Micro distilleries Australia

[devotus]

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=ca ... pCHg&pli=1


The Foreword

'Australia is falling behind both Europe and the USA in our ability to be competitive in the
Micro-Distillery Industry.
Second grade fruits and vegetables are normally left on the tree to rot in Australia reducing
the revenue streams of rural and regional producers. Growers, producers, and hospitality/
tourism enterprises in countries such as Europe, the USA are using second quality fruits
and even vegetables to produce newly manufactured neutral spirits. These spirits are then
used to produce a variety of fruit brandies, bourbon, malt or blended whiskies, vodka, rum,
gin, brandy and other niche beverage products.
Recent changes in legislation together with reduction in licencing fees in the United States
are enabling the establishment and growth of micro-distilleries to compliment winery
production, especially in agri-tourism businesses such as restaurants. These small microdistilleries lead the way for innovation of new products and increased revenues to rural and
regional areas from both manufacturing and tourism.
Germany, France and Austria encourage the manufacture of spirits using second quality
fruits to add a further revenue stream for farmers and producers in the country. Farmers
are able to produce a quantity of neutral spirit that is purchased by the government and
finished as beverage by a wholesale manufacturer or to be sold to ethanol producers. This
provides for a national approach to provide supplies of alcohol with product from fruits and
vegetables, rather than wasting arable land and resources for growing crops such as corn
or wheat for ethanol production.
The approach Australia needs to adopt is to encourage micro-distilleries in rural and regional
areas, providing employment and returning greater revenues to local regional areas, and
further opportunities for agri-tourism and food trails including regional branding in these areas.
The pot-stills themselves are relatively simple to operate; however, the training needs to
be centred on the fermentation and post-handling of alcohol products. It would provide
industry support and incentive to encourage the growth of industry clusters for rural and
regional producers and a strategy for increasing income to farmers through providing
alcohol for further manufacturing.
This report provides a foundation that encourages the government acting through the
TAFE education system to support the development of skills in alcohol manufacturing by
providing training in the principles of small pot-still based manufacturing enterprises. This
could be achieved relatively easily through establishing a curriculum in six regional based
TAFE colleges—WA, SA, VIC, NSW, QLD and NT.
Through undertaking this Pratt Foundation/ISS Institute Overseas Fellowship into the ‘Value
of adding regional produce through the manufacture and distillation of spirits by microdistillers’, Best has been able to investigate the international development of micro-distilleries
and make recommendations for the future of an Australian Micro-Distillery Industry.'

[Brigand]

Surely you don't expect Australia to embrace something as forward thinking as that

Unless of course if you're a winery

Micro Brewers were chasing some concessions like those available to wine makers

The Greens had a motion voted down recently allow brewers to receive excuse relief - see here http://greens.org.au/content/labor-and- ... 0%99t-give

I'd imagine it will be long time before distilleries are given any thought let alone any incentives

Cheers

[Sam.]

Micro-distilleries will never be that plentiful unless they reduce the excise on alcohol production, which will never fucking happen.

Also didn't the writer forget a state? One that has apparently a couple of the best distilleries that Oz offers? (and no, i'm not talking about ACT :D )

[Brigand]

The Greens had a motion voted down recently allow brewers to receive excuse relief

Excuse relief?

Damn brewers and their excuses...