Craft Spirits Weekly
Welcome to the 125th issue of Craft Spirits Weekly , a service dedicated to bringing you the news most important to the craft spirits distiller. Check your inbox every Thursday to find a curated selection of articles and news pieces from the American Craft Spirits Association.
Wyoming's Backwards Distilling Opens New Downtown Tasting Room
To its regular customers, Backwards Distilling Company’s much anticipated downtown tasting room will feel strikingly similar and different all at once. That’s by design, according to co-owner Amber Pollock. “A lot of people really liked that original vibe,” said Amber, “so we tried to keep a lot of the same elements.” (Oil City News)
Iowa Gov. Signs Law Letting Craft Producers Expand to Other Alcohols
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds was at an award-winning brewery in Decorah this week for a ceremony to approve a law that will likely expand the variety of alcohol beverages produced in the state. The new law, which takes effect July 1, lets state-licensed beer makers, wineries and distilleries get another license to make another kind of alcohol. (KMA Land)
California's Old Trestle Distillery to Open Restaurant
Old Trestle Distillery will be bringing its locally made spirits straight to the table with plans for a restaurant in Truckee, California moving forward. (Sierra Sun)
2020 ACSA Convention Call For Presentations Now Open!
The Call for Presentations is officially open for ACSA’s 2020 Convention at the Hyatt Regency, Portland, Oregon from March 29–31, 2020. Share your expertise with the craft spirits community! ACSA’s Education Committee is seeking out technical, sales and marketing, business and legal/compliance topics. Of particular interest are presentations on:

• Advanced technical topics (especially all things yeast)
• Sensory tasting sessions
• Industry-specific safety topics
• In-depth sessions on specific ingredients
• Distribution

Please submit your proposal by July 1.
Your Input Is Critical! 2019 Craft Spirits Data Project
It's time once again for the Craft Spirits Data Project to query you on the economics of the industry. The Craft Spirits Data Project, which ACSA conducts in conjunction with Park Street and the IWSR, provides the industry's most detailed picture of the size, scope, growth trajectory and economic contributions of the craft distilling industry. This information will be critical as we continue our fight to keep the reduction in the Federal Excise Tax.
Ohio College Students Make Moonshine
The smoke from a coal seam fire once obscured the smell of stills in the hollows of southern Perry County near New Straitsville, Ohio, hiding the odors of moonshine creation from the revenuers hoping to shut them down. One hundred years later, the pungent smell of corn mash lingers in a former general store where Hocking College’s fermentation science program is reviving the tradition born in the Appalachian hills decades ago. (Sentinel Colorado)
New California Whiskey Raises Funds for Those Affected by Camp Fire
The 2018 Camp Fire in California was, very tragically, among that state’s worst and deadliest wildfires in its history. A lot has been done already in both the public and private sectors to bring relief to those trying to recover their lives after this sad event, and now one distillery has joined the cause to raise funds for the survivors. Charbay Distillery is releasing to the public a limited edition version of its Racer 5 (R5) Aged Whiskey, of which a total of $10,000 of the proceeds will be donated. (The Whiskey Wash) 
Virginia's Reservoir Releases Hunter & Scott Rye
Reservoir Distillery has released Hunter & Scott Rye Whiskey, the second release in the Hunter & Scott line. The mash bill for Hunter & Scott Rye is made from 67 percent Rye and 33 percent Wheat, all Virginia-grown and vatted using Reservoirs single grain mash bills. (The Drinkable Globe) 
Peoria, Ill. City Council Approves Site for Black Band Distillery
Distilling could return to the whiskey city by as soon as the end of the year. Peoria City Council members unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement Tuesday that paves the way for Chris Ober to develop 14,000 square feet of space at 1000 SW Adams Street into Black Band Distillery. (Peoria Journal-Star)
Austin's Revolution Distills Spirit from Spontaneously Fermented Beer
In a distillery space on the Hill Country outskirts of Austin, Revolution Spirits has become known for making unusual spirits and liqueurs to accompany its flagship gin. But the latest product might be the wildest one yet—in more ways than one. Releasing as a limited offering on Thursday is Revolution’s Spirit de Spon, a clear liquor drawing its primary flavor from spontaneously fermented beer produced at the neighboring Jester King Brewery. As such, the experimental spirit might not be like anything you’ve had before. (Austin360)
American Craft Spirits Association | americancraftspirits.org