Fall digital issue of Artisan Spirit magazine is out now. Read the Quarterly Report from ADI here. 

Ryan Lang has high aspirations for the craft distillery he co-owns, but that doesn't mean he doesn't get nervous looking into the future.

As fast as craft brewing is growing, craft spirits is growing faster. The American Craft Spirits Association this year said there were 1,280 active craft distillers in 2015 and that the number of distilleries has more than tripled since 2007. With an estimated 300 new operations opening a year, the path to 2,000 is clear.

But there is another parallel to craft brewing as growth in numbers, products and sales is bound to attract the attention of the industry's big players. That means acquisitions and that means the bigger a portfolio of products a company has, the easier it is to push smaller players off the store shelves and back bar. Read more.

As much fun as the end product may be, distilling spirits is a scientific pursuit at heart. Looking back on the organic chemistry classes I took in college (the trauma has since worn off a bit), much of what we did in the lab was reminiscent of what we see in craft distilleries all over the country: hours of exacting preparation, obsessive attention to detail, and, more often than not, a good deal of trial and error.

But for Brad Plummer, founder of Coastal Spirits in San Carlos, California, that's all part of the fun. A self-described tinkerer at heart, Plummer has spent the last five years building a one-man distillery whose spirits-Gin Farallon and Vodka Farallon, so far-have beaten out world-renowned competitors for some of the most prestigious awards in the industry. All it took was a lot of time and a willingness to experiment.  Read more.