Welcome to the 189th 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. We are also offering a 15-month membership for the price of 12 months (existing members will receive an additional three months). This offer will expire on Sept. 30. If you are not a member, learn more about joining here.
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40-Plus Sunshine State Distilleries Form Florida Craft Spirits Association |
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Raising Florida Spirits even during the most challenging of times, more than 40 Florida craft distillers have joined together for a common cause and have established the Florida Craft Spirits Association (FCSA). |
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REMINDER: Day of Action on FET Relief, Wednesday, September 9
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The craft alcohol coalition, including the American Craft Spirits Association, is calling for a Day of Action on September 9 to advocate in Congress for our Federal Excise Tax (FET) relief. This is in addition to the ACSA/DISCUS Public Policy Conference that will take place the following week.
We will be calling on each one of you to contact your Senators and Representative to ask them to consider inclusion of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (H.R. 1175/S. 362) in the next appropriate legislative package. It is critical that we get this bill passed as soon as possible, so we have certainty of this much-needed appropriate tax rate. Time is running out and Congress must act before December 31, 2020 to avoid a large excise tax increase for all of our small businesses.
ACSA will be back in touch with the membership as this day approaches, but please mark your calendars for September 9 to take action for our tax bill. Continued excise tax relief is NOT a done deal until Congress acts. Your voice is the encouragement that is needed.
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West Fork Whiskey Unveils Plans for 35K Sq.-ft. Agritourism Facility |
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West Fork Whiskey Co. has announced plans for a 35,000 sq.-ft. agritourism facility in Westfield, Indiana. With the additional capacity, West Fork Whiskey will be one of the largest craft whiskey distilleries in the country.(CraftSpiritsMag.com) |
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TTB Wants Your Feedback in 2020 Customer Satisfaction Survey |
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Back in February, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) asked industry members for feedback on service improvements at TTB. The Bureau is taking action on that feedback and look forwards to sharing these improvements as it launches them. Now TTB wants to hear about your experience with current TTB services and what the Bureau can do to increase your level of satisfaction in the future.
Help shape TTB's services by participating in its 2020 Customer Satisfaction Survey. TTB wants to hear about your experiences and will read every comment you provide so it can make improvements that matter to you. The survey should take less than 10 minutes, participation is voluntary, and your responses will remain anonymous. You can get started by clicking the button below.
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Watershed Distillery to Launch Barrel Strength Bourbon This Month |
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Watershed Barrel Strength Bourbon, a limited release bourbon expression from Watershed Distillery, is slated to release on September 19, 2020, at Watershed Distillery’s Columbus, Ohio-based bottle shop. Liquor store allocation to select stores throughout Ohio begins on September 21, with allocation to additional U.S. markets to follow in early October. (CraftSpiritsMag.com) |
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Register Now for Annual Public Policy Conference Sept. 15-16 |
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Distillers from across the country will gather virtually September 15-16 for the distilled spirits industry’s annual Public Policy Conference co-hosted by the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). Please note: Registration closes on September 8.
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Wilderness Trail Co-Owners Named Entrepreneurs of the Year Finalist |
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Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced that co-owners Shane Baker and Patrick Heist of Wilderness Trail Distillery, LLC were named Entrepreneurs Of The Year 2020 East Central Award finalist. (CraftSpiritsMag.com) |
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Baltimore Spirits Co. Releases 4th Batch of Cask-Strength Epoch Rye |
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Baltimore Spirits Co. has announced the release of a new cask-strength batch of its flagship Epoch Rye whiskey. This marks the fourth cask-strength batch of Epoch Rye that has been produced to date and the first released since early May. (CraftSpiritsMag.com) |
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Garrison Brothers Expands Distribution on West Coast with RNDC/Young's |
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Garrison Brothers Distillery has announced an expansion of distribution partnership with Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) together with Young’s Market Company (Young’s) to include Washington and California. Since 2015, RNDC/Young’s has distributed Garrison Brothers throughout Arizona.(CraftSpiritsMag.com) |
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Join Us for Craft Spirits Live on Instagram |
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Join ACSA for Craft Spirits Live, our Instagram Live show. In each episode, a leading craft spirits producer invites us into their distillery for 30 minutes of engaging conversation and a virtual tour—as well as an opportunity to answer all of your burning questions.
UPCOMING GUESTS
September 9: Thomas Mote, Balcones Distilling
September 16: No Craft Spirits Live Due to Public Policy Conference
September 23: Ryan Christiansen, Caledonia Spirits
September 30: Alex Castle, Old Dominick Distillery
October 7: Taka Amano, American Shochu Company
October 14: Kim & Tom Bard, The Bard Distillery
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High-Proof Creative Wins Digital Design Award |
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High-Proof Creative, a branding marketing agency for craft beverage, announces 1st place in Social Content & Marketing from Vega Digital Awards. The winning entry titled "Strange Times, Stay Creative: Eccentric Cocktails," was awarded Canopus (1st) in the category of Weird. (CraftSpiritsMag.com)
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Drizly Launches in Omaha, NE |
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E-commerce and on-demand delivery platform Drizly announced that is has become available in Omaha, Nebraska. Through partnerships with seven top local adult beverage retailers, across a total of 12 locations, adults of legal drinking age can now shop the Drizly app or website. (CraftSpiritsMag.com) |
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Reminder: Importance of Registering Sanitizer |
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Recently, ACSA leadership met with the FDA and the biggest takeaways were the importance of following current FDA guidelines and the necessity to register if you are producing hand sanitizer, packaging or labeling for distribution (either for sale or donation). You must also register with the FDA if you are manufacturing ethanol for use by others in making sanitizer.
If you believe a distillery is producing or distributing hand sanitizer or ethanol in a manner that is inconsistent with recent federal regulations and guidelines published for use during the COVID-19 public health emergency, please click here.
And if you haven't already added your distillery to our list of DSPs producing hand sanitizers, click here.
Additionally, FDA recently announced that it is providing a laboratory testing method to assess the quality of finished hand sanitizer products.
This testing method can be used to help assure hand sanitizers contain the correct ingredients and do not contain harmful levels of impurities. To read the full bulletin on the FDA's laboratory testing method, click here.
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New Deadline: Get a 15-month Membership for the Price of 12 Months
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As distillers continue to operate during a difficult time of uncertainty, new and lapsed ACSA members are receiving a 15-month membership for the price of 12 months. We've extended the deadline for this offer and it will now expire on Sept. 30.
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Got a question? ACSA's got the answer. |
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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. |
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Read the Latest Issue of Craft Spirits Magazine |
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Send News to Craft Spirits Magazine
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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.
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The American Craft Spirits Association is the only national registered non-profit trade association representing the U.S. craft spirits industry. Its mission is to elevate and advocate for the community of craft spirits producers, and membership in ACSA is open to anyone.
ACSA is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the eligible voting members of the Association. Voting members must be independent licensed distillers (DSPs) annually removing fewer than 750,000 proof gallons from bond (the amount on which a Federal Excise Tax is paid.)
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