemic. html, accessed December 85% 80% 2022.

75% 70% 65% 60% 55%

65%

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Not reported: HI, IA, MD, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NC, ND, WI, and AK.

AK

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55%

State also their due diligence.

Rhode Island checked sixasout of 986inretailer Figureagencies 5: Number of ranged licenseesinchecked relative to the number of licensees in thejust state reported the 20 reports.

(Source SAMHSA) state.

Louisiana checked 7,273 of 7,940 licensees in the state.

Figure 5: Number of licensees checked relative to the number of licensees inNot the reported state as reported in theNumber 2021 reports.

(Source checked SAMHSA) relative to number of licensees of licensees Not reported

AZ

60%

PA

NY

70%

Not reported PA

50%

DE

75%

DE

80%

4. Sovos ShipCompliant and 75% Wines Vines Analytics ( January 2023) Direct-to70% Consumer Wine Shipping Report, Sovos, www.sovos.

65% com/shipcompliant/ wp-content/uploads/ 60% sites/9/2023/01/2023-Directto-Consumer-Wine-Shipping-55% Report.pdf, accessed January 50% 2023.

SAMHSA Compliance rates by State SAMHSA Compliance rates by State

80%

5. U.S. Department of Treasury (9 February 2022) Competition State agencies also ranged in their due diligence. Rhode Island checked just six out of 986 retailers in the 90% in the Markets for Beer, Wine, State agencies also ranged in their dueofdiligence.

RhodeinIsland checked just six out of 986 retailers in the state. Louisiana checked 7,273 7,940 licensees the state. and Spirits, U.S Department 80% state.

Louisiana checked 7,273 of 7,940 licensees in the state. of Treasury, home.treasury. gov/system/files/136/ 70% Competition-Report.pdf, Link Markets, Inc. accessed December 2022.

60% 50% 40%

Link Markets, Inc. 30% Link Markets, Inc. 20% 10%

WI

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Not reported RI

0%

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5

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6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (n.d.)

Underage Drinking Prevention and Enforcement 2021, SAMHSA, www. samhsa.gov/, accessed December 2022.

Not reported: AK, HI, IA, MN, MO, NJ, NC, ND, WI, MD, MS, MT, and NV.

There is weak statistical correlation between the number of checks undertaken by the state and the compliance rate of the state, which is seen in Figure 6 below.

84

W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M Figure 6: Correlation between the percent of licensees checked in the stateWto the compliance rate of the lic the state. (Source SAMHSA)

NV

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30% NE

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0%

20%

There is weak statistical correlation between the number of checks undertaken by the state and the 10% is seen in Figure 6 below. compliance rate of the state, which Figure 6: 6: Correlation between the 0% percent of licensees checkedOHinFLtheMI state to theDE compliance rate of the licensees in RI AZ CT NY KY IL CA checked PA the NE SDstate IDtoCOthe GA compliance VA TX KS OK MA SC NH ME UT NM IN WY AR VT TN WA Figure Correlation between the percent of OR licensees in therate state.

(Source SAMHSA) of the licensees in the state. (Source SAMHSA) Percent of Licensees Checked

100%

Compliance Rate

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230201 Zero Link Markets, Inc.

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

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Percent of Licensees Checked

Comparatively, using a conglomeration of 2021 SAMHSA state reports, traditional on- and off-trade retailers in the United States averaged an 89.6 percent compliance rate.

State agencies submit to SAMHSA the number of retail licensees in state, the number of licensees checked for compliance by state agencies, and the 230201 number ofZero licensees failed state Linkthat Markets, Inc.compliance checks. The compliance rate is derived from the number of licensees that passed state compliance checks relative to the number of licensees checked for compliance.

In the data reported to SAMHSA, states reported checking 14.1 percent, or 94,841, of the 673,975 reported retail establishments throughout the United States.

In the 2021 reports, the states varied in compliance rates. Delaware had the lowest compliance rate at 63.9 percent and Rhode Island had the highest compliance rate at 100 percent. There were twelve states that did not report any statistics.

State agencies also ranged in their due diligence. Rhode Island checked just six out of 986 retailers in the state. Louisiana checked 7,273 of 7,940 licensees in the state.

There is weak statistical correlation between the number of checks undertaken by the state and the compliance rate of the state, which is seen in Figure 6 above.

TX

KS OK MA

SC NH ME UT NM

IN WY AR

VT TN WA

AL WV

LA

Compliance Rate

Discussion From 2020 to 2022, the increase in direct-to-consumer sales did not increase the access of alcohol to minors. Embedded pre-purchase age verification software ensured a 100 percent compliance rate on alcohol purchases. The age verification software also allowed for increased in6 sight into the number of minor purchase attempts.

According to the 2021 SAMHSA reports, traditional brick and mortar ranged from a 60 percent to a 100 percent compliance rate, with an average of 90 percent.

Traditional brick and mortar do not track the number of minor purchase attempts so there is no way of examining if retail practices are working in discouraging minors from attempting purchases from retail locations.

To address the added cost of embedded age verification, the cost is not prohibitive at roughly $0.50 per verified buyer. Once a buyer is verified electronically that information is stored, and it does not cost anything for later verifications.

As evidenced by the data above, the safest way for alcohol to be purchased is online using a state approved embedded age verification software. Relative to the growth and size of the direct sales market, minors are attempting purchases in minute numbers and even when they do, they are blocked from transacting.

Taylor Harrison is a data-driven writer and analyst with a passion for the beverage alcohol industry. His work experience has focused on market forecasting, fine wine trend analysis, and uncovering truths in the direct-to-consumer industry. Taylor is based in London, where he plays indoor lacrosse for the English National Squad.

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85

Written by GARY SPEDDING, PH.D.

Oh, Distiller, Distiller —

How Does Your Complex Spirit Arise?

Only fully understood by OMICS I surmise. claims and complaints. Those issues need to be addressed via good manufacturing practices, establishing a quality assurance and quality control program, and a recall of goods initiative — though that is not the main thrust of this note. We are looking at a much bigger picture with the terms in this article, with huge amounts of data that go beyond the routine quality control involved in testing and qualifying beverages for safe release and consumption. This short text note covers the need to gather and fully evaluate data from all parts of the distillation process; raw materials all

INTEGRATEDMULTIOMICS

GENOMICS THERMODYNAMICS

Evaporative

MICROBIAL Transport

Catalysis

Micro

MATERIOMICS

Ions

FlavorCloud

Synergistic

SENSOMICS MATUROMICS

METABOLOMICS

AromaBlueprint

DataMining

MATRIX

MetabolicFlux

GINOME

COMMUNITIES

Systems

Key-Odorants

Quantitative

FERMENTOMICS

Flavoromics

BIGDATA

Proteomics

Modification

Volatiles

Phenomics

Dissociation

BARRELOMICS

Evaporation

Aromatics

Binding

Losses

Volatome

Congeners

Ethanolysis

FLUXOMICS Aroma

Ethanol

Predictions

Interactive

KINETICS MATUROME

Volatilome

GINOMICS

Hydrolysis

86

Collisions

Volatolome

Clusters

IONOMICS

Dynamics

INOMICS

OMICS

Bioinformatics

Chemometrics

Solvent

Barrelome

Antagonistic

Mechanomics

SPIRITOMICS

Synthesis

Transcriptomics

Macro

A Word Cloud Description of Terms Applying to OMICS

ChemicalSignatures

Figure 1

INTERACTOMICS

Qualitative

METAGENOMICS

through the final product-process chain and, even beyond to studies and evaluations of the shelf-life stability of beverages.

The article itself is largely covered, mostly as definitions, in just four main figures.

The topic of big data as it relates to general business and the food industry can be found through a search of web-based literature. This article relies more on peer-reviewed articles, with many of the ones perused listed in a recent article by the author, with the citation details of those plus other more recent papers available upon request.

Degradation

ne hears about big data a lot these days. Defined, with paraphrasing, as: “extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations.” Some amounts of data collected by distillers are used for day-to-day decision making.

When to release or recall a product for example. Many brewers and distillers, however, still fail to act in a timely fashion on small data sets such as that information generated by sensory panels or internal/ external quality control testing laboratories. Or related to consumer or distributor

Enzymes

O

Clathrates

COMPLEXITY

Water

W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

Figure 2

“Bio” OMICS

Omics is defined as a multi-disciplinary field of big data collection and interpretation, encompassing genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics (see Figure 1 for the major definitions). Additional literature searches or web browsing may be needed to expand on some concepts (see also Spedding, 2023). Each of the fields offers opportunities and possibilities for scientists to understand and view biology, and essentially any complex chemical system, from a global perspective in a way previously considered impossible/untenable or unthinkable.

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SYSTEM PROCESS FLUX

THE FORMULA INSTRUCTIONS

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GENOMICS = DNA THE BLUEPRINT

Study of the genome (complete set of genes) Asking “What can happen?”

How will things look based on code?

TRANSCRIPTOMICS = RNA The Transcriptome – coding and non-coding sequence regions.

Expression profiling What appears to happen?

PROTEOMICS = PROTEINS

PART 1 “BIO” OMICS

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METABOLOMICS = METABOLITES Metabolome – complete set of metabolites.

Metabolite profiles.

What has happened and what is happening?

Chemical pathway relationships.

The action of mineral ions/trace elements also involved = IONOMICS

Introduction The processes of raw materials preparation, chemical/biochemical substrate reactions, and flavor volatiles production, microbial utilization of fermentables, distillation, and spirit-in-wood maturation are extraordinarily complex chemical systems. As are the relatively little-studied changes occurring during the storage and shelf-life of released products.

To best understand all aspects of spirits production and to see how the whole system works, leading to desired outcomes, consistency, and delightful flavor profiles, we can W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

INTEGRATED MULTI-OMICS Integrative analysis of large datasets obtained from the various multi-omics approaches of study.

INFORMATION LEVEL: Understanding the entire System Biology or “Entity.”

METAGENOMICS

Proteome – complete set of proteins. Identification, modifications, interactions.

What makes it happen?

Leads to Phenomics/Phenome.

Morphology/Biochemical/ Physical traits.

Effect of environment.

What does it look like, and how does it change over the lifetime?

“BIG DATA!”

now seek parallels from the birth and growth of living cells and whole organisms. From the DNA code instructions to the growth, metabolic activities, and even decline of an organism — these highly intricate processes are studied by looking at huge amounts of data that fall under the terms OMICS and OMES. The overall OMICS topic is noted by terms in Figure 1 — A cluster map of over 75 words and with the definitions for the biological omics then detailed in Figure 2, Part 1, “Bio” Omics. Important microbiological data for fermentative organisms and potential spoilage microbes are covered under the

The study of the structure and function of the entire nucleotide sequences isolated from all organisms in a bulk sample or ecosystem.

Analysis of a specific community of organisms – MICROBIOTA. From spontaneously inoculated fermentation systems – autochthonous (indigenous) populations associated with some beer and distilled spirits production.

Also referred to as environmental genomics, ecogenomics, community genomics or microbiomics.

MICROBIOME: The combined genetic material of the microorganisms in a particular environment (the matrix in which they reside).

For distillers this applies to all chemical processing of biological raw materials and to understanding the activities and actions of microbes and microbial consortia that are involved in the production of the final spirit beverage. This may bear upon terroir or provenance.

term metagenomics (see Figure 2). To this, we must add the terms microbiome — representing the collection of microbes (genomes) and the environment or matrix in which they exist or work and microbiota referring to the ecological population of organisms, by genera and species, within that matrix. All the organisms at play in any beverage fermentation system also have their own unique and interrelated/ interplaying metabolic activities. Commensalism, competitive, synergism, and antagonism — concepts to figure out in each situation. All these impact final, desirable product quality.

87

Figure 3

“Spirit” OMICS

In parallel to “Bio” OMICS (see Figure 2) an unthinkable prospect of fully understanding the entirety of the “black box” or spirit in barrel maturation device or machine could also be resolved by big-data thinking. Key terms are outlined here and important new terms, speculations, directions, and concepts that apply to such studies are noted. Some terms are new, speculative, suggestive, and introduced by the author here.

How are/do all the biological/ chemical ingredients, flow, work together/against eachother and are manipulated through the entire production by the human sensory apparatus.

SPIRITOMICS

[Example Ginomics] Parallels Genomics +.

The entire system of components – the backbone or formula instructions (recipes for a spirit).

INTEGRATED MULTI-SPIRITOMICS Parallels integrated Multi-omics.

The integrative analysis of large datasets obtained from the various multi-omics approaches. Information level: Understanding the entire system/final product.

Grains/cereals, agave, grapes, fruits, starches/sugars, botanicals, water, ethanol, ions & minerals, etc.

THE “BioOMICS” (Pt. 1) Parallels Transcription becomes Formula Conversion System flows Recipe becomes final product.

PART 2 “SPIRIT” OMICS

TOOLS AND MECHANICS

How does each step of the process take place?

Engineering/technology, thermodynamics, kinetics, viscosity, system flux.

EFFICIENCIES What does in take to make the product?

The whole picture!

Genomics: The human subject, their associated metabolic systems, and physiology all play into the overall “omics – big data systems” here for a complete understanding of our distilled spirits.

Omics: Analyzing the interactions of all chemical information in various “omes.”

METABOLOMICS Parallel = “Chemicalomics” Study of the entire set of congeners, terpenes, volatile, and non-volatile components.

Chemical and flavor manipulation and flavor profiling. Synergistic and antagonistic interactions.

Chemically and physically, how does it all come about and together?

All chemical classes recognized as present and to be understood.

Thermodynamics Kinetics Driving forces.

There is a need now to better understand the thermodynamic driving forces, chemical kinetics, relationships, and equilibria behind the myriad of chemical and biochemical reactions, and the microbial interactions required, and all those occurring during processing, to then be able to appreciate distilled spirits production more fully. The field of OMICS is thus seen to provide a better means to tackle the rich field of distilled spirits production. In this regard, the parallels from “Bio-omics” can be seen with respect to this complex topic of distilled spirits, as covered in detail in Figure 3 — Part 2 “Spirit” OMICS. At the end of the day, the reason to 88

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Some of our understanding submliminal.

MATUROMICS MATUROME

FLUXOMICS

Mechanical systems and processing within the production system.

The complete set of chemical fluxes and understanding of the rates of reactions in a system – a direct and dynamic representation of the style/phenotype.

A spirit's observable traits or profile – see Phenomics box below.

INTERACTOMICS Interactions between all molecules within a “system.”

Molecular/chemical interactions/ mapping out sensory interpretation of spirit flavor profiles. “Interactome”

produce distilled spirits, or any other beverage or food, is for the quintessential/“perfect” and integrated flavor profile, and ultimate satisfaction of the distiller, and, perhaps most significantly, for the enjoyment and delight of their end consumer. As such, the omics terms extend to sensory perceptions — see Figure 4 for key terms in how the flavor profiles are understood, studied, and evaluated via Sensomics. Even if the distiller is not interested in such involved scientific concepts and principles, they need to be somewhat cognizant of OMICS principles. At least trying to understand the sensory concepts and implications of their job with respect to consumer sales.

Ethanol Water Congeners

A new term coined here.

Referring to the complete set of active/reactive small-molecule chemicals found within the spirit in barrel rested or mature spirits.

MECHANOMICS Roles of forces, stresses, stress transfer, energetics/energy transfer – contact points. “Mechanome”

Other terms coined: Spirit-maturome Barrelome

PHENOMICS Parallel = Appearance/description/ traits/style/quality/rating/expression A quality quotient needed here?

How the product appears on completion?

How does it change during shelflife? Color, aroma/flavor, stability.

“Phenotype/Phenome” = Style.

Physics Chemistry Biology

Metabolic/ Chemical Flux Rate of metabolite conversion in a metabolic network.

Could liken this to chemical flux in a system.

Flavor volatiles included!

Spirit maturation — A Complex Example of the Need for Big OMICS Data As a case in point, for the “OMICS field”, a few notes about the ‘Maturome’ round out this somewhat speculative article. The physical and chemical complexity of the spirit in the barrel system might rival a biological cell/organism — a metabolome — or the black box model of the universe. Systems surrounded by a semi-permeable membrane, shell, or casing, or perhaps nothing in the latter case scenario. Light and dark reactions must occur there — oxidations and reductions, catalysis, metal ion chelation perhaps, sequestering of clusters of molecules/clathrates, hydrogen bonding, hop on/hop off reactions, launch, and landing of molecules, and molecular collisions. Begins W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

Figure 4

Sensomics

In understanding how flavor profiles from distilled spirits are best appreciated and evaluated, the field of sensomics applies the terms flavoromics, the volatilome, and the aroma cloud to the overall big data field of omics. This includes how the sensory and physiological systems of the human subject best appreciate and interpret the flavor profiles of their favored or preferred beverages. Or perhaps why they reject a product.

SENSOMICS INTRODUCTION

AROMA CLOUD

As discussed by Schieberle: “A useful tool to unravel the genuine aroma blueprint of foods and to elucidate the generation of key odorants during food processing.”

The (localized) environment containing all the odorant molecules that may be perceived by odor receptors in the olfactory bulb.

[Arising from a glass or cup of liquid into the headspace, that are also detectable and identified by GC-MS techniques etc.]

The total aroma/flavor impression.

PART 3 SENSOMICS

SENSOMICS IN A NUTSHELL Separation of a volatile fraction containing the odorants from the nonvolatile fraction of food constituents containing the taste active components.

to sound a bit like the macroscopic universe, no? And with side-by-side barrels, parallel universes with slightly different end-case scenarios to the maturation. The big bang starts with electrifying chemistry at the interior barrel surface and migrating, in this case, inwards rather than outwards — or perhaps it does start from the cool, dark core (solvent/congener purity) and emanates to the barrel interior surface to add the vastness of the wood environment and its chemistry to secrete and sequester and cluster more molecules for radical chemistry to occur. Localized trapping, sequestering (propinquity effects), marriage of molecules and chemical degradations and modifications, and later release of new molecules and chemical entities also must play a role. Antagonism, synergism, and directed and undirected chemical kinetic pathway routes with enthalpy and entropic rules all invoked and involved in understanding of all this complex matter. Molecular see-saws and tumbling! The singularity for the barrel might not "explode" until the acidity level in the barrel reaches a certain level.* That is a nebulous statement from about 80 years ago. And needs a substantial reevaluation with modern techniques and experiments. *Then the rest of the maturation reactions may then begin (see Spedding, 2021, 2023 for the details here).

W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

VOLATILOME All of the volatile components/metabolites, as well as other volatile organic and inorganic compounds that originate from an organism, ecosystem or food/beverage (by extension).

While all volatile metabolites in the volatilome can be thought of as a subset of the metabolome, the volatilome also contains exogenously derived compounds that do not derive from metabolic processes (e.g., environmental contaminants), therefore the volatilome can be regarded as a distinct entity from the metabolome (“chemicalome”).

Packaging taints, etc. can be considered here.

FLAVOROMICS

Term applied for the integrated approach to food quality assessment, and that encompasses chemometrics, metabolomics plus data mining techniques.

Shaking the barrel might then, indeed affect the outcome. We now see some progress with radical experiments in the field of the manipulation of maturation/final spirit adjustments. But like discovering the secrets of

the Universe, we might never reach the center of knowledge we would hope and dream of achieving. Though let us boldly go where no spirited maturation scientist has gone before... and see what we can learn from here.

Figure 5

A model of the interior of a barrel and the need to probe various locations in space and time for an understanding of spirit in wood maturation reaction chemistry.

Probing the barrel for gradient maturation conditions and reactive chemistry External environmental conditions

Liquid fill level

G

GG Headspace

Barrel X Center Fill center X at time t-0

G

G: Top down and side to center gradients of activity

89

Summary

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The general point of the paper is to illustrate that big data and OMICS will be required to understand the flavor generation and final spirit product profiles and to even start to understand all this spirit and wood complexity. From start to finish, it is a long-term game to play. Methods are available which are now beginning to unravel the complexity of microbiomes/microbiota and fermentation processes, distillation cuts, and flavor compositions, but there is a need to probe deeper into different positional points in a resting barrel to understand the potential and gradient of reactions taking place from side to center, and top to center of a maturing barrel.

Are any scientists ready Are any scientists to develop the necessary probes and flavor collection ready to develop devices? Are any distillthe necessary ers willing to have probes placed in their barrels? probes and flavor Many are not. Fears of perturbing the system — must collection devices? be controlled for. Figure 5 Are any distillers shows the special gradients where different transient willing to have chemical compositions probes placed in are at play. No two barrels likely acting even close to their barrels? identically. Many replicates are needed! Though, as many forget, it is all the steps involved and all the raw materials that must come together during processing to create the near-perfect distilled spirit of desire. Behold big data; behold the OMICS. Gary Spedding, Ph.D. is a brewing, distilling, and sensory analytical chemist, and owner of Brewing and Distilling Analytical Services, LLC — with two facilities (Lexington, KY and Denver, CO).

References An extensive list of references to the topic as discussed herein, may be found in the following papers.

Spedding, G. Required education and understanding in chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, and sensory evaluation for brewers and distillers. In, Chemistry of Alcoholic Beverages.

ACS Books. Manuscript ID: bk-2023-00224m (In preparation/ press).

Spedding, G. 80 Years of Rapid Maturation Studies: Why Are We Not There Yet? (Kindle Edition) American Distilling Institute 2021.

BerlinPackaging.com • 1.800.2.BERLIN

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Granvogl, M.; Schieberle, P. Chapter Two — The sensomics approach: A useful tool to unravel the genuine aroma blueprint of foods and aroma changes during food processing.

In Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry, Cordero, C. E. I. Ed.; Vol. 96; Elsevier, 2022; pp 41-68. DOI 10.1016/ bs.coac.2021.10.002.

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CELEBRITY TEQUILA

WR ITTE N BY RAC HEL WR IGH T

THE REAL HANGOVER

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merica loves tequila, and there seems to be no signs of slowing down. Since 2004, the volume of consumption of tequila in the United States has more than doubled in quantity, reaching 18.5 million nine-liter cases in 2018. Economic indicators and analysts suggest continued growth in consumption globally and within the United States.1 However, tariff regulations, financial and international trade issues, and issues with the sustainability of agave place the tequila industry at risk.

These risk factors have greatly changed the culture surrounding tequila consumption in the United States and pushed tequila brands to find other economic strategies to market and distribute products. This has led to the era of celebrity tequila and influencer brands.

According to a study on the growth of the tequila market, the worldwide market for tequila is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of roughly 4.1 percent over the next five years. Analysts project that the tequila market will grow from $4.6 billion in 2019 to $5.9 billion by 2024.2 Recognizing the growth of the industry, global conglomerates and large distribution companies have purchased many of Mexico’s haciendas and tequila brands. In 2002, rum giant Bacardi Ltd. acquired Cazadores, a Mexican brand dating back more than 80 years. In January of 2018, Bacardi also purchased

Patron Spirits Co. for $5.1 billion.3 Following suit, Beam Suntory purchased Sauza in 2005.

In 2006, Brown-Forman Corporation purchased Herradura, a family-owned brand, for over 125 years. 2014: Diageo purchased Don Julio, fully obtaining operations, and in 2017 acquired Casamigos Spirits Co. for $1 billion.4 While this investment on its surface seems positive for the traditional Mexican spirit, the quick growth and increased distribution is leading to issues in sustainability, production regulation, and cultural appropriation.

International acceptance of Denomination of Origin in the tequila industry and its vast expansion in international markets has created a cycle of surplus and shortages of blue weber agave.5 Agave plants mature slowly. Blue weber agave, which by law must make up at least 51 percent of any product labeled tequila, takes on average seven years to mature.

This makes blue weber agave prone to natural boom and bust cycles.6 During periods of an agave shortage, small farms are most negatively impacted, as farmers likely do not have sufficient capital to maintain the plantation and production. Likewise, large tequila companies become more self-sufficient in their agave production, and supply will further

consolidate the market leaving only small producers exposed to the risk of surplus and shortage of agave cycles.7 The booming demand for agave has also had serious environmental consequences, as farmers increase the use of chemical processes to keep up with production. The practice of early harvesting of unmatured agave is an environmental concern. This practice removes the flowering of agave plants, a critical food source in Mexico’s ecosystem.8 According to a study by Bowen, agave growers are increasingly trading more traditional, labor-intensive practices for more chemical-intensive but labor-efficient practices, a reflection of the pattern of applying chemical inputs by trained engineers over the expertise of experienced but uneducated jimadors (agave farmers).9 Although Kendall Jenner may be currently getting the most criticism for launching her 818 tequila brand, named after the Calabasas, California area code where her family resides, she is certainly not the first celebrity to invest in the world of tequila for namesake and profit.10 In 2020, there was a 65 percent increase

3 Heugel, Bobby. “Sales for Tequila Have Never Been Better. But Quality? Not So Much” Bloomberg Businessweek, no. 4557, 5 Feb. 2018, pp. 63–65.

8 Bowen, Sarah. 2008. Geographical Indications: Promoting Local Products in a Global Market. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison.

4

See id.

1 “Mexico: Export Volume of Tequila by Country.”

CRT, Consejo Regulador Del Tequila, Oct. 2019, www.crt.org.mx/EstadisticasCRTweb/.

5 Bowen, Sarah, and Ana Valenzuela. 2009. “Geographical Indications, Terroir, and Socioeconomic and Ecological Sustainability: The Case of Tequila.”

Forthcoming in Journal of Rural Studies.

2 “4.1%+ Growth for Tequila Market Size Raising to USD 5910 Million by 2024.” MarketWatch, Market Study Report, 29 May 2019.

6 The Agave Industry Faces Sustainability Challenges.” FoodPrint, 4 Dec. 2020, foodprint.org/blog/ agave-industry/.

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7 Bowen, Sarah, and Ana Valenzuela. 2009. “Geographical Indications, Terroir, and Socioeconomic and Ecological Sustainability: The Case of Tequila.”

Forthcoming in Journal of Rural Studies.

9

See id.

10 Vargas, Mirella. “Celebrities Need to Stop Making Their Own Tequila Brands: Talon Marks.” Talon Marks | Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif., 11 Mar. 2021, www.talonmarks.com/opinion/2021/02/25/ celebrities-need-to-stop-making-their-own-tequilabrands/.

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in production of celebrity tequila alone.

A quick Google search lists otherwise reputable guides for finding the “Top 10 Celebrity Tequila Brands.”

In June 2017, Diageo purchased Casamigos for an initial consideration of $700 million, with a further $300 million to be paid based on performance over the next decade. Since the acquisition, Casamigos has continued to perform strongly in the United States growing at a rate of 61 percent from 2018 to 2019, and is now the third-largest premium tequila brand in the United States. In 2019, Diageo announced that they will begin to market to global travelers, extending the premium tequila’s reach and entering previously untapped markets.11 While Casamigos was not the first, it was largely the most successful, only to recently be overtaken in sales by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Teremana tequila.

Now, the market is completely inundated with celebrity brands. Michael Jordan has Cincoro, Rita Ora’s Prospero Tequila, Elon Musk’s Tesla Tequila, Nick Jonas’ Villa One, Sammy Hagar and Guy Fieri’s Santo mezquilla, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, Justin Timberlake’s Sauza 901, Diddy’s DeLeon, and notably the only Mexican investor, and one of the first of his class in 1997, Carlos Santana’s Casa Noble are among many of 11 Madden, Chris. “Diageo Plans to Release George Clooney's Casamigos Tequila into GTR within a Year.” DFNI, 26 Mar. 2019, www.dfnionline.com/product-news/diageo-plans-releasegeorge-clooneys-casamigos-tequila-gtr-withinyear-26-03-2019/.

the labels flooding the market.

A vast majority of these celebrities simply reach out to factories for samples that they choose to put their name on a brand and market it for whatever market price they believe they can achieve with the namesake and celebrity influencer hype.

In most cases, this is done so with complete disregard for sustainable practices, the agave cycle, fair wages for independent farmers, and the greater implications of culturally insensitive appropriation of a traditional spirit and practice central to Mexican identity. This celebrity influencer marketing culture has surged tequila consumption with investment in large production processes to facilitate consumption in the United States putting greater stress on demand for blue weber agave. As noted, the greater demand for blue weber agave leads to a greater surge in cost, preventing smaller family-owned brands from being able to survive and afford the necessary plants for production.

Quality and production concerns are also heightened by the celebrity tequila craze, where these tequila brands are not utilizing authentic practices because of the required production level, utilizing diffusers to extract the sugars from the agave instead of roasting it as the traditional process necessitates. A number of corner cutting measures had already begun for larger brands, such as relying on roller mill processing instead of a traditional tahona press in order to extract the juice of the agave.

NOT ALL BRANDS ARE CREATED EQUAL Not all celebrity tequila brands are created equal.

Prospero, the brand launched in 2019 by Rita Ora, is made by master distiller Stella Anguiano, who has been crafting tequila in Jalisco for more than 30 years. This type of investment in producers already established within the Jalisco region has received less backlash in terms of cultural appropriation by American outsiders.

Likewise, some celebrity tequila startups focus on the importance of sustainability within the industry. Teremana Tequila, developed by Siete Bucks Spirits alongside Johnson, Dany Garcia, Jenna Fagnan, and Ken Austin, have publicly committed to using mature agave in order to ensure the future success and growth of the tequila category.

According to Fagnan, “We only use mature agave from ranches where practices are known, use the agave fibers for organic compost in the fields, and our distillery has a water filtration plant on the premises. We will continue to work on minimizing our environmental impact. Tequila is booming and it will be important with this increasing demand that all producers are using good quality, mature agave rather than taking shortcuts.”12 Perhaps the greatest example of the positive force of change and potential a celebrity tequila brand has is Patrón. In 1989, billionaire John Paul Dejoria, the founder of Paul Mitchell, alongside Martin Crowley traveled to Mexico with aspirations of launching a tequila brand, noting that there was very little tequila being exported into the 12 “Tequila Brands Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainability.” The Spirits Business, www.thespiritsbusiness. com/2020/05/the-tequila-brands-championing-sustainability/.

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United States at the time. There they met Francisco Alacaraz, a chemical engineer and distilling consultant, who had in the past been a tequila inspector and freelanced at hacienda Siete Leguas. Patrón slated itself as a lifestyle brand and successfully broke into the market of premium spirits at a time when tequila was solely being exported in bulk as a mixto or barely found in the market generally.13 Since its inception, Patrón has focused on sustainability in its production process, and has been continuously recognized by the Mexican government as an industry leader in waste reduction and environmental consciousness.14 Patrón is a key funder in agricultural research centers in Mexico focused on the sustainability of blue weber agave in addition to working with local independent family farmers in order to help ensure sustainable practices and investment outside of conglomerates.

Additionally, 100 percent of leftover agave fibers from the production process are composted to create more than 5,500 tons of natural fertilizer a year for its garden, which provides food for the 13 McCarthy, John. “The Truth Behind Patrón's Tequila Empire.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Aug. 2017, www.forbes. com/sites/johnmccarthy12/2017/08/15/ the-truth-behind-patrons-tequila-empire/?sh=a3f418dff058.

14 Eco-Age. “How Patrón Tequila Is Leading the Way for Sustainable Spirits: Eco-Age.” Eco, 3 Feb. 2021, eco-age.com/resources/how-patron-putting-sustainability-heart-its-business/.

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In 2023, where influencer culture, fast-paced

1,600 staff members on the hacienda site consumption, and disingenuous marketing and allows for other area distillers to comcampaigns reign, there needs to be utmost post their agave fibers within their facility.15 Patrón has created a water treatment sysregulation and restructuring of outside tem in order to reclaim water from tequila investment and celebrity tequila. production, recycling 70 percent of the water and combining the remaining percentage into offering Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT) compost. The hacienda also utilizes the tradicertification in conjunction with the Mexican tional tahona mill process for a majority of its Regulatory Committee. This movement allows production, which requires zero emissions, bartenders to understand the risks involved with and is the first tequila distillery to install a natfraud in the industry, the production process of ural gas pipeline as its main energy source. This tequila, the importance of its preservation, and practice of social responsibility permeates into the ability to educate and speak to the everyday all aspects of the production process, including consumer visiting the bar. its investment in staff and employees, charitaHowever, in 2023, where influencer culture, ble projects, and even its hand-crafted bottles, fast-paced consumption, and disingenuous marwhich are hand packaged on site. keting campaigns reign, there needs to be utmost regulation and restructuring of outside investWE’LL DRINK THE KOOL-AID ment and celebrity tequila. In contrast, positive Patrón remains a leader among the tequila practices by such leaders in the tequila industry industry in regards to sustainable practices, and such as Patrón, Tremana, Ocho, the CRT, and John Paul Dejoria’s investment in the spirit catother large tequila collectives may help to curb egory in 1989 has led to positive socioeconomsome of the risks of sustainability, quality, proic growth and arguably its introduction to the duction, and general appropriation by the celebUnited States market. At the time of its inceprity tequila movement. Likewise, until Mexico tion, having a name and financial backing behind and its instrumentalities alongside the United a brand like Patrón was necessary to break into States develop further regulation to curb issues the United States market, and place the brand as of exploitation, collective responsibility will not a lifestyle spirit among a sea of vodka producers. be enough.

Patrón has maintained its placement as a leader in the industry by focusing on sustainable pracRachel Wright is a self-appointed Cocktail Queen, tices, investing in community and research of currently stationed in Buffalo, New York. Wright the agave farming and production process, and has been in the industry for 20 years and continues continuing education by offering immersion to bartend, and consult for bars and restaurant. tours and experiences through the United States In addition, Wright is a practicing attorney with a heightened focus on business and hospitality law. When Bartenders Guild for years. Recently, they began 15

See id.

not working, you can catch her on her next travel adventure somewhere in the world.

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LEAP of FAITH

Would you rather: Jump off a bridge or start a distillery?

WRITTEN BY CARRIE DOW PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS PACKER

PHOTO BY CARRIE DOW

“Have you ever BASE jumped?”

I ask Twin Falls Distillery owner/operator Chris Packer this question because we’re in Twin Falls, Idaho, where that is a thing.

The town’s Perrine Bridge, a metal truss arch design built in 1976 that hovers 486 feet above the Snake River Canyon, is the only place on earth where people can BASE jump (jumping from a fixed object — Building, Antennae, Span, Earth — with a parachute) without a permit year around. That makes the place a popular launch pad (pun intended) for the world’s daredevils. Those of a certain age may remember the Snake River Canyon as the site of a failed rocket-powered motorcycle jump by Evel Knievel in 1974.

Knievel’s earthen launch ramp remains just beyond city limits.

Packer is a different sort of daredevil. He decided to open a distillery during a global pandemic. Naturally, I wondered if he’d ever leapt off one of Idaho’s most famous landmarks.

“I have never BASE jumped,” he laughed. “I think it’s fair to say I don’t have any intention of doing that. I’ve been at the bottom of the canyon fishing in a boat while they jump. That’s a great time!”

While we laugh at Twin Falls’ most unusual pastime, Packer has nothing but love for his adopted home, which he moved his young family to a few years after graduating with a chemical engineering degree from the South Dakota School of Mines. As Director of Engineering, Packer helped develop systems at Chobani’s one million sq. ft., $450 million dollar yogurt manufacturing facility built in Twin Falls in 2011. He went on to work at the nearby Clif Bar Baking Unit, another advanced food processing facility that opened in 2016, where he oversaw technical teams and supported the commissioning of the building systems and equipment. While an expert in his field, Packer says something was missing.

“I’ve always wanted to own my own business,” he began. “I’ve complained to friends who have a trade skill because everyone thinks it’s cool to be an engineer, but I can’t open my own tile shop or electrical company. I thought, how do I apply what I’m best at?

Around three years ago I started looking at [distilling] … I have a strong background in fermentation and working in yogurt, so the bio side is something I’ve been the most interested in.”

While distilling was an obvious choice, Packer found an unexpected learning curve, especially after working for two major U.S. food companies.

“What’s hardest for me is,” he chuckled, “it’s different when you don’t have the budget you’re used to having.” Another issue came from the tight regulations involved in food production versus distilling antiseptic alcohol. He notes that while distillers have rigid regulations on licensing, distributing, and selling, Packer says there is less oversight in the environment where alcohol is made, something he is still getting used to.

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Packer currently produces Twin Falls Craft Vodka, which he makes from organic Idaho potatoes, a process made more difficult because he buys them raw. “[Potatoes don’t] scale amazingly well,” he noted. “If you’re Smirnoff, you’re not making potato vodka. But at a craft level, it’s doable. I also think that most craft distilleries don’t have my background in food processing. As much as I’m in over my head in some things specific to this industry, to me that part was easy.”

Another reason? Because of Idaho.

“We’re in the Magic Valley!” he exclaimed, using the local moniker for one of the country’s most abundant agricultural regions. “I don’t want to buy bagged, dehydrated potatoes that came from anywhere, so I guess we’ll just have to process them raw. It’s not easy, but what is? I believe in the finished product it comes through.”

Packer is also creating gin featuring local juniper.

“I’m excited about our gin,” he stated. “Our botanical blend, we don’t have it nailed down yet, but it’s going to be as local as we can get. I’m working with a botanist so that we can forage our own junipers. We’re experimenting with sage, sagebrush. I want this to be interesting and fun, for me and for other people.”

Whiskey is in the “We love it here and distant future because Packer has other areas of do our best to make his business he wants to everyone proud … focus on now, areas he experienced firsthand while I’m hoping that will working at Chobani translate into our and Clif Bar, companies known for their commitproducts and into ment to healthy foods, the marketplace.” sustainability, and employee wellbeing.

— CHRIS PACKER, “It feels like Gary Twin Falls Distillery and Kit (Ericson and Crawford, husband and wife owners of Clif Bar) don’t do good things so they can sell more bars,” he ruminated.

“They sell bars so they can do good things. That’s what I hope for this place. I’ve seen that done on a really big scale, and it worked out well.”

For Packer, who lived a nomadic childhood while his family worked for the Air Force, Idaho is home. His distillery and products are gifts to the place he’s raising his family.

“We love it here and do our best to make everyone proud … I’m hoping that will translate into our products and into the marketplace. We’re trying to make really good stuff that people love, and I won’t settle for anything less than that.”

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W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M 7/13/23 11:18 AM

Michigan State University’s Distilling Program Revived A Respected Beverage Education Program Carries on After the Loss of its Founder Written by NICOLE SHRINER, PH.D.

M

ichigan State University was founded in 1855 as the Michigan Agricultural College, so making value-added commodities with agriculture products such as spirits just makes sense for the university. However, it has not come without tribulations.

The Artisan Distilling Program began in 2012 under Dr. Kris Berglund, known as the ‘godfather of Michigan’s distilling industry’ for his efforts in legislative advancement, distillation workshops, and a production facility called Red Cedar Spirits which helped

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many craft distilleries in Michigan get started. For six years, Dr. Berglund taught three courses which completed a Concentration in Beverage Science and Technology. In 2015, with the addition of prerequisite foundational classes, the concentration was changed to a Minor in Fermented Beverage Science and Technology. Dr. Berglund also trained graduate students from the Food Science and Chemical Engineering departments. Dr. Berglund’s distilling students studied various areas as diverse as aging whiskey in non-standard volume barrels, butyric acid production from renewable resources, distilled alcoholic beverage production using reactive distillation techniques, and cyclic distillation techniques for energy conservation in spirit production.

Sadly, in December 2018, Dr. Berglund

passed away, putting the program into question from the higher-ups at MSU. Call it coincidence or call it fate, one of Dr. Berglund’s last graduate students who graduated the morning of his passing, stepped up to take over the program. That student happened to be me.

Since then, I have done my best to bring renewed energy to the program through increased course and laboratory work as well as a refreshed outlook via a six-month stint in Germany, where I became a brewmaster at Doemens Academy. We have also worked to create strong relationships with stakeholders such as Atwater Brewery, which generously endowed $50,000 to MSU to advance diversity in the craft beer industry.

This scholarship is now available to any student wishing to pursue a career in Fermented

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Beverage Science and Technology. We also received several grants from the Michigan Craft Beverage Council — a 10-member governor appointment group that is advisory to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The council facilitates agricultural research, promotion, and business development efforts, supporting connections that are vital to a unique supply chain.

Past and current research projects include the use of a milk permeate by-product stream from the Michigan Milk Producers Association to produce food-grade ethanol via K. Marxianus, diacetyl production, reduction, and control in beers brewed with raspberries and other adjunct sugar sources, and the evaluation of corn and rye varieties for the Michigan craft distilling industry. We have also managed to bring together several research groups at MSU to generate industry-leading research in “farm to glass” distilling, including the Small Grains for Brewing and Distilling and Hops research groups.

The last piece of the puzzle is to create an online Certificate in Craft Distilling. Set to start in fall 2023, and the new four-course program is intended to extend distilling

science education beyond the borders of Michigan and the United States. The program allows students seeking secondary education as well as professionals already employed at distilleries, to obtain foundational knowledge about distilling science. While some programs are generally geared towards the business aspects of distilling, this program is built to supply the student with the science and engineering aspects of distilling.

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The history of distilling and brewing education is commonly learned through an apprenticeship, where you learn from a more experienced person about how to do something and when, but not necessarily why. What is lacking in this method is the underlying concepts which tell you what to do when something goes wrong — or what would happen if you minimally change one variable.

The program begins with an introductory W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

course on the fundamentals of chemistry and microbiology.

Students will learn basic chemistry, including chemical compounds, reactions, the pH scale, unit conversions, solution preparation, and cleaning agents before being introduced to rudimentary distillation. The latter half of the class includes water chemistry before getting into microbiology including classes of microorganisms, growth and control, microbiology techniques, yeast fermentation, and flavor chemistry.

The second course is an overview of all types of fermented beverages. Beginning with the common steps that occur in the production of all fermented beverages, students will then learn the differences in raw materials and methods to produce beer, wine, cider, mead, whiskey, rum, brandy, vodka, gin, and many other types of products.

The last two courses are the meat and potatoes of the program, focusing on the finer details, including safety, raw materials, milling, mashing theory, mashing equipment, heat transfer, steam theory, refrigeration theory, fluid flow, packaging, barrel aging, and stabilisation and filtering, and of course distillation technology; including operation and types of stills and trays.

As students move through the program they will understand not just what goes on in a distillery but how and why.

Students will be equipped with the knowledge to be able to make fast decisions based on science and engineering concepts. For example, the Students will chiller compressor is down be equipped and therefore the glycol cooling loop is unavailable for use with the cooling the fermentation. knowledge Production cannot stop because there are raw materials to be able that need to be processed to make fast and production deadlines that need to be met. The only decisions source of cooling is groundbased on water. Using the skills learned science and from the course, the distiller would know what general engineering flow rate to set the ground concepts. water cooling to get the same extent of cooling as with the glycol.

It is the goal of the program to train students to make exceptional, high-quality spirits with the knowledge base to push the borders of traditional spirit production safely.

If you have any questions about the program, please email Dr. Shriner at shrinern@msu.edu.

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FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY CORNER W RI TT E N B Y M IC H A E L T. R EA R D O N, P.E. F L OO R P L A N CO U RT E S Y O F D RY HILLS DISTILLERY

UPSIZING FIRE PROTECTION W

hen you design and construct your first distillery, whether it’s a new facility or a renovation, you have very strict code requirements to meet in order to obtain the necessary permits and approvals, with your local authority having jurisdiction. Your facility is compliant with how you originally designed it, but now it’s time to adjust. This adjustment may be due to operational changes, expanding the operations, or as a means to simply grow your business. Changes to your originally approved facility may impact the original code compliance or may require you to meet current code requirements that could be more stringent than originally required. Changes such as expanding your production area, creating or increasing your spirits storage, and even increasing your tasting room size may trigger code changes that you may not have originally anticipated. While the model building codes have various requirements that may play a factor in your expansion or change in operation, this article touches on two of the significant impacts with regards to fire protection and fire separations. It is best to work with an architect or design professional with regards to other building code requirements, such as height and area limitation, construction type, change in use and occupancy, and property lot line

distances, as they all could impact your facility.

If you are looking to expand the size of your facility, then it’s important to look at any required fire-resistance rating separations. Depending on the type of construction and the size and height of your current facility, you may need to add a firewall in order to stay within the size limitations noted in the building code. The International Building Code (IBC) is often the most commonly adopted model building code in the majority of jurisdictions within the United States. A fire wall is defined as: A fire-resistance-rated wall having protected openings, which restricts the spread of fire and extends continuously from the foundation to or through the roof, with sufficient structural stability under fire conditions to allow collapse of construction on either side without collapse of the wall.

The IBC notes height and area limitations based on the type of construction. If you exceed this size limit, installing a fire wall between the existing side and expansion will allow you to treat the building as two separate buildings and maintain within the size limits for each building.

However, the construction of a firewall can be challenging and costly as

Changes such as expanding your production area, creating or increasing your spirits storage, and even increasing your tasting room size may trigger code changes that you may not have originally anticipated.

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IBC Table 602

Fire-resistance rating requirements for exterior walls based on fire separation distance.

Occupancy Group most firewalls will need to be constructed Type of Fire separation distance = X A, B, E, F-2, as free standing to allow for building col(feet) contstruction H F-1, M, S-1 I, R , S-2, U lapse of either side of the building without X<5 All 3 2 1 ruining the structural integrity of the wall.

IA 3 2 1 The IBC has other parameters to allow 5 ≤ X < 10 Others 2 1 1 you to exceed the area limitations, such as adding a fire sprinkler system to the buildIA, IB 2 1 1 ing and/or frontage increase. Frontage 10 ≤ X < 30 IIB, VB 1 0 0 increase allows an increase to the area limOthers 1 1 1 itations as long as the building has not less X ≥ 30 All 0 0 0 than 25 percent of its perimeter on a public way or open space which is dedicated for criteria to meet a specific fire protection performance. Sprinkler design public use and accessed from a street or approved fire lane. As a means professionals must design systems to meet water density requirements to save cost on your project, it’s best to look at these options in lieu of over a specified design area. In order to achieve this, the system is dea fire wall. However, if you do construct a firewall, you will have other signed with certain pipe sizes, sprinkler head types, incoming water limitations between the two spaces. There are specific requirements for pipe sizes, and even the use of a fire pump. Changing the use of your fire-resistance rated doors and windows, along with limitations on how space or increasing the configuration of your barrel storage, tote stormany openings are permitted. Further restrictions include the passage, or even dry storage may impact the performance of the sprinkler through of utilities such as electrical, plumbing, and mechanical equipsystem. ment. While the construction of a firewall may be challenging, it may For example, your original space may have been designed with one be the best option without having to significantly modify your existing row of spirit tote storage. Your production volume is increasing and you facility or having to find an alternative location for your operations. now need to double stack your spirit totes to optimize the space. Your Another design challenge that often arises is the fire-resistance rating original space was designed to the following criteria for one row of IBC of exterior walls based on building and lot line separations. This design metal totes: requirement is often overlooked during the design and review phase, leading to increased material costs and the redesign of your entire projSprinkler Density — .30 GPM/Sq. Ft. ect later on. Expansions may extend your building closer to adjacent Sprinkler Coverage Area — 3,000 Sq. Ft. buildings on your property or to your property line, thus triggering Sprinkler K Factor — 8.0K minimum added separation requirements. This would also apply to existing buildMinimum Water Flow — 900 GPM ings that are being converted to a distillery or have a change in occupancy type. IBC Table 602 specifies the fire-resistance rating based on By now double stacking the totes, the sprinkler system must now the occupancy classification, construction type, and the distance from achieve the following: adjacent buildings or lot lines.

Sprinkler Density — .60 GPM/Sq. Ft. If you need a fire-resistance rated exterior wall based on this criteria, Sprinkler Coverage Area — 3,000 Sq. Ft. the construction of the exterior wall must meet specific criteria which Sprinkler K Factor — 11.2K minimum is further discussed in the IBC. These criterions include: Minimum Water Flow — 1,800 GPM > UL Listed exterior walls, rated for fire on one side or both sides.

> Parapets > Non-combustible or limited-combustible materials > Window and door opening limitations > Duct and air transfer fire-resistance ratings If your current facility contains a fire sprinkler system, you should have this system evaluated to determine if a change in operations impacts the performance of the sprinkler system. Your system was designed to meet specific water flow density requirements based on the hazard within the space(s). The fire loading within production areas and storage areas are greater than those within assembly and office spaces. NFPA 13 Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems and NFPA 30 Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code provide design

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By simply adding another row of IBC metal totes, the sprinkler system is required to produce twice the amount of water and the type of sprinkler is required to be larger in size. Your existing sprinkler system and incoming available water size may not be able to achieve this new demand, leading to significant changes to your existing system. This alteration would also apply to changes including, but not limited to: > Changing offices into storage spaces > Adding flammable liquid IBC totes into barrel storage areas. > Adding flammable liquid quantities into production areas.

Your existing sprinkler system should also be evaluated for its expandability if you are adding an addition to your current facility. While your new expansion may meet the same fire loading and fire hazard as

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your existing space, thus not requiring higher sprinkler demands, the location of the expansion may create other sprinkler performance issues. If your expansion is farther from the sprinkler system’s incoming riser, then the system is required to deliver the water at a farther location which increases the pressure requirements. Longer distances through the existing piping generates higher friction losses, thus requiring higher pressures to reach its destination. While you may be okay with how much water you have available from your domestic water supply, you may not have the pressure available to deliver the water.

This would require changes to the sprinkler system for the new expansion side and the existing building side. Changes could include increasing the existing bulk main pipe size, increasing the incoming pipe size, or even adding a fire pump. A sprinkler design professional should be consulted early on in the design process to determine if your existing system will need to be modified.

While a slight change to your operation or an expansion to your existing facility may seem feasible with regards to operations and constructability, the impact to fire protection requirements may be significant. All fire and life safety systems should be carefully considered and reviewed before any major changes occur. This assures that you are not only code compliant, but that the safety of your staff and patrons is maintained.

Michael T. Reardon, P.E. is a fire protection engineer and president of Reardon Fire Consulting, P.C. For more information visit www.RFCFireProtection.com.

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Code Name: Top Shelf Oregon State University to release a new winter habit, GN0, malting barley targeted to the distilling industry — and more are in the offering Written by Campbell P. Morrissy1,2, Scott P. Fisk1, and Dr. Patrick M. Hayes1 1

Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, U.S.

2

pFriem Family Brewers, Hood River, OR, U.S.

I

n the first chapter of this story, we provided an in-depth history of glycosidic nitrile (GN), ethyl carbamate (EC), and the serendipitous introduction of the GN-null (GN0) allele into malting barley varieties (Artisan Spirit, Winter 2023) (1). In the United Kingdom tight regulation of the EC conRead the first chapter of this story tent in spirits and Glycosidic nitrile the overall industry and ethyl carbamate in malting barley dominance of single malt whisky has encouraged breeders there to provide malting barleys to the industry that are non-producers of GN. Currently all distilling malt varieties recommended by the Maltsters Association of Great Britain’s Malting Barley Committee are required to be GN0 and there are a plethora of options for British maltsters and distillers (2). While research and innovation around GN has progressed significantly in the thirty-plus years since the discovery of the root cause Join the Society of Spirit of EC, it has only recently become a hot topic in the North American craft distilling community. An informal poll by the Society of Spirit shows that

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Figure 1. Top Shelf nearing harvest at the OSU Hyslop Crop Science Research Lab in Corvallis, Oregon.

many craft distillers are aware of the issue and have at least some level of concern about the impact that regulation of GN and/or EC may have on their products and business.

While there are options for GN0 malt for North American distillers, these are

relatively limited due to a lack of domestically bred and grown barley varieties to meet the industry demand. Our previous article provided a glimmer of hope as the collective North American industry has encouraged breeders to introgress the GN0 allele into their breeding lines 103

with steady progress being made.

Table 1. Agronomic performance of fall planted DH162310 compared to check cultivars.

The Barley Project at Oregon State Average of 2019-2022 OSU trials at two locations in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

University (OSU) is on the cusp Yield Test Weight Heading Plant height Lodging Stripe rust Scald Entry of releasing one, and possibly two, (kg/ha) (kg/hL) (DOY) (cm) (%) (%) (%) winter-habit, two-row, GN0 varietStation years* 7 7 4 7 7 7 7 ies specifically selected for the disDH162310 10,558 69.0 111 119 1 1 2 tilling industry. This article’s focus Endeavor 7,465 66.4 113 102 26 2 47 is on the barley line DH162310 Wintmalt 7,196 64.6 121 99 12 8 39 (code name: Top Shelf), which is still awaiting formal approval of the Thunder 7,667 64.9 114 99 16 7 36 name and release of the variety by *Station years are the multiples of location and years (i.e., location x years).

OSU. More information on the secCheck varieties are all GN+. ond potential new variety will be available in a future story. Top Shelf for the 2024 harvest. southern Idaho winter, while less cold-tolerhas already garnered support from a large In addition to its potential for mainstream ant varieties succumbed. national maltster interested in diversifying adoption, Top Shelf is a winter-habit variety, Top Shelf was selected out of an aptly their offerings of GN0 malt. While not the which sets it apart from nearly all of the current named project: Distiller’s Delight Trials. This first domestically bred GN0 barley, nor even GN0 varieties available in North America, work was a survey of elite lines from within the first from the Barley Project (Full Pint the UK, and the EU. Winter barley is planted the Barley Project that, based on parentand Oregon Promise are both unabashedly in the fall and harvested in the early summer age, were likely to be non-producers of GN. GN0), Top Shelf is slated to be the first winwhereas spring barley is planted in spring and Previously, much of the breeding material ter GN0 barley in North America and the first harvested that same summer. Winter barley within the OSU program had not been phemainstream release with the potential to fit has advantages, most notably increased yield notyped for its GN status. However, given the needs of distillers of all styles of whiskey. over spring barley. Additionally, there are this trait is inherited along simple Mendelian inherent ecosystem benefits of winter habit segregation, a parental survey of crosses using barley relative to spring barley, such as lower known GN0 barleys provided a pool of likely Agronomics and water requirements and reduced weed prescandidates. Full Pint (an earlier OSU variety) Malting Quality sure and thus lower herbicide use. This drives was known to be GN0 and it was essentially Bred for the Pacific Northwest, Top Shelf more interest in the release of additional as simple as following the family tree, looking is adaptable to both traditional malt barley winter lines. Historically, malting barley was for Full Pint’s children and grandchildren. growing regions (southern Idaho and the nearly all spring habit, but over the last 20 A unique feature of Top Shelf is that it has Palouse in eastern Washington/north-central years breeders have developed winter barley potential as a dual-purpose malting variety Idaho) and emerging regions (the western varieties that meet contemporary malt qualisuitable for all-malt or grain distilling devalleys of Oregon and Washington). Broader ty expectations. The downside to winter barpending on growing environment and agroenvironmental adaptation is being evaluated ley is potential for winter kill and varieties will nomic management practices. As part of the in the winter malting barley trials with coopvary in their cold tolerance. Top Shelf ’s winDistiller’s Delight project, these lines were erators nation-wide in Minnesota, New York, ter survival has been assessed in regional trials grown under differing fertilizer rates to evalVirginia, and other locations. Evaluation has throughout the U.S., and thus far performed uate their response to field nitrogen. The goal found that it has high yields and test weights, well. It looks great in western Oregon and of the management trial was to help select a good lodging resistance, and resistance to the Washington, and it pulled through in a tough line with a high nitrogen response; that is, it common barley diseases of stripe rust and scald. Detailed agronomic comparisons to Table 2. Agronomic performance of fall planted DH162310 compared to check cultivars. contemporary check-varieties1 can be found Average of the 2022 University of Idaho Extension Trials (Aberdeen and Rupert, Idaho). in Tables 1 and 2. Despite a tough winter in Yield Test Weight Heading Plant height Lodging Spring Stand southern Idaho, seed increases are underway Entry (kg/ha) (kg/hL) (DOY) (cm) (%) (%) and extensive pure seed production and seed DH162310 11,030 65.1 148 104 18 100 for commercial-scale assessment is planned 1 Check-varieties are well established, malting varieties of the same growth habit (winter or spring) and row type (two or six) with broad environmental adaptation. These are used for agronomic comparisons in trials nation-wide. The current winter check varieties are all GN+.

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Endeavor

10,424

63.3

154

109

32

100

Wintmalt

11,365

62.2

154

102

7

100

Thunder

12,778

65.3

152

102

24

100

Charles

10,491

59.0

153

104

67

100

Check varieties are all GN+.

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Figure 2. A grower walks through rows of Top Shelf at an on-farm trial near Boistfort in Western Washington.

would produce quality, low-protein malt for all-malt distilling when grown using minimal fertilizer but conversely take up nitrogen efficiently when available in order to drive up grain protein and produce a high-enzyme

grain distilling malt (often referred to as distillers malt). As shown in Table 3, malt quality at differing protein levels is benchmarked against the American Malting Barley (AMBA) guidelines for all-malt and grain

Table 3. Malt quality of DH162310 at increasing protein levels, grown in Corvallis, Oregon, in 2021. Micro-malted and analyzed at the USDA-ARS CCRU. Grain Protein

Malt Extract

S/T

DP

α-amylase

β-glucan

FAN

%

%

%

°ASBC

20°DU

mg/L

mg/L

9.4*

85.1*#

62.6#

193

115#

69*

309#

12.5#

83.4*#

55.6#

259#

120#

82*

349#

12.9#

82.9*#

54.2#

256#

119#

117*

346#

13.2#

82.4*#

53.6#

279#

109#

87*

355#

Extract — fine grind, dry basis; DP, diastatic power; FAN, free amino nitrogen. *Meets AMBA guidelines for all-malt distilling. #Meets AMBA guidelines for grain distilling.

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distilling respectively (3). When managed for low-grain protein, Top Shelf shows exceptional extract but still a robust enzyme and FAN package. As growers turn the nitrogen up to 11, the enzymes follow suit, providing the starch degradation needed for grain distilling, and even then the extract is no slouch.

Top Shelf also has a solid PSY that exceeds that of Thunder when malted under standard protocols, and is greater than the AMBA recommendation of 400 LAA/tonne (Table 4). Unlike the UK where Scotch whisky is so dominant, PSY is not regularly measured on lines from North American breeding programs, making greater comparisons difficult for now.

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Table 4. Malt quality of DH162310 and Thunder grown in Oregon 2021. Micro-malted at OSU under standard protocols and analyzed at Hartwick College.

Entry

Malt Extract Malt protein

S/T

DP

α-amylase

β-glucan

FAN

PSY

%

%

%

°ASBC

20°DU

mg/L

mg/L

(LAA/ Tonne)

DH162310

84.0*#

10.5*

51.0#

141*

65*

88*

251#

405*

Thunder

82.8*#

9.7*

55.5#

120*

77#

52*

266#

398

Extract — fine grind, dry basis; DP, diastatic power; FAN, free amino nitrogen; PSY (predicted spirit yield). *Meets AMBA guidelines for all-malt distilling. #Meets AMBA guidelines for grain distilling.

Thunder is GN+ and used as a check variety.

Industry Evaluation The next step on the variety’s release journey is a migration through the AMBA evaluation pipeline. The organization’s member maltsters, brewers, and distillers review elite barley lines submitted by breeding programs to audit the next generation of malting barley varieties (4). While growers and maltsters are not bound by the AMBA list, these recommendations provide a pool of vetted malting barleys to choose from and can make grain contracting easier to manage. This process can take up to six years and Top Shelf just successfully passed its first year of assessment in pilot-scale evaluation. In the next year Top Shelf will be put through another round of pilot-scale trials. Thankfully, the flexible AMBA system allows exciting new varieties to be fast-tracked for commercial release even while testing is ongoing. OSU has scheduled Top Shelf ’s release for the fall of 2023 with a non-exclusive license and foundation seed will be available to licensees for 2024 planting.

In concert with AMBA evaluation, Top Shelf is already being put through the paces in the distillery. The Barley Project is collaborating on distillation and sensory trials with the James B. Beam Institute at the

Increasing interest in GN0 barley from the North American distilling community has encouraged breeders to include this trait as a focus in their efforts.

University of Kentucky. While brewing trials are common in the AMBA variety evaluation process, published distillation trials for experimental lines are harder to come by in North America. Developing a pipeline for relatively high throughput distillation evaluations could be a key step in improving public breeding of GN0 varieties that meet the processing expectations of distillers. This initial work focused on all-malt, batch-distilled whiskey in the style of single-malt, but future work will include bourbon-type distillation trials. An additional goal of these trials is to evaluate the sensory profile of the new GN0 variety relative to a control and another GN0 line with potential for release. This research group has spent the last decade investigating the role that barley variety plays in beer flavor, and thus, this begged the question as to whether the specific barley variety contributes to spirit flavor. Full details of the distillation trials and outcomes of the sensory work will be reported in a future manuscript.

REFERENCES 1. Morrissy C, Thomas W, Bettenhausen H, Fisk S, Hayes P. Glycosidic nitrile and ethyl carbamate in malting barley. Artisan Spirit Magazine. 2023, Winter.

2. Maltsters Association of Great Britain. Malting Barley Committee. 2023. Available from: https://www. ukmalt.com/uk-malting-industry/malting-barley-committee/ 3. AMBA. Guidelines for Malting Barley Breeders. 2023. Available from: https://ambainc.org/news-details. php?id=63d2780a0c948 4. AMBA. Recommended Malting Barley Varieties. 2023. Available from: https://ambainc.org/ recommended-varieties.php

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Conclusion Increasing interest in GN0 barley from the North American distilling community has encouraged breeders to include this trait as a focus in their efforts. Steady progress has already been made with a handful of spring varieties that have been primarily embraced by the craft malting sector. With the release of Top Shelf, there will now be a more mainstream selection with a wider growing location adaptation and the potential to produce grain for both all-malt and grain whiskey production.

As a winter variety it also fits the broader industry’s interest in building resiliency into the supply chain. It will take a few more years for Top Shelf to undergo sufficient seed increases to plant on meaningful acreage, but it will soon enough make its way into mashtuns and cereal cookers. Continued efforts by breeding programs will result in even more GN0 offerings for distillers, and Top Shelf is just the first offering in the way of GN0 varieties — a second selection may also be released by OSU in the fall of 2023, and there are many more GN0s in the breeding pipeline. Collaborations between breeders and research groups such as the James B. Beam Institute will lead to further advancement in distilling malt availability and quality.

Email Campbell.Morrissy@oregonstate.edu for more information.

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5 0

Y E A R S ,

1

M I S S I O N :

THE 2023 DISCUS ANNUAL CONFERENCE T

he spirits industry was radically different when the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) was formed in 1973. The Mexican government had yet to claim intellectual property protection on the term “tequila.”

Bourbon was what grandfathers drank. The term ‘craft’ was applied to stuff like macrame and had nothing to do with alcohol.

Times have obviously progressed. Yet through all these industry shifts, DISCUS has been a steadying force and at times an agent of change, providing a framework for proper, responsible industry growth and evolution while also working to tear down archaic laws that ceased making sense the moment the 21st Amendment was made official. Their work has contributed to some incredible achievements, such as spirits revenue market share surpassing beer for the first time ever in 2022.

W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

Their achievements and longevity were points for celebration at the DISCUS Annual Conference, held in Chicago on June 13-15. The conference itself featured a few changes — there was no trade show this year — but its emphasis on improving market access and industry advancement remained unwavering.

Of course, this reflection is from our perspective. How did the 2023 DISCUS conference look from the perspective of a distiller who is more involved with DISCUS? To find out, we asked Alex Castle, master distiller and senior vice president for Old Dominick Distillery in Memphis, Tennessee, to see what she thought of the three-day event. In addition, Castle currently holds the position of Vice Chair on the Craft Advisory Council for DISCUS.

One Distiller Shares Her Thoughts on the Event’s Impact WRITTEN BY RICH MANNING PHOTOS BY BRIAN CHRISTENSEN

ARTISAN SPIRIT: How did this year’s DISCUS conference compare to previous DISCUS conferences?

ALEX CASTLE: As always, the DISCUS conference did not disappoint. The various breakout sessions covered a wide range of topics, so everyone found something interesting and new to learn. They did make a rather large change this year in getting rid of the trade show, but they replaced it with mini “experience rooms,” which provided a unique experience from other conferences. The best experience room was the Australian delegation — it was so much fun to hear about their distilling experiences down under and try some of their very unique offerings.

Green ants in a gin? Yes, please!

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AS: Did DISCUS’ programming provide you with a greater benefit with distilling or the business behind the distilling process, or was it equal? Why? AC: I do think the content at DISCUS tends to favor business and legislative over production, but that’s exactly why I attend this conference. There are other conferences that are production heavy, so it’s nice to have an option that focuses on other aspects of the industry. This year there was also a big focus on responsibility. I don’t think this is something that is discussed a lot, but it is absolutely an important thing for all brands to consider, regardless of their size.

AS: Did the convention’s floor show have any materials that you found interesting or relevant to you and/or Old Dominick?

AC: The Diverse Powered Brands ex-

Left to Right: Kevin Dunbar (Tapi USA), Leah Hutchinson (Tapi USA), Blake Huber (Starlight Distillery), Richard Hobbs (The Barrel Mill), Ted Huber (Starlight Distillery), Dana Huber (Starlight Distillery), Brian Christensen (Artisan Spirit Magazine), and Alex Castle (Old Dominick Distillery).

AS: As a distiller, do you feel that DISCUS’ efforts regarding industry reform have yielded a positive impact?

AS: Does DISCUS’ efforts make you feel more inspired or encouraged to get involved with the efforts to reform the industry and build a better consumer experience?

perience room was probably the most relevant to Old Dominick at this time.

When I moved to Old Dom eight years ago, I brought most of my suppliers with me, which ultimately meant they weren’t very diverse. They did a great job and everything, but I do think it’s important for companies to be mindful of diversity in all aspects of their day-to-day businesses, including who their suppliers are.

And after getting to meet with the team at Diverse Powered Brands, I finally feel like I have a much easier way to find those new suppliers.

AC: I truly believe that DISCUS has helped

AS: Does DISCUS’ ongoing efforts to fight

AS: Is there a specific DISCUS strategy

AS: What did you think of the Innovation Showcase? Did any of the finalists particularly grab your interest?

tax threats make it less stressful to operate a distillery?

that you’re especially happy about?

AC: I don’t think DISCUS has spent a single

AC: The Innovation Showcase is always

day not fighting against numerous tax threats — from FET increases to tariffs to RTD tax parity. Knowing that there is such a large organization and capable team focusing on that relieves some stress for us. While I advocate and help fight things like this, it’s almost impossible for a small distillery to put too much focus and energy on any one issue. We have distilleries to run! So, it is a comfort to know we have people who do make that their top priority.

but I’ve been very impressed with the DISCUS Academy and DISCUS’s focus on building leadership within the industry. I think it’s so easy for everyone to put effort into technical training and sales training — which are both great things!

— but for our industry to really thrive and survive for decades, we need to make sure we have solid leaders in place at all levels, and that is exactly what the Academy is trying to do.

so interesting! I was really intrigued by Brother Justus and their cold-peating process. It seemed truly innovative and just not something you think about in America … we don’t do peat here! And to develop a way to utilize peat while eliminating greenhouse gasses is really impressive.

I definitely want to find a bottle of their whiskey and see what it’s all about.

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to move the needle for distilleries of all sizes when it comes to reform. It’s not easy to manage the needs of the world’s largest producers and the world’s smallest producers at the same time, so change takes time, but I think the last few years have proven that DISCUS wants to help the craft industry. They helped with massive tax reforms, helped guide changes in industry standards, and of course, have played a large role in promoting responsible drinking.

And I see nothing but more positive impact coming from their efforts in the future.

AC: Absolutely! When you see any organization making such great efforts to drive change and improve things in an industry, it’s hard not to feel inspired. And DISCUS wants people to be involved in their efforts, so it’s really easy to find ways to be a part of it all. From my first experience with DISCUS in DC for the 2019 Public Policy Conference, I’ve felt their energy, and I have felt like an important part of their efforts and even their team.

AC: I don’t know if it’s so much a strategy,

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AS: Is there a specific DISCUS strategy that you would like to see improved upon in the future?

AC: I think DISCUS is already trying to do this, but we need to improve the unity within our industry. We tend to be so divided — big guys versus little guys, distillers versus rectifiers, production versus sales, and so on. For our industry to grow and succeed, we need some major legislative changes, and we have some big fights to win.

How do you do that if you are divided?

YOU’RE PASSIONATE WITH WHAT GOES INTO YOUR BOTTLES WE ARE PASSIONATE WITH WHAT GOES ON THEM...

AS: What is the one statistic or data point presented that made the biggest impression on you?

AC: While I knew that the spirits category was growing, actually seeing that we now hold 42.1 percent of the revenue market share and beer holds 41.9 percent was amazing. We’ve finally surpassed beer, and I think it’s only a matter of time before we surpass them from a volume perspective as well. That’s huge!

AS: How does the collective work of those that earned awards at the awards dinner positively impact your business?

AC: At the awards dinner, you saw people from different-sized distilleries, from different backgrounds, and very different professions, all making contributions to improve our industry in some way. It’s inspiring to see that in one place! People like [Starlight Distillery’s] Dana and Ted Huber have worked incredibly hard to change legislation to benefit smaller distilleries, while Lauren Paylor O’Brien brings a very methodical approach to mixology while introducing new people to our industry. Dia Simms is actively working to bring true diversity into our industry, while [Bill] Senator Cassidy is supporting legislation to improve the industry. How does that not impact any of our businesses?

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AS: Is there anything that you would like to see in the next DISCUS convention in San Diego?

AC: I’ve really enjoyed seeing the numbers of craft distillers in attendance increase over the last couple of years, but I really do hope to see that continue at a faster pace. I also want to see them expand their Cocktails by The Decades program. Who doesn’t love a Cosmo and a White Russian at 11 a.m.?

Visit www.distilledspirits.org for more information.

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WWW.IRONHEARTCANNING.COM INFO@IRONHEARTCANNING.COM 109

Written by PAUL HUGHES, PH.D.

DEALING WITH DIACETYL Is it Good or Bad? Management is the Key.

E

very brewer and winemaker is familiar with diacetyl. An intensely flavored compound, it can be a positive or negative flavor component depending on its beverage context. Reminiscent of butterscotch or cultured buttermilk, diacetyl works well in red wines and more flavor-intense — usually darker — beers, whilst it is eschewed in products such as lighter beers. Indeed, the famous brewing scientist Dr. Takashi Inoue, an emeritus of the Kirin Research Laboratory in Japan, dedicated a whole book to diacetyl in foods (Inoue, 2008).

So what is diacetyl? It’s a relatively simple

chemical, more rigorously known as 2,3-butanedione (1, Fig. 1). As a pure chemical compound, in the absence of a food or beverage context, it has a pleasant aroma with a wide range of sensory associations reminiscent of many foods and drinks. The range of these sensory descriptors betrays the broad range of fermentative sources of diacetyl and its understudy, 2,3-pentanedione (2, Fig. 1).

Together these compounds are often referred to as vicinal diketones (VDKs), the term vicinal referring to the fact that the carbonyl moieties are on adjacent carbon atoms. While a rather old-fashioned term, it persists in the

Fig. 1. Summary of the pathways to the principal flavor-active vicinal diketones

(VDKs) formed during yeast fermentations. They are a minor side-product of the biosynthesis of the amino acids isoleucine and valine and, less directly, leucine.

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various sectors of the alcohol industry.

Both compounds are ultimately derived from the biosynthesis of the amino acids valine, isoleucine, and less directly leucine during fermentation, either by conventional yeast strains or contaminating microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria (Fig. 1). A leak in the amino acid biosynthetic pathways leads to the formation of (1) and (2) by oxidative decarboxylation. Critically, both VDKs are highly flavor-active, particularly (1). A detailed sensory evaluation of (1) in a neutral grain matrix by Lee et al., (2000) determined that the detection and recognition thresholds of diacetyl were 2 and 6 μg/l respectively in grain spirit. Although the thresholds of 2,3-pentanedione were not determined in this study, in other systems such as beer it is generally considered to have thresholds around ten times higher ( i.e., less flavor-active) than diacetyl. To provide context, the diacetyl thresholds were the lowest reported by Lee et al., in their studies, which included the potent sulfur compound dimethyl trisulfide (onion-like, savory, meaty).

The sensory impact in detectable levels of VDKs can in principle be positive or negative, but they are unlikely to make a positive contribution in spirits that are required to create neutral grain spirit-based categories such as gin or vodka, therefore VDKs must be controlled or eliminated. Given the boiling points of (1) and (2, Table 1) it is unsurprising that diacetyl in particular is challenging to remove from

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Table 1. Melting and boiling points of diacetyl (1) and 2,3-pentanedione (2). The proximity of the boiling points of (1) and ethanol suggests that separation by boiling point is unlikely to be effective. ethanol by simple distillation.

Ethanol Diacetyl 2,3-Pentanedione A chemistry adage states that a clean Melting point/°C -114 -2 -52 separation of liquids by distillation reBoiling point/°C 78 88 110 quires differences in boiling points of at least 30 degrees C.1 However, this is overly simplistic. For instance, Fig. 2. Sequential reduction of VDKs to hydroxy ketones and diols. It should be methanol and ethanol boiling points noted that there does not seem to be a distinction between 2-hydroxy-3-pentanone and 3-hydroxt2-pentanone. The former has been used in this scheme. differ by 13 degrees C, but separation here can be achieved here by exploiting hydroselection. That is, the relative volatilities of ethanol and methanol are dependent on ethanol concentration.

Hence for demethylization, the most effective distillation regime is when ethanol concentrations are at their highest and therefore is carried out as a final step for neutral spirit production. Unfortunately, this approach is not helpful for diacetyl removal, especially in a batch, pot-still operation, as the relative volatilities of ethanol and diacetyl are essentially constant from 0–96 percent ABV. This inconvenience, together with the potent flavor of diacetyl, implies Fig. 3. The basis of a colorimetric determination of VDKs. The reaction product, as a substituted quinoxalines can be measured by UV/visible that control is preferred, rather than spectrophotometry. R = H (diacetyl), or R = CH3 (2,3-pentanedione). remediation in the still. Brewers, without recourse to distillation, understand the need for fermentation management for diacetyl management. Typically, brewers have allowed fermentation temperatures to rise after ethanol production, which allows residual yeast to reduce diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione, first to α-hydroxyketo VDKs and hydroxyketones. In brewing, are often less concerned with diacetyl mantones and then to their respective diols (Fig. residual α-acetolactate can cause problems agement, given the additional distillation 2), often termed the “diacetyl rest.” This seover the shelf-life of the beer, but for distilloperation. Often, distilling fermentations run quential chemical reduction of VDKs relies ers the act of distillation may result in diacetyl warmer than most brewing fermentations, on specific enzymes from the yeast. The flabeing produced from acetolactate in the still. which results in higher VDK production. A vor thresholds of acetoin (3-hydroxy-2-buEnzymes such as ALDC (acetolactate decarpersonal view is that, whilst the still can help tanone) and 2,3-butanediol are significantly boxylase) developed for brewers, convert aca distiller to surgically remove certain specific higher than that of diacetyl, allowing for the etolactate directly to acetoin, and may thereflavors, this is unlikely to be wholly satisfactodissipation of diacetyl flavors before finishfore be a useful addition post-fermentation ry in situations where elevated VDK concening and packaging beer. The diacetyl rest also to reduce the levels of acetolactate and thus trations generated during fermentation are allows for some breakdown of α-acetolactate diacetyl during distillation. transferred into the final spirit. So prevention Distillers though tend to push through rather than cure would be a useful strategy, 1 Such a separation is adequately achieved in a still provisioned with a column. fermentations at higher temperatures and especially for smaller scale, batch operations.

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INVENTORY • PRODUCTION • COMPLIANCE

software that makes it easier to make great things

The implication here is that the distillers may well be wise to consider diacetyl management during fermentation rather than distillation. Reducing the temperature of fermentations will help to manage the production of VDKs, but will also influence the production of higher alcohols and esters. Again, this can be ameliorated during distillation. Additionally, in the case of limited fermentation capacity, shifting from a 2- to 3-day fermentation to a 4- to 6-day fermentation, together with a diacetyl rest, say two days, may be too onerous and certainly contribute to the determining the rate of spirit production. However, this is only likely to be an issue if still capacity is too small. (The discussion of insufficient still capacity is beyond the scope of this article but suffice to say that this is often due to over-cautious selection of still volumes at start-up.)

The management of VDKs requires the determination of their levels post-fermentation and during distillation. A common methodology is to use gas chromatography with electron capture detection, which allows for the determination of both diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione independently. It is worth noting that as 2,3-pentanedione is less flavor-active and occurs at lower concentrations than diacetyl, a total VDK measurement offers a reliable measure of flavor intensity. Methods such as the reaction of VDKs with 1,2-diaminobenzene and subsequent spectrophotometric determination of the resulting quinoxalines can be measured by UV/visible spectrophotometry (Fig. 3, it is worth remembering that 1,2-diaminobenzene is a hazardous material and should be handled with care).

Even in the absence of analytical support, the nose and palate can act as a quick appraiser during production and in the final spirit.

In summary, VDK management is an important consideration for final spirit quality, especially for neutral spirit applications. Whilst it might be feasible to remove sufficient levels of VDKs by distillation, for more problematic situations it seems prudent to manage the fermentation. Prevention, not cure, is the appropriate philosophy here.

Paul Hughes, Ph.D. is assistant professor of food science and technology at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.

For more information visit www.oregonstate.edu or call (541) 737-4595.

REFERENCES FIVE x 5 Solutions gives you time back to do what you love – making great products. Scan to learn how Fx5 can help your business.

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Lee, K.-Y. M., Paterson, A., Piggott, J.R. and Richardson, G.D., Perception of whisky flavour reference compounds by Scottish distillers, J. Inst. Brew., 2000, 106, 203-208.

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Innovating with Enzymes Part 1 — The story behind an award-winning innovation

H Over generations, distillers have refined the art of creating smoother products.

(This is the first of a two-part article introducing new science into the understanding of the harsh bite experienced in spirits along with the means to finally eliminate this negative feature.

The second article will appear in a subsequent publication).

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arshness has been an attribute of spirits from its beginning. Over generations, distillers have refined the art of creating smoother products. The complete elimination of that harshness, however, has been elusive.

What follows is a journey to turn that art into the science of why spirits can be harsh and how to solve it once and for all.

The project started as a fun way to entertain ourselves during COVID by asking what it would take to create a completely smooth spirit. It ended with the discovery of what we believe precisely causes that sensation and how to eliminate it from all distilled alcoholic beverages far beyond what distillation, filtration, or aging can. One critical finding was how to target that harshness without affecting any compounds responsible for flavors. Designing a rifle, not a shotgun. To do this, we need a crystal-clear understanding of the mechanism that causes the

harsh sensation, what triggers this mechanism, why that trigger persists in spirits, and how to create a way for distillers to have complete control of its presence in their product. In other words: finding the diamond in the sandbox.

Defining Harshness Humans perceive foods and beverages using three different sensory responses. The first is taste, which we would typically refer to as flavors. Second is aroma, which also contributes to the eating and drinking experience. These two categories are where distillers focus their attention. However, a third category of sensory experience is at play which is much less understood — the somatosensory system.

Somatosensory responses are responsible for sensations like pain. They serve as the body’s

Written by Joana Montenegro, Ph.D.

alert system and are therefore a distraction from any pleasurable experience. The harshness experienced when sipping distilled alcoholic beverages can be isolated as a mild (or less mild) pain sensation triggered by specific receptors.

To control or eliminate harshness in spirits, it is important to understand the receptor

Somatosensory responses are responsible for sensations like pain.

They serve as the body’s alert system and are therefore a distraction from any pleasurable experience.

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triggering the sensation. This receptor — the focus on studies in human physiology and pain dysfunction — is not yet well understood and not typically a focus when creating food and beverage products. Called the TRPA1 receptor, it is present in all animals to alert for the presence of irritants in the environment. It’s triggered through a reversible covalent bond with compounds that are undesirable, a feature which distinguishes it from the traditional “lock-andkey” mechanism many other receptors operate by. It is common to find ways to block receptors when creating unique flavor profiles in a food or beverage product, but in the case of the TRPA1 this is not possible. When this receptor detects a compound, it triggers the pain and releases the compound so it can be detected again. Hence, it can’t be blocked.

The compounds causing the harsh sensation need to be eliminated or converted to create

When the TRPA1 receptor detects a compound, it triggers the pain and releases the compound so it can be detected again. Hence, it can’t be blocked.

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a harsh-free distilled alcoholic beverage.

Specific chemical groups inside the receptor have an enormous affinity for compounds that have a specific reactivity and a certain physical shape. In other words, the receptor causing the harsh bite sensation will only trigger when exposed to a set of compounds that fit within a specific range of ‘electron affinity’ and physical shape of the molecule. This also means that all other compounds, flavors, or aromas, for instance, would not trigger this receptor. What is clear is that any solution for distillers that targets the offending compounds would also need to leave flavors and aromas intact.

With clarity of the harsh mechanism’s characteristics and triggering compounds understood, the next step is determining which specific compounds appear in spirits and why they are there in the first place.

What’s ‘Biting’ in Spirits To look at what could be the culprit, we performed comprehensive gas chromatography paired with mass spectroscopy analyses of a wide range of distilled products. The analysis spanned vodkas and gin to tequilas and mezcals to whiskeys and bourbons, from the top shelf to the cheapest offerings which provided some interesting insights. We found a handful of

compounds that exist in all spirits that have the exact properties to trigger the TRPA1. They are hard to find in the parts-per-million, but there they are! The key is to understand why and where these compounds are generated, particularly since it’s independent of the type of spirit.

Interestingly, these compounds are known to have a somewhat deleterious effect on cells. Therefore, it makes sense that the human body will react to their presence with a degree of pain, triggering a response even when they are present in partsper-million. However, it is not the ethanol causing the bite, nor is it secondary alcohols. It is a series of highly reactive aliphatic molecules with a carbonyl group, and they are short to medium chain. Any combination of these C2 to C9 molecules will result in ‘bite.’

Although these compounds were detected in all finished alcoholic beverages, the most effective way of controlling or eliminating them is when they are generated during the process of making the spirit and doing it in a targeted fashion.

Alcoholic fermentation of a sugar source by yeast is one step all alcoholic beverages have in common. As the fermentation progresses, the yeast become unavoidably stressed. When yeast become stressed, there are a series of cascading biochemical reactions that occur, leading to the consistent formation of these irritant compounds responsible for triggering the TRPA1.

When yeast become stressed, there are a series of cascading biochemical reactions that occur, leading to the consistent formation of these irritant compounds responsible for triggering the TRPA1.

Enzymes are a Silver Bullet The solution to eliminating harshness turns out to be quite simple. It uses what nature already knows to do in a way that keeps the distillers’ process untouched. Enzymes provide just the right approach for driving a singular reaction, targeting only their substrate while leaving all else untouched. Distillers already use and are familiar with enzymes, which are proteins designed by living cells to execute certain functions in a precise, targeted way. In fact, all living beings contain the specific enzyme designed to target and convert compounds just like the ones responsible for the harsh bite.

Its mechanism is very well understood, so there is total clarity around what they are converted into. Reactive carbonyl groups are easily converted into organic

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Enzymes are proteins designed by living cells to execute certain functions in a precise, targeted way. acids, a precursor to esters in some cases. However, these are at extremely low concentrations. The notion of converting reactive chemical groups that cause the undesirable bite into neutral, safe, well-known compounds has a powerful capability to deliver to distillers as they develop a whole host of products.

Since “smooth” is the adjective commonly used to describe good spirits, this enzyme is a potential tool to deliver that promise.

The last step is developing a proprietary version of this enzyme optimized for the harsh environment of fermentation. After indepth research, we are now defining how this enzyme needs to operate in the most efficacious way for distillers and the fermentation environment. After robust testing, both sensory and analytical, we demonstrated it works. Using the enzyme as a processing aid

that does not make its way into the bottle after distillation keeps things extra simple. And it’s proven to be capable of eliminating the harshness from the distilled alcoholic beverage.

What’s Next To make this happen, we performed a lot of research ranging from analytical laboratory work proving the efficacy of the enzyme along with sensory work to demonstrate that adding the enzyme during fermentation does, in fact, eliminate the harsh bite. Currently underway is the work to tweak the enzyme so it best operates under fermentation conditions and how to scale up for full production. The in-depth details of all this research will be the subject of a subsequent article once completed and the patent is finalized.

Efficiency

is a matter of experience.

For 32 years,

Bavarian Breweries & Distilleries Joana Montenegro is the Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder of Voodoo Scientific. She has a PhD in food engineering and has dedicated her career to driving innovation in the Food and Bev Industry.

Email joana@voodooscientific.com for more information.

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Serving the Industry With Excellence.

(310) 228-0905 or lh@potstills.com 115

E T A PRIV S T N EVE

A quick look at incorporating private events to increase profitability

WRITTEN BY DOUG HALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY BRAIN BREW CUSTOM WHISKEY

S

elling products, and depleting your stock is the name of the game. However, profitability can often be even higher for private events than just selling your spirits. That’s because while you must pay state and federal taxes on the bourbon, you get to keep much more of the income for providing staffing for an experience. It’s not unheard of to see prices ranging from $600 to $1,200 for a couple hours to major on-site events that can go as high as $10,000 for an evening.

The key to success with private events is the creation of one-of-a-kind experiences that help event organizers sell their attendees on participating. The experiences need to have good theatrical drama, a compelling opening, strong narrative, and emotional closing. To insure profitability, they also need to be easy to execute with minimum staffing.

When done right, your experience is the kind of thing that results in the event organizer getting boundless praise for their brilliance in finding and sponsoring the experience.

LEFT : On-site marketing materials make it fast & easy for guests to understand and engage.

BELOW : Flight trays make it easy for people to hold and sip bourbons while standing at an event.

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Guest Interactive Cocktail/ Mocktail Experience

Examples of offerings we’ve found to be successful include:

A 45-minute guided experience where participants learn, taste and create their bourbon to their personal taste preference.

EVENT NAME

Custom Bourbon Happy Hour

SELECT YOUR BOURBON

EASY DRiNKING

+

Bitters

Simple Syrup

Garnish

Old Fashioned

OR

BIG & BOLD

Add ICE To A Cup

1842 Charles Dickens SOUR

Add

1 1/2 oz To Cup

EVENT NAME

SELECT YOUR BOURBON

EASY DRiNKING

When sales volume is low, it can be an easy mistake to get a little “messy” with your operStir & Add 3/4 oz 3 Teaspoons Lemon Peel ations documentation. However, with even a small level of sales success you will quickly crash and burn if you don’t systemize your operations.

This means having dedicated equipHA LOLF ment and supplies for private events.

W Alc Alcoh ohol olHig Cockt hball ails Nothing is more frustrating when you Hemingway are setting out for a holiday party at a Highball country club and you can’t find the + + + = dump bucket you normally bring beStir with Grapefruit 1 Teaspoon Squeeze HEMINGWAY cause someone has borrowed it. It also Of Lime Highball OR means having clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for packing, setting up, executing, and cleaning up after the + or + = GINGER experience/event.

Highball Stir with Simple Syrup

OJ + Lemon Juice

Add ICE To A Cup

Maraschino

Roughly 3 Oz

BIG & BOLD

SMOKED

Add

3/4 oz To Cup

Garnish

Charles Dickens SOUR

Soda

+

Executing Private Events

=

+

+

SMOKED

Bourbon Flights Happy Hour

Every guest can select three bourbons to taste. Holding and drinking is made easy as a result a flight tray that is easy to hold and sip three bourbons while standing. The program is executed using our Bourbon Blending Machines that have the recipes pre-programmed in it.

Selling private events requires one-on-one outreach to event organizers, meeting planners, party planners, meeting venues, catering companies, wedding planners and others who organize events. Your goal is to show them how you can make them look good by including your experiences in their events.

Secondarily, private event marketing involves a drip campaign of letting people know you are available.

This includes the obvious stuff like having a s simple brochure available at your distillery. You ail ckt Co ol oh FULL Alc should overtly state at all distillery experiences that you are available for private events. It also includes doing every fair, festival, and fundrais= + + 1862 Stir & Add ing event you can, so you can connect with new Old 13 Drops Lemon Peel 1 Teaspoon Fashioned people.

This is a super simple and fun experience where guests are guided to make their choice of Bourbon Forward Cocktails, Low Alcohol Highballs or No Alcohol Mocktails.

YOUR Bourbon YOUR Way Custom Bourbon Experience

Every guest can create and taste their custom bourbon in minutes. Guests answer 13 questions and voila!

Their custom bourbon recipe is created. They can also order a bottle of their custom bourbon.

Marketing Private Events

Ginger Ale Regular or Diet

Squeeze Of Lime

Roughly 3 oz

YOUR Old Fashioned YOUR Way Custom Cocktail Experience

A 45-minute guided experience where participants learn how to customize their old fashioned based on 1) Style of bourbon (easy drinking, rich and complex, or smoked), 2) Level of sweetness (1 tsp, 2 tsp, 1/2 oz) of simple syrup and 3) Garnish.

RIGHT : Simple, visual signage

makes it easy for guests to craft their own cocktails and mocktails.

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NO ALCOHOL Mocktails

EVENT NAME

Grapefruit

OR

Add ICE To A Cup

Soda Roughly 3 oz

or

TIKI Ginger Mocktail

Ginger Ale

=

+

+

Hemingway Mocktail

Stir with Squeeze Of Lime

1 Teaspoon Maraschino

+

=

+ 1 teaspoon

Regular or DietOrgeat + Pineapple Roughly 3 oz

NO Alcohol HEMINGWAY Mocktail

Stir with Squeeze Of Lime

NO Alcohol TIKI GINGER Mocktail

GINGER Highball

Be The Responsible One

Private events often include open bars.

To reduce the chances of over consumption there are several tips you can employ. When doing flights you can reduce the size to 1/2 oz. pours. It’s also helpful to offer low alcohol highballs (using 3/4 of an ounce of bourbon) and zero alcohol mocktails that have the same “color” as the low alcohol highballs, so as not to single out non drinkers.

It takes some work to create, refine and systematize a great private event experience.

However, the profitability and the fun of doing them is well worth the effort.

Doug Hall is the co-founder and CEO of Brain Brew Custom WHISKeY, WoodCraft Bourbon Blender Franchising and founder/chairman of the Eureka! Ranch. He has spent 40+ years creating and commercializing innovations for companies such as Nike, Walt Disney, Diageo and over the past 22 years The Macallan of Scotland.

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ADVERTISER index AGAVE RESOURCES

CONTRACT DISTILLATION

The Tierra Group

44

BARREL RACKS Western Square

GNS & BULK SPIRITS SUPPLIERS

Corsair Artisan Distillery

19

Grain Processing Corp.

Old Glory Distilling Co.

42

Southern Distilling Co.

5

Southern Distilling Co.

8

Strategic Sourcing Hub

115

67

CORKS & CLOSURES BARREL WAREHOUSING White Dog Trading & Storage, LLC

40

Chevalier Casks, LLC

93

Independent Stave Co.

7&9

The Barrel Mill

112

BARWARE 8 & 112

Loggerhead Deco

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BOTTLE MANUFACTURERS & SUPPLIERS Berlin Packaging

90

Brad-Pak Enterprises

41

Imperial Packaging

80

Owens-Illinois

26

Phoenix Packaging

21 8 & 120

Saxco International

34

Vetroelite, Inc.

30

Waterloo Container

102

CANNING SERVICES Iron Heart Canning Company

109

COMPLIANCE & BACK OFFICE MANAGEMENT American Spirits Exchange Ltd. FIVE X 5 Solutions

Supercap

45

Tapi USA

8 & 119

6 112

Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. BSG Distilling

Creamy Creation

99

Whalen Insurance

92

DESIGN, BRANDING, & MERCHANDISING

LABELS

CF Napa Brand Design

Multi-Color Corporation (MCC) Premium Label Solutions

2&6

Niagara Label

Bavarian Breweries & Distilleries

115

Bridgetown Brew Systems

38

Cage & Sons Distilling Systems

6 & 17

Prospero Equipment Corp.

53

Rudolph Research Analytical

102

Specific Mechanical Systems

33

Vendome Copper & Brass Works

62

Moonshine University

4 7 & 24

ENZYMES & YEAST AB Biotek

37

Ferm Solutions

32

Fermentis

25

Lallemand

7 & 11

FINANCING Live Oak Bank

52

FLAVORING Mother Murphy's

12

7 & 28 109

PACKAGING Liquor Bottle Packaging

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PUBLICATIONS Journal of Distilling Science

50

PUMPS McFinn Technologies

EDUCATION American Distilling Institute

29 6 & 15

INSURANCE

DISTILLING EQUIPMENT

BOTTLE & GLASS DECORATING

Saverglass

INGREDIENTS

CREAM LIQUEURS

BARRELS

The Distillery Store by Thousand Oaks Barrel Co.

96

99

REFRIGERATION & CHILLERS G&D Chillers

49

RETAILERS Total Wine & More

8

SPIRITS COMPETITIONS American Distilling Institute

22

TOTES & TANKS Spokane Stainless Technologies, Inc.

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TRADE ORGANIZATIONS Distilled Spirits Council

7

ARTISAN SPIRIT sponsors 118

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Beginning production in the USA in 2023.

Making innovative bottle closures for over 60 years.

TapiGroup.com (610) 222-9109 1020 E. Main St. Norristown, PA 19401

info@tapiusa.com

TONIC FAMILY

A TONIC FOR EVERY SPIRIT The Tonic collection forges a whole new style, taking on a colorama pop design reminiscent of the audacious traditions characterizing the 1980s Memphis movement.

With Tonic, design is a game. As for the rules, well that’s up to talented distillers of whiskey, rum, vodka, gin, tequila, and other spirits! And if Tonic’s lines and volumes seem understated, it’s only to offer versatile containers capable of bringing out the unique aura of each spirit.

Saverglass Inc. | www.saverglass.com | Haute Couture Glass 2950 Cordelia Road, Fairfield (CA)94534: (707) 259-2930 | East Coast (DC): (202) 763-9279 Pacific North West (OR): (707) 337-1479 | Mid West (KY): (502) 365-2333