One of the things that amazed me most in the early days of pursuing our dream of opening a distillery was how friendly other distillers were. Many owners and distillers are friendly and they genuinely want to share their passion with anyone else with the same interests.
I was reading the American Distilling Institute’s online forum this week. There was a post from someone on this very subject. He asked if it is normal for this many people to be this friendly. He wanted to know if he should be concerned about being led on or looking for “the catch.” I’m here to tell you there is no catch. If you are interested in distilling, just come talk to me.
I’ve had the opportunities to sit in on distillation runs and help with bottling parties. I don’t mind the free labor; it is a great opportunity to see how the bottling works and — more importantly — get to know your local distillers. There are limitations of course. Mainly, we are still a business; we are always busy and time is a precious commodity.
If you want to know how to get into this industry, here is my advice: Go tour and meet some local distillers. Be open and honest with why you are there and what you are thinking. After some friendly chatting, buy a bottle of booze. Seriously. Showing that you aren’t just there for some free information makes us a lot more open to talk. Next, look for bottling parties. Several distilleries do them and don’t mind the free labor. Again, don’t be coy about wanting to learn more, and don’t wander around looking for recipes or taking pictures of equipment. Just show up and have a good time.
Lastly, when you decide you are serious, spend the money to take a class. They are often run by distilleries and cover everything from the nuts and bolts of production to marketing and tax reporting. Some may be expensive, but we found that being prepared saved us months of licensing time. That saved months of paying rent for nothing, which easily pays for several classes. There are also many classes that are part of regional and national conferences put on by distillery organizations like American Craft Spirits Association and American Distilling Institute, both of which have their conferences in March and April. Who said learning had to be boring?
AJ and Jamie Temple recently opened Temple Distilling in Lynnwood. For more information on Temple Distilling, visit templedistilling.com.
Email AJ at aj@templedistilling.com or follow them on Facebook.
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