Indiana Passes Bill to Allow Micro Distilleries

Mark Ganchiff

Mark Ganchiff is the publisher of Midwest Wine Press, the leading source of news on the growing wine industry in the central United States. Mark has been a wine judge at the 2012 and 2014 INDY International Wine Competition, the 2014 Cold Climate Wine Competition, the 2013 Mid-American Wine Competition, the 2012 Illinois State Fair Wine Competition and the 2013 Michigan Wine Competition. He also enjoys speaking at wine events including the Cold Climate Wine Conference, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association Annual Meeting, the Midwest Grape and Wine Conference and the Wisconsin Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Mark's articles about regional wine have appeared in Vineyard & Winery Management, WineMaker and several regional magazines. Mark is a Level One Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers. He lives in Louisville, but also has a residence in Chicago.

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3 Responses

  1. Mike J says:

    The real catch to this law is that you must hold a brewery, winery, or distiller permit for THREE YEARS before you can apply for the artisan distiller permit. That leaves those of us that want to start a distillery stuck with selling to a wholesaler and praying enough operating capital can be generated to survive three years.

    • Ryan says:

      How does one obtain a distiller permit? Can that be obtained independently?

    • Pat says:

      Correction to this post. The rest of the story is that provisions in this bill (HB1293) will exclude the three-year rule until JAN. 1, 2014. That means that after the first, you will have to meet that requirement again, but not until then. The requirement is simply that you have a proper distillery and that you currently own a still. This is the part that sounds fishy to me. How better to ensnare current distillers than by making the requirement seem attainable.