At a recent vodka tasting, I was fortunate enough to sip among the glowing faces of pioneers who had made it in an industry -- microdistillery -- that friends and family questioned their mental stability for entering.
"We have no business plans, no books, no courses," says Bill Owens, president of the
American Distilling Institute. "All of us are like the kid with his tongue stuck to the flagpole."
Ten years ago, there were no microdistillers in the U.S. Now there are 88 nationwide, with countless applicants lining up to be the next to own a small commercial craft distillery, or microdistillery.
So how do you break into this world, where you're your own boss and liquor flows from your indie still?
These 10 tips may be the closest anyone has come to an industry manual. Take it from those who have been through the still.
1. Learn to be called crazy.
"There are a lot of us whose brains don't work right," jokes Owens, who pursued a lucrative career as a professional photographer before he went off the deep end.
Owens opened America's first brew-pub, Buffalo Bill's, in Hayward, Calif., in 1983, and judging from the burgeoning popularity of microbrews in the last 20 years, it's not crazy to look at microdistillers as leading a renaissance.
Ralph Erenzo agrees. He and co-owner Brian Lee, a former high-level electrical engineer, founded
Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner, N.Y., the first whiskey distiller in the state since Prohibition. Erenzo's sudden strange career urge didn't completely throw his friends -- after all, he had a lucrative career as a professional climber, doing promotion stunts and opening a rock-climbing gym -- but they still guffawed. Now they're gawking, as Erenzo and Lee's whiskey retails for about $40 dollars a pint.
2. Choose your location wisely.
Look for a place that's alive with educated young people, stresses Owens. The safest bets are California and Oregon, which have always been first in wineries and brewing.
Erenzo loves living near Manhattan, his major market. "After I finish boxing and labeling, I put [the spirits] in my car and drive to New York City."
Annika Mengisen
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