Craft distilleries are opening up all over Australia and most Australian's are not aware. The reason for this is because 85% of these distilleries are based in rural areas where the economies are fragile and the job opportunities are limited. The majority of rural distilleries are one person operations who don't have the financial backing or marketing expertise to promote themselves. It's not an easy task either for urban distilleries, they often pay higher rents and have stricter safety guidelines in place for the public regularly entering their premises which all adds to the cost of their expensive operations.
The craft spirit movement is in its infancy in Australia if we compare what is currently happening in both the US and UK with craft spirits. They are experiencing a craft spirit boom similar to what was experienced with craft beer over 10 years ago in these regions. The movement seems to be riding on the coat tails of the craft beer movement, where 'small is the new black' and consumers are 'drinking less but drinking better'. Discerning drinkers are reaching out for more and more knowledge too, they want to know how the product is made, who made it, what ingredients are used, where are the ingredients from, what still was used, what distillation method was implemented and what is the best way to drink these products. They also want to visit these distilleries and meet the distillers themselves.
We are also noticing that Australian consumers are gravitating towards supporting locally made products which is fantastic for driving growth in our overall Australian economy. In terms of the trade the early adopters for the craft spirit movement are 'Small Bars' who are predominantly situated in CBD locations. They are powerful allies for craft distilleries because they tend to hand sell products to their clientele and pride their businesses on service and creating a unique experience with the Australian spirits that they proudly serve. Small Bars also give consumers the chance to taste some of these unique products for the very first time.
Why are Australian Craft Spirits so great? Most Craft Distillers handcraft their spirits using small batch quality distilling methods with quality ingredients versus commercial distilling methods of large corporations that produce spirits on mass scale predominantly by machine. A lot of craft distilleries in Australia also use sustainable distilling practices to help with the local environment. Craft distilleries in Australia are beginning to employ more and more people in the local community.
If you are interested in exploring Australian Craft Distilleries please check out our national directory. We are constantly updating the details of new distilleries opening so please notify us if a distillery opens up near you, we would love to add it to our directory.
If you would like to find a bar near you who serves a large range of Australian Craft Spirits please get in touch and our team will point you in the right direction.
At the moment there are just over 70 registered craft distilleries and over 80 distillery applications awaiting approval. We estimate the craft spirit boom to begin for Australia over the next 2 - 3 years where consumers will start to think about craft spirits the same way they think about craft beer. Watch this space.