By Rob South, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-967593.mp3
Webberville, MI –
For the past decade or so, Michigan wineries and breweries have been growing in number and popularity. You don't have to look very hard to find a beer, wine or cordial with a Michigan pedigree these days. The Michigan beer and wine industry took off in the mid-90s when agri-tourism and "buying local" became popular. And now Michigan-made spirits are starting to get attention. | SKIP down to article
It's still an industry very much in its infancy; there are only about two-dozen licensed distilleries in the state. And it's an industry that can be difficult to get started in. Michigan State University operates one of the only facilities in the country where entrepreneurs with an eye on micro-distilling can develop and test new recipes.
If there is a father of the micro-distillery industry in the state, it would be MSU Chemical Engineering Professor Kris Berglund. Berglund says he doesn't even have an office on the East Lansing campus anymore. Instead he spends most of his time at the distilled beverage technology lab, tucked way at the back of the Michigan Brewing Company's plant in Webberville.
He says they can make any kind of distilled spirit you can think of. "Whiskey, rum, brandy, any type of vodka, absinthe if you want, gin we do all those different types of products," he says.
Berglund says a law passed in 2008 allows distillers to sell their product on premises without a liquor license. He says that has dramatically changed the micro-distilling industry and he now gets several calls a week from people looking to get started in micro-distilling.
Berglund and his team have worked with micro-distillers from across the country and Canada to develop and perfect their craft spirits. In Michigan, he says wineries and micro-brewers are asking for his help to expand their product offerings. He says established businesses have the experience to be successful. "So it's stabilizing the businesses, making them more competitive."
The distilled beverage technology lab can produce between 5,000 and 10,000 cases of spirits a year -- it makes the Michigan Brewing Company's PA 218 Vodka, named after the 2008 legislation. That production capacity has helped independent distillers get their products out of the bottle, so to speak.
Rifino Valentine is one of Berglund's most recent graduates. He has his distiller's license and is opening a distillery and martini bar in Ferndale. Valentine Vodka -- with a fish-net stockinged pin-up-girl gracing its label -- is already widely distributed to 900 stores and bars across the state. But Valentine says he has his eye on the national and international market as well. "And Wayne Gretzky's wine guys in Canada we're talking with them to get over to Ontario and a few other provinces after that," he says.
Kris Berglund says as more people look for locally produced food and beverages he expects micro-distillers to enjoy the same growth over the next decade that wineries and breweries enjoyed in the last.
reWorking Michigan
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