Microdistillery
Encyclopedia
A microdistillery is a small, often 'boutique
', distillery established to produce beverage grade alcohol in relatively small quantities. While the term is most commonly used in the United States
, micro-distilleries have been established in Europe
for many years, either as small cognac
distilleries supplying the larger cognac houses, or as distilleries of single malt whisky
originally produced for the blended Scotch whisky
market, but whose products are now sold as niche single malt brands. The more recent development of micro-distilleries can now also be seen in locations as diverse as London
and Switzerland
.
Throughout much of the world, small distilleries operate throughout communities of various sizes without being given a special description. Due to the extended period of Prohibition
in the United States, however, most small distilleries were forced out of business, leaving only the corporate-dominated megadistilleries to resume operation when Prohibition was repealed. to produce small batch brands.
A recent trend in this segment of the distilling industry is for megadistillers to create their own micro-distillery within their current operation. Makers Mark, owned by Jim Beam Inc., and Buffalo Trace in Kentucky are now producing specialty bourbon brands with small stills. It is anticipated that other megadistilers, Bacardi, Brown Forman, Diageo, will soon join the parade.
in the 1970s and quickly spread throughout the United States in the following decades. Whilst still in its infancy, the popularity of microdistilling and microdistilled spirits
is expanding consistently, with many microbreweries and small wineries establishing distilleries within the scope of their brewing
or winemaking
operations. Other microdistilleries are farm-based. Anchor Brewing Company
and Dogfish Head are two examples of American craft breweries that have begun expanding into microdistillation. Leopold Bros.
is an example of a microdistiller that began as a microbrewery
, and now operates as a distillery alone.
Some of the newer microdistilleries procuce only spirits. Plain and seasonally-flavored vodka
s are popular products. As with the emergence of microbrewing, California and Oregon have experienced the highest number of microdistillery openings. Significant recent growth has also occurred in the Midwest. Microdistilleries for gin and vodka have also now started to re-emerge in London, England, after being restricted and effectively banned for over a hundred years due to UK government restrictions on still sizes, which have now been partially relaxed. There are now 4 licensed distilleries in London: Beefeater and Thames Distillers (not microdistilleries), and Sacred Microdistillery
and Sipsmith
, which are. At the same time, European micro-distilleries have been a key element in the absinthe
renaissance in several countries, including Switzerland.
In the 1990s the liquor industry established the notion of super premium spirits offering a higher-quality (and usually more elaborately packaged) product at a higher price. The higher prices created an opportunity for small distilleries to profitably produce niche brands of exotic spirits that did not need massive economies of scale to maintain profitability. The first decade of the new millennium saw the creation of hundreds of such distilleries producing products that were designed and marketed in a way that resembled celebrated restaurants more than alcoholic spirits marketing. Numerous competitions and publications were formed to support the burgeoning sub-culture of spirits.
It is no longer the case that microdistilleries are producing at the premium end of the market only; the established brands are under threat from local microdistilleries at all price points (with the possible exception of the ultra discount supermarket brands such as Sainsbury's and Tesco's "value" brands, which are close to loss leaders).
was legalized in the U.S. spurring a flurry of media attention on both the spirit and the artists who make it. The rarer spirits distilled by these figures can fetch from US$50–400 per bottle.
, Indiana
, Iowa
, Kansas
, Michigan
, Utah
and Washington, have passed legislation reducing the stringent regulations for small distilleries that were a holdover from prohibition. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
(TTB) are responsible for enforcing Federal statutes as they apply to all manufacturers of beverage alcohol.
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
', distillery established to produce beverage grade alcohol in relatively small quantities. While the term is most commonly used in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, micro-distilleries have been established in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for many years, either as small cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
distilleries supplying the larger cognac houses, or as distilleries of single malt whisky
Single malt whisky
Single malt whisky is a whisky made at one particular distillery from a mash that uses one particular malted grain, which is ordinarily barley.Single malts are typically associated with Scotland, though they are also produced in various other countries...
originally produced for the blended Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
market, but whose products are now sold as niche single malt brands. The more recent development of micro-distilleries can now also be seen in locations as diverse as London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Throughout much of the world, small distilleries operate throughout communities of various sizes without being given a special description. Due to the extended period of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
in the United States, however, most small distilleries were forced out of business, leaving only the corporate-dominated megadistilleries to resume operation when Prohibition was repealed. to produce small batch brands.
A recent trend in this segment of the distilling industry is for megadistillers to create their own micro-distillery within their current operation. Makers Mark, owned by Jim Beam Inc., and Buffalo Trace in Kentucky are now producing specialty bourbon brands with small stills. It is anticipated that other megadistilers, Bacardi, Brown Forman, Diageo, will soon join the parade.
Movement
The modern microdistilling movement grew out of the beer microbrewing trend, which originated in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1970s and quickly spread throughout the United States in the following decades. Whilst still in its infancy, the popularity of microdistilling and microdistilled spirits
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
is expanding consistently, with many microbreweries and small wineries establishing distilleries within the scope of their brewing
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
or winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
operations. Other microdistilleries are farm-based. Anchor Brewing Company
Anchor Brewing Company
Anchor Brewing Company is an American alcoholic beverage producer, operating a brewery and distillery on Potrero Hill in San Francisco, California. The brewery was founded in 1896 and was purchased by Frederick Louis Maytag III, in 1965, saving it from closure. It moved to its current location in...
and Dogfish Head are two examples of American craft breweries that have begun expanding into microdistillation. Leopold Bros.
Leopold Bros.
Leopold Bros. is a family-owned microdistillery located in Denver, Colorado.-History:Brothers Scott and Todd Leopold, distant relatives of environmentalist Aldo Leopold, from Littleton, Colorado, opened a brewpub on South Main Street at the site of a renovated brake factory in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
is an example of a microdistiller that began as a microbrewery
Microbrewery
A microbrewery or craft brewer is a brewery which produces a limited amount of beer, and is associated by consumers with innovation and uniqueness....
, and now operates as a distillery alone.
Some of the newer microdistilleries procuce only spirits. Plain and seasonally-flavored vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
s are popular products. As with the emergence of microbrewing, California and Oregon have experienced the highest number of microdistillery openings. Significant recent growth has also occurred in the Midwest. Microdistilleries for gin and vodka have also now started to re-emerge in London, England, after being restricted and effectively banned for over a hundred years due to UK government restrictions on still sizes, which have now been partially relaxed. There are now 4 licensed distilleries in London: Beefeater and Thames Distillers (not microdistilleries), and Sacred Microdistillery
Sacred Microdistillery
Sacred Microdistillery is a microdistillery located in Highgate, London. It is unusual in that it distils its spirits under a vacuum in glassware, and thus at a lower temperature than traditional pot stills, which operate at atmospheric pressure...
and Sipsmith
Sipsmith
Sipsmith is a microdistillery located in London. It is the first copper-pot distillery to open within London's city limits in nearly two centuries.- History :...
, which are. At the same time, European micro-distilleries have been a key element in the absinthe
Absinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...
renaissance in several countries, including Switzerland.
In the 1990s the liquor industry established the notion of super premium spirits offering a higher-quality (and usually more elaborately packaged) product at a higher price. The higher prices created an opportunity for small distilleries to profitably produce niche brands of exotic spirits that did not need massive economies of scale to maintain profitability. The first decade of the new millennium saw the creation of hundreds of such distilleries producing products that were designed and marketed in a way that resembled celebrated restaurants more than alcoholic spirits marketing. Numerous competitions and publications were formed to support the burgeoning sub-culture of spirits.
It is no longer the case that microdistilleries are producing at the premium end of the market only; the established brands are under threat from local microdistilleries at all price points (with the possible exception of the ultra discount supermarket brands such as Sainsbury's and Tesco's "value" brands, which are close to loss leaders).
Innovation
Whilst many small brands contract out distillation to larger firms (for example Oxley gin is distilled by Thames Distillers under contract for Bacardi, as is Jensen's gin, Fifty Pound gin, The London gin, and Geranium gin is distilled under contract by Alcohols Ltd.), true innovation is to be found with the microdistillers, where new techniques produce new flavors. Tony Conigliaro uses a rotavap (i.e. glassware not copper pot) on a small scale to produce distilled spirits which change from day to day in his bar, and Ian Hart uses vacuum equipment to conduct distillation at much reduced temperatures, resulting in less cooked aromatics.Celebrity distillers
Prior to the microdistillery movement, distillation was largely viewed as a high tech industrial activity and little attention was paid to the makers of spirits. However with the worldwide birth of hundreds of small boutique distilleries in the 2000s came a new way of thinking about spirits, not as simple commodities but as works of culinary art. This is especially true in the United States where early microdistilleries vocally tied themselves to California's Asian-inspired fusion cuisine. The notion of the celebrity distiller is a recent phenomenon and has emerged worldwide. It has been dramatically elevated since 2007 when absintheAbsinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...
was legalized in the U.S. spurring a flurry of media attention on both the spirit and the artists who make it. The rarer spirits distilled by these figures can fetch from US$50–400 per bottle.
U.S. regulation
The U.S. Government regulates distilleries to a high degree and currently does not distinguish its treatment of distilleries in terms of size. This stringent regulation has prevented microdistilling from developing as rapidly as microbrewing which enjoys relatively more relaxed government control. A number of states, such as CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and Washington, have passed legislation reducing the stringent regulations for small distilleries that were a holdover from prohibition. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury....
(TTB) are responsible for enforcing Federal statutes as they apply to all manufacturers of beverage alcohol.
