"How to Start a Distillery"

A 5-Week Online Workshop

Starting April 18th, 2023

Participate LIVE through Any Computer or Mobile Device

Get All Your Questions Answered

FREE Lifetime Access Membership

Five Weeks of Learning

Experience the same interactive classroom content as an in-person Workshop.

Refer Back to Your Workshop Recording

All sessions of the Online Workshop are recorded so you can view them later.

FREE Lifetime Access to Courses & Content

Attendees will also receive a free Lifetime Access membership to DistilleryUniversity.com, meaning you’ll be able to watch all future Workshops from anywhere, anytime!

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Expert Instructors

This Workshop is taught in realtime by real-world experts, ensuring you get the most valuable knowledge available.

Meet Our Presenters

Todd Buckley

Todd Buckley

Director of Education

Trading in silicon chips for copper stills, Todd Buckley is a technologist turned distiller. He has worked at Intel and Microsoft and has been instrumental in producing award-winning gin and vodka. He is the founder of Destiny Spirits and Lecturer in Social Media and consultant within the spirits industry.

Todd is well-known for the award-winning gin he made at the Bellewood Distillery. In 2014, his hand-crafted spirit scored a 94 from the Beverage Tasting Institute, beating out such notable gins as Beefeater, Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire. He’ll be sharing his experiential secrets as well as his technical knowledge in this 5-week Workshop that is not to be missed.

Holly Robinson

Holly Robinson

Guest Speaker

Current Role: Owner of Fathom35, a boutique marketing consultancy for the beverage and hospitality industries.

Previous Role: Fast Penny Spirits & Amaricano, Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer; Captive Spirits Distilling & Big Gin, Co-Founder, National Marketing & Sales

Holly comes from a background rich in sustainable farming, hospitality and beverage. A life-long Pacific Northwest dweller, she can regularly be found oceanside digging for razor clams, as regularly as a mountain trail foraging for mushrooms. Wanting to work more with sustainability in food systems, paired with a drive to do better in her everyday career convinced Holly to co-found Fast Penny Spirits in Seattle, WA.​ Her background in the spirits world and love for hospitality sealed the deal.

In addition to Fast Penny, Holly was the co-founder of Captive Spirits Distilling and their well-known national brand, Big Gin. She also owns a pizza place, Sunny Hill, with her friend & Seattle chef, Jason Stoneburner. She lives in North Seattle, with her daughter.

Camrin Costello

Camrin Costello

Craft Cocktail Expert/Restaurant Consultant

Camrin has worked in the Hospitality field for over 18 years honing her skills in the Craft Cocktails and Spirits world. Her experience includes developing a vast amount of different cocktail programs throughout the Pacific Northwest all the way to London. She began consulting in 2016 and has continued to take on projects building bar programs and training bartenders the techniques, history and science that is craft bartending.

Camrin holds a keen understanding of what, when, where, with whom, and with what folks drink.

Syllabus

Industry expert Todd Buckley covers:

    • Welcome to the Beverage Alcohol Industry
      • History of Distilling in America
      • Regulation Highlights to Distill in the US
      • The Competitive Landscape of Spirits in the US
    • Business Structures
    • Business Models
    • Business Plans
    • Introduction to Biology: Fermentation
      • Grains, Fruits and Yeast
      • Yeast Strains
    • Introduction to Chemistry: Alcohol
      • Ethanol, Methanol, Isopropanol
      • Organic Acids
      • Ethylene and Ethyl Ether
      • Esters
      • Filtration
    • Whiskey distillation
      • Properly Using a Hydrometer
      • Substrate Choices
      • Achieving desired proof
      • Filtration
      • Proofing
      • Bottling
    • Vodka distillation
      • Substrate Choices
      • Achieving desired proof
      • Filtration
      • Bottling
    • Brandy Distillation
      • Fruit Choices
      • Achieving desired proof
      • Filtration
      • Bottling
    • Botanicals Blending for Gin
      • Botanical Choices
      • Maceration, Decoction and Infusion
      • Filtration
      • Proofing
      • Bottling
    • Brewing Skill for Whiskey Distillation and Aging
      • Substrate Choices
      • Fermentation
      • Distillation Techniques
      • Aging
      • Filtration
      • Proofing
      • Bottling
    • Introduction to Physics: Distillation
    • Heating, Reflux and Condensation
    • Still Design
    • Weight, Volume and Temperature

Experienced marketing professional and craft distiller Holly Robinson will speak on:

  • Your First Year: What’s Your Sales & Marketing Plan?
  • Growth Strategies and Why
  • Picking the Right Partners

 

Our seasoned bartender and spirits professional will instruct the class on:

  • How to get your spirit placed in bars and restaurants
  • Bottle design best practices
  • How to design a spirit based on cocktails
  • Label design best practices
  • Current landscape of cocktail and craft spirits culture

Our previous students have enjoyed a great deal of success after attending our Hands-on Workshops, but we often hear how difficult it is to put life on pause and join us for a full weekend in Vancouver, WA. So, to make it as easy as possible for you to access a comprehensive education in distilling, we’ve decided to bring the Workshop to you!

The content covered in the Online Workshop is the same as what you would find at the Hands-on Workshop, with the exception of the hands-on activities we normally perform. You will still have the same opportunity to ask questions and get individualized responses from the instructors.

Workshop dates (all Tuesday and Thursday evenings): 4/18, 4/20, 4/25, 4/27, 5/2, 5/4, 5/9, 5/11, 5/16 and 5/18

Class time: All students should log in to the Online Workshop by 6pm PST. Class will begin at 6:05pm PST and end at about 7:15pm PST.

Interaction: You’ll be able to communicate in realtime with the instructors via your keyboard. Bring all your questions!

Software Used: No need to download any additional software. You’ll just log in to account on our website and view the Workshop just like a YouTube video.

 

Early Registration Discount

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, this discounted pricing will remain in effect until further notice.

Questions?

Just call (509) 999-1244 or email info@distilleryuniversity.com. We’ll be happy to provide you with any information you need.

Cancellations

We understand that sometimes things come up unexpectedly, and we will work with you in the event of a cancellation.

All registrations cancelled at least 30 days before a Workshop will be refunded in full. Unfortunately, we cannot accept cancellations less than 30 days before a Workshop.

Thank you for your understanding.