Spirited Business

THE AMERICAN

“I don’t Facebook. I’ve got a phone. Call me.” Those are the words of Bill Owens, president and founder of the American Distilling Institute in Hayward, California. Owens may not be on the social media bandwagon just yet, but he is extremely passionate about brewing and distilling. In fact, the term ‘passionate’ is a major understatement. Owens love of the art of crafting beer and whiskey borders on obsession and that is why he and people like him are so important to the future of the industry.

Even though Owens is all about distillation these days, his professional history began years ago with beer when he opened Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in 1982. He later created the Brewpub on the Green and Bison Brewery in Berkley, California. Owens says that the drain of working eighteen hour days, seven days a week for many years wasn’t for him and he decided to sell his businesses. “I started with Dogfish and all the other guys back in the 80’s. If I had stayed in the brewing business, I would have a fifty-thousand barrel brewery right now.”

After selling his breweries, he decided to take a trip across the U.S. to figure out what his next move would be. This is when everything changed for the man who thought that brewing beer would be his only calling. “We stopped at a few small distilleries on this trip,” said Owens. “When I got back, I thought, ‘well, there’s no trade association. I should become the founder of the American Distilling Institute.’ So I put it together. The first thing I did was hold a conference at St. George’s distillery in Alameda (California).” That was 2002 and excitement for the institute and its programs has increased exponentially every year. “It’s been around for eight years. Eighty-six people came to the first conference. At the last conference in 2010, we had five hundred and twenty people.”

According to Owens, the ADI is “an institute to promote the art and craft of distilling.” It’s made up of two separate parts, a yearly conference and classes. Next year, the ninth annual spirits conference will be held right in the heart of whiskey country in Louisville, Kentucky. It will take place from April 1st to the 4th. “The subjects will be whiskey and rum,” says Owens.

“Whiskey is very hot right now.” Owens says that the conference and its participants is a breath of fresh air in an industry that is dominated by nine gigantic corporations. “It’s sort of like when I came into the brewing business, there was Bud, Miller and Coors that dominated the beer industry and now there are almost two thousand microbreweries.” At the moment, there are roughly 324 craft distillers in the U.S. and they are all battling the big dogs.

The conference consists of a vendor show where you can purchase distilling equipment including a still. “There are five people selling stills,” says Owens. You can purchase stills from Germany, America and Scotland. “If you want to know about barrels, the barrel people will be there to tell you about wood.” It’s a chance to mingle with distillers and people on their way to becoming distillers.

As for the classes, the idea began with an unused still owned by Owens. “I know the people who operate a distillery called Stillwater and I asked them if they wanted to use a still that I had bought and they jumped all over it,” says Owens. Then, as the still sat at Stillwater, Owens realized that he should use it for classes to teach people everything he knew about the distillation process. “It’s a hands-on class and it starts on Monday morning with an attorney explaining the legal requirements.”

DISTILLING INSTITUTE

by Christopher Osburn. Photos by American Distilling Institute

Lee Medoff, Bull Run distillery

The next day students visit the Bay area (San Francisco/Oakland) distilleries where they learn about bottling and proofing, then fly into San Francisco where they are put up in a fancy, art deco hotel in Petaluma. The program takes them through the whole process, ten hour days, and even has a chef who cooks for them throughout the week.

The class is limited to twelve to guarantee that all participants will get the most out of it. “We run the still four or five times and you can watch it run, then think about it and ask questions afterward. After a couple of days of doing this, you ask enough questions and get enough answers and your mind starts to open up.” He says that by being there for a few days and talking to a master distiller, you will begin to thoroughly understand the process.

Even though Owens closed the beer-brewing chapter of his life long ago, he will always be a brewer at heart. As for his interests as a distiller, it works out well that the process of making whiskey and brewing beer are very similar. “The marriage is beer and whiskey. When you’re making beer and you get the wort coming out of the mash, we just change the name. It becomes worsh. It’s exactly the same.” According to Owens, the process is almost identical to make beer or whiskey. That’s going to be the future.

On top of conferences and classes, the American Distilling Institute also has a legislative arm that is supporting HR 777, a bill to reduce federal excise taxes along the same formula as wineries and breweries. “We’re also working on bills on the state level to allow distillers to do direct sales. I know a guy in Missouri who does no wholesale or retail and instead sells everything at the distillery. Now, that’s the future. Go to Napa Valley and two thirds of those wineries sell everything on site.” Kentucky Bourbon Distillers Keith Barnes, Bainbridge organic distillery