Less than 25% of the craft distillery is owned or controlled by alcoholic beverage industry members who are not themselves craft distillers. The spirit must be run through a still by a certified craft producer. The American Distilling Institute, another industry organization, identifies the mandatory components to receive its craft spirit certification. “The ACSA has very strict ethical mandates for its members to ensure that the public has truthful and accurate information to base their purchasing decisions, but there is not a definition of ‘craft’ that we are aware of to capture the nuances of what the public believes ‘craft’ to mean,” adds Hletko. “But the definition of ‘what is craft’ is very much in the eye of the person purchasing the products.” “The ACSA defines who can be a voting member of the organization based on sales volume and ownership structure,” says Paul Hletko, president of the ACSA, and founder of FEW Spirits. Industry organizations, like the American Craft Spirits Association, have tried to define craft spirits. What’s more, defining craft spirits is a controversial topic among the nation’s spirits makers. The problem for the conscientious consumer is that the concept of “craft” spirits is a nebulous one as there’s no firm definition that’s widely accepted. Other “craft spirit” companies don’t distill at all. Some have their wash-the fermented liquid which is then distilled-produced elsewhere, or buy neutral grain spirit and re-distill it with botanicals. Some makers distill their spirits grain to glass. Craft spirits are becoming a big, boozy business.īut not all spirits that claim the “craft” designation are made the same. Compare that with a mere 50 a decade ago. bearing the designation of a craft producer. As of March of this year, the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) reported that there were upwards of 1,300 spirits producers in the U.S. You needn’t look any further than the Twin Cities to see the flourishing craft spirits movement afoot in the United States today, with new distillers taking up residence in old warehouses all around us.
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