Download 9 June 2002 Issue

I’ve worked in wineries and breweries for most of my life. Wanting to “round out” my knowledge, or “complete the trinity”, as I like to think, I’ve been learning how to make whiskey and brandies at home and eventually I’d like to start a small distillery. Beer and wine are easy enough to learn about. These are legal activities. Therefore you will always find someone to sell you a sack of malt or a ton of grapes and give you a few pointers. Add a few good books to the equation and with some practice you can turn out a fine Pilsener or Zinfandel. Over the years, you can fine tune your craft, throw lots of parties and if you find it your calling, you can try to make a living at it. Or, maintain your common sense and just enjoy it at home. Whatever you want to call the home b r e w e r / w i n e m a k e r / d i s t i l l e r, whether craftsperson, artist, or just homemaker, this person has a passion. A passion for wanting to create, for learning, for solving problems. In fact I’m always a little suspect when I meet a brewer or winemaker who didn’t start their learning at home. So where does the distiller get his or her start if trying to learn is punishable by jail time? The home distiller (felon), or aspiring commercial distiller (probable felon), has a few obvious obstacles to clear just to learn the craft. Fortunately (and I never thought I would be saying this), there is the Internet. As always, prohibition breeds creativity. Just spend some time at one or two of the discussion groups provided through Yahoo. See http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/distillers, or for beginners, n e w d i s t i l l e r s @ y a h o o g r o u p s . com. There are also Web sites galore. Tony Acklands site I’

www.homedistiller.org and the numerous links you find there will keep you busy for days. There are also many books to be had, again many available online. A few that are very well done “ home published” books include Mike Nixon’s The Compleat Distiller, Ian Smiley’s Making Pure Corn Whiskey and John Stone’s Making Gin and Vodka, all available through links on Acklands site. They include histories, still design, operation and mash recipes. There are also a few textbooks put out by industry and academia which are helpful but may be geared towards large scale distillation. While the theory is the same, the practical knowledge in these books may not be what you need. Much of the alcohol industry is fuel alcohol. What about a formal education at a university? I believe UC Davis offers only one class called Distilled Beverage Technology as Part of their Viticulture and Enology program. There is probably not enough demand for workers in the beverage side of the industry to warrant university programs. T h e fuel distillers probably start their careers with a degree in chemical engineering, which would be over-kill for a few gallons of backyard Eau de Vie, or even a small commercial o p e r a t i o n . Having become proficient on my home still and realizing I needed to talk to likeminded people, I decided to attend “Alcohol School”, a $1,000 week long conference hosted annually by a company

called Alltech, a global supplier of yeasts and enzymes for the alcohol and animal

food industries. This conference takes place in Lexington Kentucky, the horse racing and, more importantly, bourbon capitol of the world . It has also been held in Dublin for a couple of years. Supposedly, the esteemed British Harriot Watt University has something to do with Alltech’s Alcohol School, but I never figured out the relationship.

“ Alcohol School” may be a bit of a misnomer for the conference. It’s more a series of lectures by experts in the industry, most are seemingly on the Alltech payroll (the plugging never stopped). While there are many informative talks, this conference has to cover both beverage and fuel alcohol, so some sessions are obviously worth skipping in order to visit local distilleries for a more sensual education. Subjects of the 2001conference included yeast metabolism, the roles of enzymes and nutrients (emphasis always on those manufactured by Alltech), infections, fundamentals of distillation, and much, much more. Very similar to a wine or beer conference. There were also a few talks on specific spirits production including Scotch, Tequila and Rum. See www.Alltech.com for a more complete syllabus.

The key to these talks was asking the speakers the right questions. They all seemed very knowledgeable, but understandably, weren’t aiming their lectures towards small distillers. A textbook, not surprisingly called The Alcohol Textbook, was also supplied. Each chapter written by one of the “ School’s” speakers. I don’t think I would recommend paying the $150 price tag, but then again, distillers are hard pressed for reading material. Short labs were also held at an Alltech facility near the conference center . The labs were unbelievably well equipped, being functional labs for Alltech. Labs covered a wide range of subjects and the instructors were a wealth of experience and information. While very interesting, many labs were geared towards larger industry, i.e.; HPLC, gas chromatography and FAN determination tests — tests a small distiller would send out for if needed. Some practical labs for the smaller distiller included acid titration and cell counting. In addition, there was a short computer lab and tasting lab which were not thrilling, but not bad either. Alltech also holds one to two week courses throughout the year for distillers on subjects such as fermentation, microbiology and sensory analysis. It turns out that many of the top Alltech people were previously the top people of the recently defunct Seibel Institute of Brewing in Chicago. They seem to be setting up a similar series of educational short-courses for distillers as they held for brewers. What I really got out of this conference was meeting other people. The industry is so seemingly small and scattered, it’s important for people with these common interests to get together and talk about what’s happening. There were about 130 people attending the conference this year from at least a dozen countries. A few of them, as it turned out, want to do the same thing as me, or were already doing it. I was able to talk with these people about small scale distilling, suppliers, the market etc. And, of course, festivities were hosted almost every night by Alltech. One held at the beautiful Labrot and Graham Distillery, another at a microbrewery, these parties were where the real business of information exchange took place. Was it worth the grand I spent? For me, it was. I plan on making a living distilling. This gave me a sense of what is going on around the country. A boost of confidence in realizing I wasn’t the only one with this damn fool idea. The connections and friendships I made will help me getstarted and help start a community of trade. Also, I think I have five years to write it off my income taxes. Now I need to figure out five years income whilst the whiskey is aging.

Eladio Cruz has been making wine and beer for 15 years. He would like to distill and age spirits, but has more time than money. Eladio enjoys mezcal and the corridos of Chalino Sanchez.