This event will be the first workshop held by Kothe Distilling Technologies. We have put a lot of time and energy into compiling a program for future distillers and distiller's with some experience. We are going to cover everything from fruit selection, mashing, and the actual distillation process to the legal aspects of starting a distillery in North America.
Dr. Klaus Hagmann, one of the leading experts in the field and Ulrich Kothe, the founder of Kothe Destillationstechnik will also be giving insights into the distillation process.
For more information. Go To:
kothe-distilling.com or
Call 571-278-1343
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Make way for the absinthe rush. With luck, a second California absinthe will be on shelves by October, joining several American absinthes that have appeared this year.

Crispin Cain, who helped distill Germain-Robin brandy for years, says he has federal approval for his own absinthe formula and should have a label OKd by October. Crispin's Superieure, a white absinthe, would join St. George Spirits' Absinthe Verte, produced in Alameda, as what appears to be the second commercial absinthe made in the state.
Cain's effort is absinthe blanche, with botanicals distilled into it but without the extra step of macerating additional herbs and spices in the spirit to create the more frequently found absinthe verte. It will clock in at 45 percent alcohol, well below the more typical 60 percent. His Redwood Valley (Mendocino County) distillery is sourcing 95 percent of the botanicals from California and Oregon, including the key ingredient grand wormwood. Aside from herbs like lemon verbena, lemon balm and hyssop, the distillation is subtle and somewhat floral, with rose geranium, lavender and calendula flowers (Cain also distills a rose liqueur) that cloak its impressive wormwood bite on the finish.
Using a still imported from Portugal, Cain is making 40-gallon batches for a total of just 150 cases planned for this year ($80/750ml bottle; $40/375 ml), making it a tough gift to find for the holidays. He expects to make up to 1,000 cases next year.
Several other domestic absinthes, and a handful of foreign brands, have appeared since St. George's unveiling last December. With rumors surfacing about large spirits producers (including, reportedly, Pernod) getting in the game, absinthe fans should be seeing plenty of green fairies soon enough:
Denver-based distiller Leopold Bros. began shipping its barrel-finished absinthe verte ($76) last week. Though just over 200 cases per month are being made, it should be on shelves soon at BevMo and other local stores.
Bluecoat gin maker Philadelphia Distilling has federal approval for an absinthe verte called Vieux Carré (around $55). Distiller Robert Cassell is still finessing the formulation, using many herbs from local Pennsylvania farmers. He says it should be released by October - with a bottle that will match the style factor of Bluecoat's royal blue bottle.
North Shore Distillery in Lake Bluff, Ill., released its Sirene absinthe verte (around $60) this spring. It's available in several Midwest states, and distiller Derek Kassebaum says he's working on California distribution.
Integrity Spirits of Portland, Ore., unveiled its Trillium absinthe ($60) last month. It's currently available only in Oregon.
Several limited-production French absinthes have shown up on shelves. La Fee, an absinthe verte that has been available in England for about a decade, is available in New York and has a limited Bay Area presence. Distillerie Vinet Ege's Le Tourment Vert was briefly spotted in late spring.
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TASMANIAN RUM INDUSTRY REBORN By Ian Neubauer

The Lark Distillery is soon to release Rum Island, Tasmania's first commercially produced rum in 169 years.
Made from 100 per cent Australian sugar cane molasses and double distilled in 500 litre copper pot stills, Rum Island is named after an islet on Tasmania's north eastern Furneaux Group that is the historical site of the 1797 shipwreck of the Sydney Cove.
Lark Distillery sales manager, Ross Dinsmoor, who distilled and barrelled the rum under the expert tuition of Lyn Lark, said the rum-making process was a tedious, costly yet pleasurable experience.
"It takes a good three weeks to slow ferment, which is the key to a smooth rum, and a couple of days to run it through the still twice, and another six to eight weeks to settle out," he said. "We don't get affected by the fumes but it all smells lovely, like a rum cake or a Christmas pudding."
In addition to the first batch of 80 per cent proof 'rum spirit', Dinsmoor and Lark also stored a quantity of the final product in specially made 20-litre barrels.
"This is technically our real rum, as under Australian law rum must be aged for at least two years to be called 'rum'. It's a lot more expensive to do and we don't really make money out of it, but in two years we will have an excellent rum."
Established in 1992, Lark Distillery is the patron of the Australian boutique distilling industry, with founder and general manager Bill Lark credited for pressuring Government to rewrite legislation that has allowed the still-nascent industry to operate under legal albeit highly restrictive conditions.
It produces three kinds of whiskeys, a gin, bush liqueur, apple brandy, apple liqueur, apple schnapps, pepperberry vodka and a cherry liqueur made from cherries that are soaked for a year prior to distilling.
The first 200-litre batch of Lark Rum Spirit will be released to a select number of bars and bottle shops later this month. It will retail at around the $55 mark.
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The Gin With a College Education
By Jack Bettridge

The class was entrepreneurship. The assignment was to create a marketing plan for a theoretical product for college credits. The idea was a gin "for the new gin-eration." Cornell University students, David Hughes and Scott Krahn, not only dreamt up the product, but after two years of research and development actually put it on the market as DH Krahn gin.
The spirit was born of the idea that gin had been saddled with an image of being a drink for a bygone generation, and if that stereotype could be overturned, young people would be more comfortable ordering it. The partners attacked the challenge not only through youthful marketing, but by conceiving gin anew. They did this by dialing back the scope and intensity of flavors, edging toward the profile of vodka, which is the world's most popular spirit.
It's a canny notion, if you consider that gin is essentially the first flavored vodka, beginning life as a neutral grain spirit and then being infused with botanicals. The lightening of the flavor profile makes the beverage more accessible to the first-time gin drinker. We found it refreshing on its own and in a dry Martini. However, the gin is not as amiable a match with tonic or in a wetter Martini as the mixers tend to overpower the spirit.
DH Krahn has fewer of the botanicals that typically flavor gin, concentrating on Italian juniper (the signature flavor for which gin is named), Moroccan coriander seed, Thai ginger and orange, lemon and grapefruit peel. (Classic gins may include such botanicals as anise, angelica root, orris seed, cassia bark and almond.) The result is a gin that is less complex than such well-known brands as Bombay, Plymouth and Tanqueray, with an emphasis on citrus.
DH Krahn is distilled in one run in a copper alembic still built by Jean-Louis Stupfler, a Bordeaux-based maker of alembics frequently used in distilling Cognac and Armagnac. Like a pot still, the alembic can only be run one batch at a time, which limits the quantities that can be produced. Many gins are distilled in continuously running column stills, which need not be shut down.
TASTING NOTES

Nose: Lemon, clean, bright almost soapy fresh Palate: Dialed juniper, citrus, rock candy notes, but not cloyingly sweet.
Finish: Sharp and tangy.
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Editorial Note: The state of Michigan has adopted progressive distilling legalization. (below)
Other states should also modernize their distilling laws and come into the twenty century.
Bill Owens, ADI

STATE OF MICHIGAN



ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 5925
AN ACT to amend 1998 PA 58, entitled
"An act to create a commission for the control of the alcoholic beverage traffic within this state, and to prescribe its powers, duties, and limitations; to provide for powers and duties for certain state departments and agencies; to impose certain taxes for certain purposes; to provide for the control of the alcoholic liquor traffic within this state and to provide for the power to establish state liquor stores; to prohibit the use of certain devices for the dispensing of alcoholic vapor; to provide for the care and treatment of alcoholics; to provide for the incorporation of farmer cooperative wineries and the granting of certain rights and privileges to those cooperatives; to provide for the licensing and taxation of activities regulated under this act and the disposition of the money received under this act; to prescribe liability for retail licensees under certain circumstances and to require security for that liability; to provide procedures, defenses, and remedies regarding violations of this act; to provide for the enforcement and to prescribe penalties for violations of this act; to provide for allocation of certain funds for certain purposes; to provide for the confiscation and disposition of property seized under this act; to provide referenda under certain circumstances; and to repeal acts and parts of acts," by amending sections 111, 525, 537, 603, 607, 906, and 1027 (MCL 436.1111, 436.1525, 436.1537, 436.1603, 436.1607, 436.1906, and 436.2027), section 525 as amended by 2006 PA 539, sections 537 and 607 as amended by 2005 PA 269, section 906 as amended by 2008 PA 11, and section 1027 as amended by 2001 PA 46, and by adding section 534. The People of the State of Michigan enact:
Sec. 111.
(1) "Person" means an individual, firm, partnership, limited partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation.
(2) "Primary source of supply" means, in the case of domestic spirits, the distiller, producer, owner of the commodity at the time it becomes a marketable product, or bottler, or the exclusive agent of any such person and, in the case of (107)
Act No. 218
Public Acts of 2008
Approved by the Governor
July 15, 2008
Filed with the Secretary of State
July 16, 2008
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 16, 2008 spirits imported into the United States, either the foreign distiller, producer, owner of the bottler, or the prime importer for, or the exclusive agent in the United States of, the foreign distiller, producer, owner, or the bottler.
(3) "Professional account" means an account established for a person by a class C licensee or tavern licensee whose major business is the sale of food, by which the licensee extends credit to the person for not more than 30 days.
(4) "Residence" means the premises in which a person resides permanently.
(5) "Retailer" means a person licensed by the commission who sells to the consumer in accordance with rules promulgated by the commission.
(6) "Sacramental wine" means wine containing not more than 24% of alcohol by volume which is used for sacramental purposes.
(7) "Sale" includes the exchange, barter, traffic, furnishing, or giving away of alcoholic liquor. In the case of a sale in which a shipment or delivery of alcoholic liquor is made by a common or other carrier, the sale of the alcoholic liquor is considered to be made in the county within which the delivery of the alcoholic liquor is made by that carrier to the consignee or his or her agent or employee, and venue for the prosecution for that sale may be in the county or city where the seller resides or from which the shipment is made or at the place of delivery.
(8) "School" includes buildings used for school purposes to provide instruction to children in grades kindergarten through 12, when that instruction is provided by a public, private, denominational, or parochial school, except those buildings used primarily for adult education or college extension courses. School does not include a proprietary trade or occupational school.
(9) "Small distiller" means a manufacturer of spirits annually manufacturing in Michigan not exceeding 60,000 gallons of spirits, of all brands combined.
(10) "Small wine maker" means a wine maker manufacturing or bottling not more than 50,000 gallons of wine in 1 calendar year.
(11) "Special license" means a contract between the commission and the special licensee granting authority to that licensee to sell beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, or spirits. The license shall be granted only to such persons and such organization and for such period of time as the commission shall determine so long as the person or organization is able to demonstrate an existence separate from an affiliated umbrella organization. If such an existence is demonstrated, the commission shall not deny a special license solely by the applicant's affiliation with an organization that is also eligible for a special license.
(12) "Specially designated distributor" means, subject to section 534, a person engaged in an established business licensed by the commission to distribute spirits and mixed spirit drink in the original package for the commission for consumption off the premises.
(13) "Specially designated merchant" means a person to whom the commission grants a license to sell beer or wine, or both, at retail for consumption off the licensed premises.
(14) "Spirits" means a beverage that contains alcohol obtained by distillation, mixed with potable water or other substances, or both, in solution, and includes wine containing an alcoholic content of more than 21% by volume, except sacramental wine and mixed spirit drink.
(15) "State liquor store" means a store established by the commission under this act for the sale of spirits in the original package for consumption off the premises.
(16) "Supplier of spirits" means a vendor of spirits, a manufacturer of spirits, or a primary source of supply. Sec. 525.
(1) Except as otherwise provided for in this section, the following license fees shall be paid at the time of filing applications or as otherwise provided in this act:

(a) Manufacturers of spirits, but not including makers, blenders, and rectifiers of wines containing 21% or less alcohol by volume, $1,000.00.

(b) Manufacturers of beer, $50.00 per 1,000 barrels, or fraction of a barrel, production annually with a maximum fee of $1,000.00, and in addition $50.00 for each motor vehicle used in delivery to retail licensees. A fee increase does not apply to a manufacturer of less than 15,000 barrels production per year.

(c) Outstate seller of beer, delivering or selling beer in this state, $1,000.00.

(d) Wine makers, blenders, and rectifiers of wine, including makers, blenders, and rectifiers of wines containing 21% or less alcohol by volume, $100.00. The small wine maker license fee is $25.00.

(e) Outstate seller of wine, delivering or selling wine in this state, $300.00.

(f) Outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, delivering or selling mixed spirit drink in this state, $300.00.

(g) Dining cars or other railroad or Pullman cars selling alcoholic liquor, $100.00 per train.

(h) Wholesale vendors other than manufacturers of beer, $300.00 for the first motor vehicle used in delivery to retail licensees and $50.00 for each additional motor vehicle used in delivery to retail licensees. 2

(i) Watercraft, licensed to carry passengers, selling alcoholic liquor, a minimum fee of $100.00 and a maximum fee of $500.00 per year computed on the basis of $1.00 per person per passenger capacity.

(j) Specially designated merchants, for selling beer or wine for consumption off the premises only but not at wholesale, $100.00 for each location regardless of the fact that the location may be a part of a system or chain of merchandising.

(k) Specially designated distributors licensed by the commission to distribute spirits and mixed spirit drink in the original package for the commission for consumption off the premises, $150.00 per year, and an additional fee of $3.00 for each $1,000.00 or major fraction of that amount in excess of $25,000.00 of the total retail value of merchandise purchased under each license from the commission during the previous calendar year.

(l) Hotels of class A selling beer and wine, a minimum fee of $250.00 and, for all bedrooms in excess of 20, $1.00 for each additional bedroom, but not more than $500.00.

(m) Hotels of class B selling beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits, a minimum fee of $600.00 and, for all bedrooms in excess of 20, $3.00 for each additional bedroom. If a hotel of class B sells beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits in more than 1 public bar, the fee entitles the hotel to sell in only 1 public bar, other than a bedroom, and a license shall be secured for each additional public bar, other than a bedroom, the fee for which is $350.00.

(n) Taverns, selling beer and wine, $250.00.

(o) Class C license selling beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits, $600.00. If a class C licensee sells beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits in more than 1 bar, a fee of $350.00 shall be paid for each additional bar. In municipally owned or supported facilities in which nonprofit organizations operate concession stands, a fee of $100.00 shall be paid for each additional bar.

(p) Clubs selling beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits, $300.00 for clubs having 150 or fewer duly accredited members and $1.00 for each additional member. The membership list for the purpose only of determining the license fees to be paid under this subdivision shall be the accredited list of members as determined by a sworn affidavit 30 days before the closing of the license year. This subdivision does not prevent the commission from checking a membership list and making its own determination from the list or otherwise. The list of members and additional members is not required of a club paying the maximum fee. The maximum fee shall not exceed $750.00 for any 1 club.

(q) Warehousers, to be fixed by the commission with a minimum fee for each warehouse of $50.00.

(r) Special licenses, a fee of $50.00 per day, except that the fee for that license or permit issued to any bona fide nonprofit association, duly organized and in continuous existence for 1 year before the filing of its application, is $25.00. Not more than 12 special licenses may be granted to any organization, including an auxiliary of the organization, in a calendar year.

(s) Airlines licensed to carry passengers in this state that sell, offer for sale, provide, or transport alcoholic liquor, $600.00.
(t) Brandy manufacturer, $100.00.
(u) Mixed spirit drink manufacturer, $100.00.
(v) Brewpub, $100.00.
(w) Class G-1, $1,000.00.
(x) Class G-2, $500.00.
(y) Motorsports event license, $250.00.
(z) Small distiller, $100.00.

(2) The fees provided in this act for the various types of licenses shall not be prorated for a portion of the effective period of the license. Notwithstanding subsection (1), the initial license fee for any licenses issued under section 531(3) and (4) is $20,000.00. The renewal license fee shall be the amount described in subsection
(1). However, the commission shall not impose the $20,000.00 initial license fee for applicants whose license eligibility was already approved on July 20, 2005.
(3) Beginning July 23, 2004, and except in the case of any resort or resort economic development license issued under section 531(2), (3), (4), and (5) and a license issued under section 521, the commission shall issue an initial or renewal license not later than 90 days after the applicant files a completed application. Receipt of the application is considered the date the application is received by any agency or department of the state of Michigan. If the application is considered incomplete by the commission, the commission shall notify the applicant in writing, or make the information electronically available, within 30 days after receipt of the incomplete application, describing the deficiency and requesting the additional information. The determination of the completeness of an application does not operate as an approval of the application for the license and does not confer eligibility upon an applicant determined otherwise ineligible for issuance of a license. The 90-day period is tolled under any of the following circumstances:
(a) Notice sent by the commission of a deficiency in the application until the date all of the requested information is received by the commission.

3 (b) The time period during which actions required by a party other than the applicant or the commission are completed that include, but are not limited to, completion of construction or renovation of the licensed premises; mandated inspections by the commission or by any state, local, or federal agency; approval by the legislative body of a local unit of government; criminal history or criminal record checks; financial or court record checks; or other actions mandated by this act or rule or as otherwise mandated by law or local ordinance.

(4) If the commission fails to issue or deny a license within the time required by this section, the commission shall return the license fee and shall reduce the license fee for the applicant's next renewal application, if any, by 15%. The failure to issue a license within the time required under this section does not allow the commission to otherwise delay the processing of the application, and that application, upon completion, shall be placed in sequence with other completed applications received at that same time. The commission shall not discriminate against an applicant in the processing of the application based upon the fact that the license fee was refunded or discounted under this subsection.

(5) Beginning October 1, 2005, the chair of the commission shall submit a report by December 1 of each year to the standing committees and appropriations subcommittees of the senate and house of representatives concerned with liquor license issues. The chair of the commission shall include all of the following information in the report concerning the preceding fiscal year:
(a) The number of initial and renewal applications the commission received and completed within the 90-day time period described in subsection

(3). (b) The number of applications denied. (c) The number of applicants not issued a license within the 90-day time period and the amount of money returned to licensees under subsection

(4). (6) As used in this section, "completed application" means an application complete on its face and submitted with any applicable licensing fees as well as any other information, records, approval, security, or similar item required by law or rule from a local unit of government, a federal agency, or a private entity but not from another department or agency of the state of Michigan. Sec. 534. (1) Upon application in a manner acceptable to the commission and payment of the appropriate license fee, the commission shall issue a small distiller license to a person annually manufacturing in Michigan spirits in an amount not exceeding 60,000 gallons, of all brands combined. (2) A small distiller may only sell at retail from the licensed premises either or both of the following: (a) Brands it manufactures on the licensed premises for consumption off the licensed premises, at a price posted by the commission under section 233. (b) Brands it manufactures on the licensed premises for consumption on the licensed premises. (3) A small distiller may give samplings or tastings of brands it manufactures on the licensed premises. (4) A small distiller shall comply with the server training requirements of section 906. (5) This section does not allow the sale of spirits transacted or caused to be transacted by means of any mail order, internet, telephone, computer, device, or other electronic means. Sec. 537. (1) The following classes of vendors may sell alcoholic liquors at retail as provided in this section: (a) Taverns where beer and wine may be sold for consumption on the premises only. (b) Class C license where beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits may be sold for consumption on the premises. (c) Clubs where beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits may be sold for consumption on the premises only to bona fide members where consumption is limited to these members and their bona fide guests, who have attained the age of 21 years. (d) Direct shippers where wine may be sold and shipped directly to the consumer. (e) Hotels of class A where beer and wine may be sold for consumption on the premises and in the rooms of bona fide registered guests. Hotels of class B where beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits may be sold for consumption on the premises and in the rooms of bona fide registered guests. (f) Specially designated merchants, where beer and wine may be sold for consumption off the premises only. (g) Specially designated distributors where spirits and mixed spirit drink may be sold for consumption off the premises only. (h) Special licenses where beer and wine or beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits may be sold for consumption on the premises only. (i) Dining cars or other railroad or Pullman cars, watercraft, or aircraft, where alcoholic liquor may be sold for consumption on the premises only, subject to rules promulgated by the commission. 4 (j) Brewpubs where beer manufactured on the premises by the licensee may be sold for consumption on or off the premises by any of the following licensees: (i) Class C. (ii) Tavern. (iii) Class A hotel. (iv) Class B hotel. (k) Micro brewers and brewers selling less than 200,000 barrels of beer per year where beer produced by the micro brewer or brewer may be sold to a consumer for consumption on or off the brewery premises. (l) Class G-1 license where beer, wine, mixed spirit drink, and spirits may be sold for consumption on the premises only to members required to pay an annual membership fee and consumption is limited to these members and their bona fide guests. (m) Class G-2 license where beer and wine may be sold for consumption on the premises only to members required to pay an annual membership fee and consumption is limited to these members and their bona fide guests. (n) Motorsports event license where beer and wine may be sold for consumption on the premises during sanctioned motorsports events only. (o) Wine maker where wine may be sold by direct shipment, at retail on the licensed premises, and as provided for in subsections (2) and (3). (p) Small distiller selling not more than 60,000 gallons of spirits manufactured by that licensee to the consumer at retail for consumption on or off the licensed premises in the manner provided for in section 534. (2) A wine maker may sell wine made by that wine maker in a restaurant for consumption on or off the premises if the restaurant is owned by the wine maker or operated by another person under an agreement approved by the commission and located on the premises where the wine maker is licensed. (3) A wine maker, with the prior written approval of the commission, may conduct wine tastings of wines made by that wine maker and may sell the wine made by that wine maker for consumption off the premises at a location other than the premises where the wine maker is licensed to manufacture wine, under the following conditions: (a) The premises upon which the wine tasting occurs conforms to local and state sanitation requirements. (b) Payment of a $100.00 fee per location is made to the commission. (c) The wine tasting locations shall be considered licensed premises. (d) Wine tasting does not take place between the hours of 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, or between 2 a.m. and 12 noon on Sunday. (e) The premises and the licensee comply with and are subject to all applicable rules promulgated by the commission. Sec. 603. (1) Except as provided in subsection (6) and section 605, a manufacturer, mixed spirit drink manufacturer, warehouser, wholesaler, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of wine, outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or vendor of spirits shall not have any financial interest, directly or indirectly, in the establishment, maintenance, operation, or promotion of the business of any other vendor. (2) Except as provided in subsection (6) and section 605, a manufacturer, mixed spirit drink manufacturer, warehouser, wholesaler, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of wine, outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or vendor of spirits or a stockholder of a manufacturer, mixed spirit drink manufacturer, warehouser, wholesaler, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of wine, outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or vendor of spirits shall not have an interest by ownership in fee, leasehold, mortgage, or otherwise, directly or indirectly, in the establishment, maintenance, operation, or promotion of the business of any other vendor. (3) Except as provided in subsection (6) and section 605, a manufacturer, mixed spirit drink manufacturer, warehouser, wholesaler, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of wine, outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or vendor of spirits shall not have an interest directly or indirectly by interlocking directors in a corporation or by interlocking stock ownership in a corporation in the establishment, maintenance, operation, or promotion of the business of any other vendor. (4) Except as provided in subsection (6) and section 605, a person shall not buy the stocks of a manufacturer, mixed spirit drink manufacturer, warehouser, wholesaler, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of wine, outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or vendor of spirits and place the stock in any portfolio under an arrangement, written trust agreement, or form of investment trust agreement and issue participating shares based upon the portfolio, trust agreement, or investment trust agreement, and sell the participating shares within this state. (5) The commission may approve a brandy manufacturer to sell brandy made by that brandy manufacturer in a restaurant for consumption on or off the premises if the restaurant is owned by the brandy manufacturer or operated by another person under an agreement approved by the commission and is located on the premises where the brandy 5 manufacturer is licensed. Brandy sold for consumption off the premises under this subsection shall be sold at the uniform price established by the commission. (6) The commission shall allow a small distiller to sell brands of spirits it manufactures for consumption on the licensed premises at that distillery. (7) A brewpub may have an interest in up to 2 other brewpubs so long as the combined production of all the locations in which the brewpub has an interest does not exceed 5,000 barrels of beer per calendar year. Sec. 607. (1) Except as provided in section 537(2), a warehouser, mixed spirit drink manufacturer, wholesaler, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of wine, outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or vendor of spirits shall not be licensed as a specially designated merchant or a specially designated distributor. A person licensed as a small distiller is not considered to be a specially designated distributor. Beginning December 23, 2007 and in addition to the persons described in this subsection, a wine maker and a small wine maker shall also not be licensed as a specially designated merchant or a specially designated distributor. Any wine maker or small wine maker holding a specially designated merchant or specially designated distributor license on December 23, 2007 may continue to hold a specially designated merchant or specially designated distributor license. (2) A specially designated distributor or specially designated merchant or any other retailer shall not hold a mixed spirit drink manufacturer, wholesale, warehouse, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or outstate seller of wine license. Beginning December 23, 2007, a specially designated distributor or specially designated merchant shall not hold a wine maker or small wine maker license in addition to being prohibited from holding any other license described in this subsection. Any specially designated distributor or specially designated merchant holding a wine maker or small wine maker license on December 23, 2007 may continue to hold a wine maker or small wine maker license. (3) A brewer, warehouser, or wholesaler shall not be licensed as a specially designated merchant. This subsection does not affect the operation of a brewery hospitality room. (4) A wholesaler may sell or deliver beer and alcoholic liquor to hospitals, military establishments, governments of federal Indian reservations, and churches requiring sacramental wines and may sell to the wholesaler's own employees to a limit of 2 cases of 24 12-ounce units or its equivalent of malt beverage per week, or 1 case of 12 1-liter units or its equivalent of wine or mixed spirit drink per week. Sec. 906. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Administrator" means a qualifying company, postsecondary educational institution, or trade association authorized by the commission to offer server training programs and instructor certification classes in compliance with this section and to certify to the commission that those persons meet the requirements of this section. (b) "Instructor" means an individual certified by an administrator and approved by the commission to teach server training programs. An instructor may be a licensee or an employee of a licensee. (c) "Prohibited sale" means the sale of alcoholic liquor by an employee of a licensee to a visibly intoxicated person or to a minor, or both. (d) "Responsible vendor" means a designation by the commission of a retail licensee meeting the standards of this section. (e) "Server training program" means an educational program whose curriculum has been approved by the commission under the standards described in this section and is offered by an administrator or instructor to a retail licensee, or a licensee operating a tasting room or providing samples of alcoholic liquor, for its employees. (2) The commission shall approve the establishing of a server training program designed for all new on premises licensees or transferees of more than a 50% interest in an on premises license on or after the commencement of the mandatory server training program, and for any existing retail licensees the commission determines to be in need of training due to the frequency or types of violations of this act involving the serving of alcoholic liquor. This subsection does not apply to special licenses except that the commission may require server training for certain special licensees based upon the size and nature of the licensed event. The commission may adopt the existing standards and programmatic framework of private entities and may delegate nondiscretionary administrative functions to outside private entities. (3) The commission shall establish a program in which the commission designates certain retail licensees, except special licenses, as responsible vendors. The commission may adopt the existing standards and programmatic framework of private entities and may delegate nondiscretionary administrative functions to outside private entities. (4) The commission shall designate as a responsible vendor a retail licensee who makes available to all full-time and part-time retail employees, within 60 days after being hired, a server training program and who is also free of convictions or administrative determinations involving prohibited sales for not less than 12 months before applying for the designation. The designation continues until suspended by the commission. 6 (5) A person may apply to the commission for qualification as an administrator for the offering of server training programs and instructor certification classes. (6) The commission shall approve a curriculum for a server training program presented by a certified instructor in a manner considered by the commission to be adequate that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following topics: (a) The identification of progressive stages of intoxication and the visible signs associated with each stage. (b) The identification of the time delay between consumption and visibility of signs of progressive intoxication. (c) Basic alcohol content among different types of measured drinks containing alcoholic liquor. (d) Variables associated with visible intoxication, including the rate of drinking, experience, weight, food consumption, sex, and use of other drugs. (e) Personal skills to handle slow-down of service and intervention procedures. (f) Procedures for monitoring consumption and maintaining incident reports. (g) The understanding of acceptable forms of personal identification, techniques for determining the validity of identification, and procedures for dealing with fraudulent identification. (h) Assessment of the need to ask for identification based on appearance or company policy. (i) The identification of potential second-party sales and furnishing of alcoholic liquor to minors by persons 21 years of age or over. (j) The understanding of possible legal, civil, and administrative consequences of violations of this act, the rules of the commission, and other pertinent state laws. (k) The understanding of Michigan laws pertaining to minors attempting to purchase, minors in possession, and second-party sales or furnishing of alcoholic liquor from adults to minors. (l) Knowledge of the legal hours of alcoholic liquor service and occupancy. (m) The identification of signs of prohibited activities, such as gambling, solicitation for prostitution, and drug sales. (n) Any other pertinent laws as determined by the commission. (7) The commission shall issue an instructor certification to an individual presenting evidence acceptable to the commission of having successfully completed instructor certification classes and shall issue an identification card indicating that certification by the commission. (8) Upon approval by the commission of a server training program, the commission shall appoint the person sponsoring the server training program as an administrator of that program. The administrator shall provide a certification to the commission that a retail licensee has successfully completed the server training program offered by a certified instructor and approved by the commission and shall recommend that the commission designate the licensee as a responsible vendor. (9) A certified instructor who is a licensee or an employee of a licensee may offer server training programs approved by the commission to the employees of the licensee and certify to the commission those persons who successfully completed the program. (10) An on premises licensee whose license was issued or who was the transferee of more than a 50% interest in an on premises license on or after the commencement of the mandatory server training program or an on premises licensee determined by the commission to be in need of training due to the frequency or types of violations of this act involving the serving of alcoholic liquor must have employed or present on the licensed premises, at a minimum, supervisory personnel who have successfully completed a server training program on each shift and during all hours in which alcoholic liquor is served. An on premises licensee must keep a copy of the responsible vendor designation or proof of completion of server training on the licensed premises to facilitate the verification of such designation by the commission, agent of the commission, or law enforcement officer. An on premises licensee determined by the commission to have violated this subsection is subject to revocation, suspension, or other sanction as provided for in section 903. A violation of this subsection is not a violation of section 909. (11) As a condition of the designation of a licensee as a responsible vendor, the licensee shall make available to the administrator in not less than 60-day time increments records sufficient to verify the names and social security numbers of his or her employees. The administrator shall provide to the commission a list of names and social security numbers of individuals who have successfully completed the server training program and shall monitor the licensee in a manner approved by the commission in order to verify continued compliance of the licensee's status as a responsible vendor. The administrator shall notify the commission in writing as soon as it determines that the licensee has failed to maintain the standards for server training or has failed to cooperate with the administrator's verification procedure. Upon receipt of such a notice from the administrator, the commission shall suspend the licensee's designation as a responsible vendor. (12) The commission may suspend the designation of a retail licensee as a responsible vendor upon a conviction or administrative determination of a prohibited sale on the licensee's licensed premises. The retail licensee losing such a designation may reapply for designation as a responsible vendor upon the passage of 12 months from the date of the conviction or administrative determination of a prohibited sale if the licensee is not convicted or administratively 7 8 determined to have engaged in a prohibited sale on the licensed premises. After the first instance of a retail licensee losing its designation as a responsible vendor, that retail licensee is not eligible to reapply for such a designation until an additional 3 months for each subsequent conviction or determination. The 3-month time periods are to be in addition to the 12-month period described in this subsection. (13) A responsible vendor is not considered to be in violation of the prohibition contained in section 707(4) regarding allowing an intoxicated person to frequent or loiter on the licensed premises unless the facts demonstrate otherwise. Sec. 1027. (1) Unless otherwise provided by rule of the commission, a person shall not conduct samplings or tastings of any alcoholic liquor for a commercial purpose except at premises that are licensed by the commission for the sale and consumption of alcoholic liquor on the premises. (2) This section does not prevent either of the following: (a) A vendor of spirits, brewer, wine maker, mixed spirit drink manufacturer, small wine maker, outstate seller of beer, outstate seller of wine, or outstate seller of mixed spirit drink, or a bona fide market research organization retained by 1 of the persons named in this subsection, from conducting samplings or tastings of an alcoholic liquor product before it is approved for sale in this state if the sampling or tasting is conducted pursuant to prior written approval of the commission. (b) An on-premises licensee from giving a sampling or tasting of alcoholic liquor to an employee of the licensee during the legal hours for consumption for the purpose of educating the employee regarding 1 or more types of alcoholic liquor so long as the employee is at least 21 years of age. (c) A small distiller licensee from giving a sampling or tasting of brands it manufactures on the licensed premises. (3) A sampling or tasting of any alcoholic liquor in a home or domicile for other than a commercial purpose is not subject to this section. (4) For purposes of this section, "commercial purpose" means a purpose for which monetary gain or other remuneration could reasonably be expected.
This act is ordered to take immediate effect.
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Secretary of the Senate Approved
Governor
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500 Litre Charge Brandy Still
The Reduction Unit is a custom piece of equipment. Production was originally set as a batch process with intent to move into continuous flow operation.
Original logs, manuals, production information accompanies the equipment as well as the supplier detail for each piece of the equipment.
Average batch produced approximately 800 litres per batch.
Processing tank is set on electronic load cells to weight the batch throughout the production and is controlled by separate panel.
Stainless steel tank is equipped with a million BTU burner fueled by natural gas.
Cycle Time
Charge Contents = 0.5 hours
Boil Contents = 1.25 hours
Distil Contents = 7.0 hours
Discharge and Clean = 0.5 hours

Price $75,000
Total = 9.25 hours
Contact Ian Day
nabs@telus.net

Join the ADI forum. http://www.adiforums.com
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To read back issues of DISTILLER newsletter?
Go to:
http://distilling.com/backissues.html
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The link to DSP permits is: http://ttb.gov/foia/fri.shtml
Their are over 300 DSP licenses in the USA. Half are craft distilleries. (Nine are whiskey distilleries) The rest are super large industrial distilleries and importers. Check their websites to see if they really distill.
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--To obtain a distilled spirits permit go to:
">http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/index.shtml

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--To obtain TTB list of DSPs go to: http://www.ttb.gov/foia//err.shtml

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--To obtain TTB statistics on distilling go to: www.ttb.gov then scroll down to "spirits" and then the "year".
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--To obtain Distilled Spirits Laws and Regulations go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/spirits_regs.shtml

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--To obtain label regulations go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam.shtml distilled spirits manual circular.
To print the Beverage Alcohol Manual: click (Manual)
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