Separation of Distillery on a Hobby Farm

[Rickdiculous]

For those of you who have distilleries on a farm or on your personal property, can you tell me if you needed to have a legal separation, ie lot split or a new plat developed for the building you are distilling in or if they exist separately is that all which is required? I am looking at a hobby farm in Minnesota to grow the grain and distill. I would have two out buildings which exist currently and may build a new structure for the distillery and use those buildings as Rick houses. Just curious what your experiences have been.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[paul@mbroland.com]

The issue that you may encounter is having a distillery (dsp) in conjunction with a residence. This is a topic that can be very gray with the TTB and it's going to be based on what you propose, how you propose it, and WHO you propose it to. I wish there was an easy answer to this matter, but that has been my experience. Be as detailed as possible with any diagrams/proposals and, if you're going to have a residence on the property, you need to show a clear line of separation (a fence or border of some sort) and SEPARATE entrances to the dsp and residence. Again, how crazy it gets is going to ride largely on who you are dealing with at TTB.

[cowdery]

You might want to search the site, because this topic has already been discussed a lot. And I do mean a lot. The rules simply say, and they are quite clear, that the distillery cannot be in a residence nor in a building attached to a residence. Some people have experienced TTB officials who demand more than that. These things usually can be worked out, however. I know at least one successful micro-distiller whose distillery is in a detached barn about 20 yards from the house, but they are not attached. He hasn't had a problem and has been in business for several years.

No one here has complained recently about having a problem with this so perhaps TTB has gotten its ducks in a row on this one.

[Rickdiculous]

If all that is true, and I get the property I am looking at, I should be in the clear. The two outbuildings are well over 20 yards from the house and I am looking at building a third to have as the distillery. I will look into the earlier posts you mentioned Chuck.

[Ralph at Tuthilltown]

The only caveat I would add to Chuck's observation (with which I agree) is to consider local zoning regulations. These may preclude a business operation, or may draw no distinction between a "farm distillery" and an industrial "distillery".

For instance, our distillery is adjacent to a protected river, within which corridor may be no "industrial" use, and the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation which enforces the Rivers Act initially declared our use "industrial" and attempted to get us shut down by issuing no permits for any of our waste disposal systems. We appealed to the Department of Agriculture, described the way we acquire our raw materials and use them to produce an "agricultural product" and that we were according to New York State Agricultural law a "farm" and therefore did not need DEC permits regardless of the river nearby. We acquired a letter from the Commissioner of the Department of Ag and Markets testifying that we were indeed a "farm". The DEC relented and told us we did not need their permits. I should add that we did file an application for a Rivers permit with the DEC and asked them to approve our engineering plan as a courtesy and they are reviewing it now. Though we are not required to do so, there is after all "politics" to be considered.

This example by way of illustrating that there may be tangental obstacles out there that have nothing to do with alcohol production which you should investigate. Other examples of zoning issues which may come up include waste disposal and fire safety (sprinklers are costly). So don't limit your due diligence to alcohol laws and regulations.