Microdistillery

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A microdistillery is small, often boutique distillery, most commonly in the United States.

Throughout much of the world, small distilleries operate throughout communities of various sizes and do not generally garner specific terminology denoting their size. Due to the extended period of Prohibition in the United States, however, most small distilleries were forced out of business, leaving only the corporate dominated megadistilleries to resume operation at Prohibition's repeal. The microdistilling trend grew out of the microbrewing trend which originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970's and quickly spread throughout the United States in the following decades. While still in its infancy, the popularity of microdistilling and microdistilled spirits is expanding consistently, with many microbreweries establishing distilleries within the scope of their brewing operations. Anchor Brewing Company and Dogfish Head are two examples of American craft breweries that have begun expanding into microdistillation.

[edit] Regulation

The U.S. Government regulates distilleries to a high degree and currently does not distinguish its treatment of distilleries in terms of size, except to charge less for the Federal licensing requirements for small producers. This elevated degree of regulation has prevented microdistilling from developing as rapidly as microbrewing which enjoys relatively looser government control. Some states, such as Minnesota and California, have passed legislation reducing the regulation for small distilleries. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) are responsible for enforcing Federal statutes as they apply to all manufacturers of beverage alcohol.

[edit] U.S. Microdistilleries

As in the emergence of microbrewing, California and Oregon have experienced the highest number of microdistillery openings, but examples also exist in the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast.

(Incomplete List)