ADI's Annual Spirits Conference and Vendor Expo returns to Kentuckiana.

Flashback to April, 2012 ...

Sticking a toe in the (distilled) water at the ADI annual conference.

Lew Bryson's in town for the American Distilling Institute's annual conference. The ADI gig runs through Wednesday at Huber's Orchard, Winery, Vineyards and Starlight Distillery, and ironically, after Lew returns home, NABC will be having much fun with Session Beer Day on Saturday, April 7.

My friend Jared Austin from The Big Easy came up to attend the conference, and as Lew explains in this posting at Seen Through A Glass, we three coincided at Bank Street Brewhouse on a beautiful Sunday afternoon: Run-up to ADI: Mecklenburg Gardens, and Louisville beers.

It's April again, and they're back.

2015 ANNUAL SPIRITS CONFERENCE & VENDOR EXPO

MARCH 30 – APRIL 2, 2015
KENTUCKY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER
LOUISVILLE, KY

I probably won't get a chance to go, but really need to try some of that Starlight Distillery Gin.

Lew Bryson's ADI conference coverage.

My reasons for attending the American Distilling Institute's annual conference (April 1 - 4, 2012) included the gathering's close proximity to home, a visit by a friend, a desire to take a few days off work, and a measure of simple curiosity about craft distilling. I found it fascinating, although in truth, much of what intrigued me was less about pure distilling theory and practice than those areas of distillation that overlap with beer and brewing.

Most obviously, before alcohol can be concentrated by distillation, it must be fermented from a mash, and this is the point of considerable convergence.

Consequently, a high point for me was a panel discussion featuring three brewers who also distill, and without going into great detail, each of them offered thoughts on certain "traditional" distilling practices (mashing, fermentation) from the perspective of the contemporary generation of craft brewers, and how old-timey distillers could learn from New Age brewers. I'm sure these thoughts would constitute heresy in some quarters, and as such, I was thrilled to hear them. Throughout human history, heresy has been the most useful precondition for revolution. I might become a spirits drinker yet.

As previously noted here, writer Lew Bryson was in town for the conference, and spirits are his game as much as beer. For far better ADI confab coverage than I can muster, following are links to Lew's thoughts at John Hansell's Whisky Advocate Blog.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Sticking a toe in the (distilled) water at the ADI annual conference.

Lew Bryson's in town for the American Distilling Institute's annual conference. The ADI gig runs through Wednesday at Huber's Orchard, Winery, Vineyards and Starlight Distillery, and ironically, after Lew returns home, NABC will be having much fun with Session Beer Day on Saturday, April 7.

My friend Jared Austin from The Big Easy came up to attend the conference, and as Lew explains in this posting at Seen Through A Glass, we three coincided at Bank Street Brewhouse on a beautiful Sunday afternoon: Run-up to ADI: Mecklenburg Gardens, and Louisville beers.

Lew gave us a ride to the Brown Hotel for ADI registration, and he continues the story at the Whisky Advocate Blog, where this week he'll continue to file reports on the conference. It's always such a pleasure to see Lew, and it was quite the scene outside the English Grill at the Brown, with three big guys drinking and laughing (prior to becoming a quartet when New Holland's Fred Bueltmann sat down on the adjacent upholstery).

NABC's Richard Atnip will be pouring beers for attendees tomorrow (and perhaps lunch on Wednesday) at the Huber Plantation Hall. I'm enjoying a couple of semi-vacation days (daze) and will provide reports if the mood strikes.

Calendar check: 2012 American Distilling Institute Conference in Louisville, and at Huber's.

The objective of Eileen Martin's internship is to make whiskey.

Louisville metro readers know Eileen Martin from her brewing/sales/beer advocacy career in Louisville. Eileen informs us that she's scored a cool internship just up the road, described below and in this .pdf file from the American Distilling Institute.

We are delighted for Eileen, and offer warmest congratulations!

--

Dear Eileen:

Congratulations. The Board of Directors of The Michael Jackson Foundation has awarded you the first-ever AIWF-ADI Michael Jackson Craft-Distilling Internship.

The distillery chosen is Ted Huber’s Starlight Distillery. We hope you will find collaborating with Ted and Associate Distiller Jason Heilegenberg to be a rewarding introduction to craft distilling.

The objective of the internship is to make whiskey. An important part of the internship will be the completion of a workplace journal that charts the critical events and decisions in that process. The journal will be excerpted and published by ADI, and a presentation made by you in person on May 4th at the 2010 ADI Conference in Louisville.

Financial arrangements for material, labor, travel and lodging expenses will be made with Starlight Distillery once the mash bill and the distilling-and-casking schedule has been established.

Again, best wishes on your spirited adventure.

Most Sincerely,
Penn Jensen,
For the AIWF-ADI Michael Jackson Craft-Distilling Internship