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Hughes

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    South Carolina
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    Good friends, family, sports, public service, currently learning about distilling, and enjoying the finished products of others.

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  1. I've been reading up lately on distribution laws and have stumbled across an article published a few days ago in the National Examiner discussing the right to self-distribute for breweries. They specifically referred to a law that is on the books in one state to take away self distribution, and different law that would strengthen it in another state. I don't believe everything I read, it got me thinking. The three-tier system seems to be a disaster for small manufacturers in any of the three alcoholic beverage categories (if you disagree, please say why?). It makes it tougher to get new products on the selves and tougher to get a business going. If for some reason the breweries in the US were able to organize to fight the three tier system for the right to self distribute, at least in state, would DSPs stand a chance at joining or winning a similar fight? Why/why not?
  2. I greatly appreciate your clarifications, especially being very green and learning all about the industry myself. They are detailed and helpful. I'd also like to clarify, and echo what Hewlette has pointed out. That is that he did not write the article. I am in no way, shape or form affiliated with the newspaper that wrote the story nor Terressentia. I was simply pointing to a story that ran in a local news outlet. Charleston and the Lowcountry region of South Carolina have a deep and celebrated history. That extends to the food and beverage industry. We take great pride as local citizens when another citizen's business succeeds. You can attribute the enthusiastic writing in the article to that pride and excitement, especially given our collective current economic situation. The Firefly Distillery, which is also considered local to Charleston, was and continues to be celebrated and praised in our local news as well. My point is this: I posted this as someone who is new to the industry, asking what the veterans thought of it because I did not have the base of knowledge to form an opinion of it initially. I did so without Hewlette's knowledge, as I do not know him. Again, I greatly appreciate the feedback from everyone. Thanks to this discussion I have formed my own opinions and have my own answers to my initial questions. That being said, I think Hewlette caters to a very different market than the distillers here typically seek to enter. We have some extraordinary, award winning chefs who call Charleston home. As mentioned in the article, local restaurants which are owned by some of these same chefs are adopting these spirits as their "house" brands of liquor. They are branding an entire line of spirits specifically to that restaurant. While this is not new, it is likely appealing to these chefs to have a special brand of spirits in their restaurants. These spirits will likely take up residence in the rail/well, where the average customer will enjoy what is said to be a tasty spirit. While he may have to compete with Diageo in your average franchise restaurant, these guys are at the top of their game and a private label liquor is worth any extra cost to them. This appears to be a relatively accessible (quick, relatively painless) way to get a family/business/personal name on a bottle for those who do not have extensive knowledge of distilling or the spirits industry. If that's what they want, then I'd say he probably doesn't have to beat Diageo on price. His website also mentions other avenues of customers that they expect to cater to, restaurants being the one mentioned in the article. That's just my 2 cents.
  3. In North Charleston, South Carolina, a company that is listed in the ADI directory called Terressentia is making some headlines locally for its finishing processes that mimic aging and distilling. They are not actually running anything through a still, but their processes take out some of the chemicals that are normally taken out during the distillation process and they can produce a whiskey that "tastes 7-9 years old" in under a day. I'm curious what the members on this board think about it? With the process and additives, I can't imagine they have an easy time with the TTB labeling requirements. All in all, I am always one for innovations, and this looks/sounds very interesting. Is it just business as usual, and there is no actual change, just press coverage? If it does change anything, will it hurt the big guys? Will it hurt them more than craft distillers? Is there something this article left out? http://www.charlesto...ent?oid=3056352 Curious for your responses. I plan on wandering over to the restaurants mentioned to taste test for myself.
  4. I did not put this in the Beginner's Section because it really only applies to those up and running. I have a background and some experience in sustainability and energy efficiency and have been pondering the following questions as I consume every piece of literature on the distilling industry I can get my hands on in the last two weeks. (When I get interested in something, I GET INTERESTED) I saw on here someone said something along the lines of "Read about distilling, then read about it some more. If you read everything and aren't sick of it, then you should try it." If nothing else, I'll have a lot of book knowledge on the subject. Here are my questions: Does anyone use any renewable energy sources in their DSP? If not, has anyone toyed with the idea of using waste products to generate some fuel to power a boiler or other equipment? It seems like a logical step, perhaps only attractive to take on once you cross from red into black on the financials. Am I way off in estimating how much energy is headed out of the door in the form of uncollected heat or waste, or is it simply not cost effective given current utility prices in the US?
  5. Congratulations! Pretty cool in my (novice) opinion that you process the spirit, including all of its ingredients from cradle to grave. I'm under the impression this is rare among the craft distilleries, at least in the US. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
  6. Reading and Learning

  7. Hello all, Like many before me, I found this forum and the ADI through personal curiosity. What an amazing treasure trove of information for someone like me who has an interest in the beverage industry. Thank you to all who contribute and share the vast amount of knowledge, know-how, and advice on these boards. Again like many others, I've been bumping around the forum for a while reading and learning. I'm based out of Charleston, SC (so far I've only seen Palmetto Coast say he's from South Carolina), not too far from the Firefly Distillery if any of you know of it. In terms of my interest, my soon to be wife and I both have full time careers outside of the beverage industry, but a craft distillery/brewery are both things we are very interested in getting involved in as a shared (foolish, but fun and exciting) labor in several years. This year we'll begin touring around to several distilleries and workshops to begin to learn the basics of the day-to-day life of whichever distillers would be kind enough to host us in their distillery, or pencil us into their workshop schedules. It is very exciting to have access to the almost real time opinions and thoughts of the first/second generation pioneers of the craft distilling business in the US. I look forward to many great discussions and catching up on the ones that have already occurred. Cheers
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