What is your role at Z Brown Distillery?
Jeff Odem: "
I’m the Master Distiller for Z. Brown Distillery, as well as the founder and builder of the distillery."
What is your role at Haskell?
Mitchell Hall: “I'm a
Project Manager for our Beer, Wine, and Spirits group, with a focus and passion for the Spirits side. My role allows me to oversee and manage all aspects of our projects, from conceptual budgeting, design oversight, procurement, construction, and closeout and startup of the projects."
What drew you to the Masters Class series?
JO: "
I was hoping to advance in topics where I already had some advanced knowledge, so the fact that it was a “Masters Class” appealed to me."
MH: "My fascination with the industry, as well as the opportunity to learn more about the operations and business sides of the business. Being more knowledgeable on how the industry works on the distiller and owner’s end helps me better cater facility and production needs and design to their available budgets, production forecasts, and expansion and/or initial construction and equipment investments.
I’m also intrigued by yeast, bacteria, and relaxed barrel aging practices."
Where do you see education's ongoing role in craft spirits?
JO: “
It allows craft distillers to get advanced knowledge that is generally only available after decades of work. It’s not uncommon for master distillers to withhold knowledge, it’s typically very proprietary information.“
MH: "
The primary area that I feel the education track has opportunities to grow and expand on are the more exciting areas of distillery ownership/management; financial and profitability refinement. Yes, this is not the topic that draws in the masses, but it is the topic that allows one to create a long lasting legacy and not just bleed their life savings and/or investor’s money into a non-sustainable hobby. Unless one is very well off and does not need to see returns within a reasonable timeframe, the business plan of creating and selling spirits needs to be extremely well thought out and planned. Sources of financing, cost control, marketing & sales, and operational costs are all critical items that need to have as much, or more time and effort spent on them as perfecting the mash bill of whiskey flavor profile. I believe that ACSA has a crucial task in front of them to help educate and inform the members on industry statistics regarding operating costs, reasonable industry profit margins, cost per proof gallon figures, etc. All of these metrics will help the distillers, business owners, and plant managers have benchmarks to gauge themselves against."
What is one the biggest takeaways from your experience at the Masters Class?
JO: “
I got more information regarding barrels, different applications, different woods and flavorings. I got a lot from the wood, watering and waiting class.”
MH: "
You cannot rush Brandy aging, yeast and bacteria are exciting, and budget allocations for the sales & marketing teams should be much higher than what most distilleries are allowing for."
When traveling, for work or just on your own, what are some of your must-dos?
JO: "
I go to every bar that I can and introduce myself and make introductions in hopes that I’ll be able to put our spirits in their bars, I just try to talk to everyone."
MH: “
I spend about half of my time on the road traveling for work, so I have many opportunities to explore unique and different areas in the small amount of free time that work allows. I like to explore, eat, and drink local spirits, along with visiting as many distilleries as possible. I’ll first research the area and reach out to any distilleries in the area to see if I can swing by and visit. If I am in a rural area, I’ll try to find the must-see natural places and when in urban areas, I’ll search out the unique places to eat and drink within walking distance. The hotel is only used for sleeping, and I like to explore as much as possible when on the road.”
