Craft Spirits Weekly
Welcome to the 170th 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 Craft Spirits magazine and the American Craft Spirits Association. While this is normally a members-only benefit, we are distributing this newsletter to all DSPs as a public service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full 2020 Tales of the Cocktail Canceled; May Take Modest Form
Earlier this week, Tales of the Cocktail Foundation president Caroline Rosen announced that the week-long New Orleans conference will not be able to take place in its regular format this year. (CraftSpiritsMag.com)
Craft Spirits Magazine: Pivoting in a Pandemic
This week we published the latest issue of Craft Spirits magazine. We never would have imagined that we’d be publishing it for a completely different industry—and a completely different world—than the one for which we published the last edition. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the craft spirits business as we know it for the foreseeable future. We explore this new normal—if there even is such as a thing as “normal” anymore—in this special report on how the coronavirus has significantly impacted our industry and how producers are tossing out the conventional playbook to continue to operate in this dramatically altered landscape. 
Full Replay of April 21 Town Hall on TTB Rulemaking Changes
On Tuesday, April 21, Mark Shilling, former ACSA president and ACSA Government Affairs Committee Chair, and Nicole Austin, former ACSA Board of Directors member, hosted a virtual town hall addressing the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) recent amendments to rules governing how craft spirits producers, among others, label and advertise the liquid inside our bottles. Shilling and Austin led the charge, having solicited your direct feedback, and used that as the architects to the ACSA comments to the proposed rules, submitted to TTB last June. Click below to access a recording of the webinar. (CraftSpiritsMag.com)
Are you on our list of distilleries making sanitizers?
ACSA has compiled a list of hundreds of distilleries that are making hand sanitizer or sanitizing spray, but we know that many are missing from the list. If you haven't already added your distillery or confirmed that you are on the list, please click the link below.
POLL: Volume and Distribution of Hand Sanitizer
If you are making hand sanitizer, how many total gallons have you produced?
Less than 100 gallons
100 to 999 gallons
1,000 to 9,999 gallons
10,000 to 50,000 gallons
More than 50,000 gallons
If you are making sanitizer, how many distribution contracts have you signed?
None
One
Two
Three
More than three
If you have signed contracts, what is the length of the longest deal?
Less than six months
Six months to one year
One to two years
Two to three years
More than three years
Catch Up On Free COVID-19 Webinars
TTB Announces Extension of Hand Sanitizer Guidance
In a special edition of its newsletter, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) announced it would extend exemptions, waivers and other authorizations from its March 26 guidance on hand sanitizer, to align with the CARES Act. (CraftSpiritsMag.com)
Copperworks Distilling Releases Cognac Cask Finished Gin
More than four years ago, Seattle’s Copperworks Distilling Co. acquired a cask from France that previously held cognac and filled it with Copperworks Small Batch Gin. It was a large cask (300 liters) so the gin took considerable time to pick up the flavors from the cognac that the distillery was after—longer than any cask-finished gin the distillery has produced thus far. (CraftSpiritsMag.com)
NYT : Craft Distillers Were Booming. Now They Face Bust.
In recent years, sales for small liquor makers have been surging, but coronavirus has shuttered tasting rooms and disrupted distribution. (The New York Times)
ACSA CEO to Participate in VinExpo Webinar on Evolving Spirits Landscape
ACSA CEO Margie A.S. Lehrman will be among the speakers on a free webinar titled
"The Evolving Landscape of the Wine & Spirits Industry," on Tuesday, May 5 at 11 a.m. ET. (CraftSpiritsMag.com)
Southern Distilling Donates Hand Sanitizer to Highway Patrol Troopers
Pete Barger explained why he donated more than two dozen cases of hand sanitizer to the N.C. Highway Patrol with one simple statement. “Because we can,” said Barger, the owner of Southern Distilling in Statesville, North Carolina. And Barger has employed this basic philosophy since the outbreak of the coronavirus led to a run on hand sanitizer and made it difficult for emergency personnel to find. (Statesville Record & Landmark)
Craft Spirits TV: Montanya Distillers Confronts the Pandemic
In this episode, Karen Hoskin of Colorado's Montanya Distillers describes how COVID-19 has hit home. Plus, ChainBridge Distillery, Boot Hill and Wigle accept their medals from this year's ACSA Judging of Craft Spirits.
Got a question? ACSA's got the answer.
In these challenging times, seek advice and lend your knowledge in ACSA's online forums. Our main forum topics include crisis management, services, TTB, safety, technical, equipment & materials, legislation, business and marketplace.
Read the Latest Issue of Craft Spirits Magazine
In case you missed it, the latest issue of Craft Spirits magazine is online. Click here or on the cover photo to read the full issue.
Send News to Craft Spirits Magazine
Do you have exciting stories to share about your distillery? Keep us posted on new products, events, trends, tips and more by sending us a note at  news@americancraftspirits.org .