American Distilling Institute Annual Spirits Conference Review

The 2017 American Distillers Institute annual convention had some excellent seminars as well as some very interesting new products. Equity crowdfunding, choosing the right still for your production and exploring exporting were some of our favorite sessions and computer controlled stills as small as 13 gallons and square barrels were our favorites in the equipment/uber nerd category.

Choosing the right still for your production was a breakout session by John McKee founder of Headframe Spirits, Matt Haney owner of Hillbilly Stills and Ben Lyon cofounder, distiller of Lyon Distilling. This was a discussion of the differences between pot stills, reflux columns and hybrid pots as well as batch versus continuous processing. Not only were the types of distillates discussed but extensive data of quality over efficiency was analyzed. Some of the results were quite surprising.

Genio Stills makes oil and jacketed computer controlled still that are ready to be plugged into an outlet and run. They are crazy looking, black jackets with a transformer attached to the side. Detroit Stillworks can get their stills up to temperature in five minutes as opposed to an hour or more for tradition still. Gatling Stillworks introduced a still that has a boiler attached to it with a steam system that goes inside the still. From their specs, you can do an entire still run in two hours.

Explore Exporting was a session by Janet Kenefsky, Deputy Director & International Marketing Director, WUSATA. The WUSATA works with USDA Agricultural Trade Offices and local market representatives, to facilitate introductions to international buyers and coordinates trade events that help expand distribution. They help small business owners get funds from the USDA to export their products.