Hands-On Distilling Class in the Bay Area

I've seen a lot of home-brewing classes and even wine-making classes out there, but I hadn't come across many distilling classes.  The ones I did find were primarily based overseas, and although I'm sure that some of you would find it worth the money and the journey, I wanted to see if anything more "local" existed.  That's when I found the American Distilling Institute, based out of Petaluma, California.  Located at Stillwater Spirits/Distillery (611 2nd St.), their next class runs from May 30-June 4, 2010, and the $3500 tuition, room, and board fee includes:

•Five night stay at the Metro Hotel (one block from Stillwater) and all meals (we have a good cook for the week)
•Tours of St. George Spirits Distillery, Distillery 209 and the finest San Francisco Whiskey bars
•Distiller Jordan Via (Stillwater Spirits) on brewing, distilling and maturation
•Brewer Bill Owens (ADI) on mashing and fermentation to create wash
•Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant creation of wash in action
•Legal session on how to obtain a DSP
•Learn how to operate a Moonshine-style pot still and a five-plate Christian Carl Still
•Whiskey, bourbon & moonshine tasting daily
•Proofing session and hands-on bottling experience

The American Distilling Institute's last class ran from December 6-11, 2009 and the itinerary was as follows:

Sunday 2:00 PM Check-in: Metro Hotel (508 Petaluma Blvd S. Petaluma, CA 94952, (707) 773-4900)
12/6/09 4:00 PM Reception /  Mash-in Demonstration: Barley & Rye to Make Whiskey
5:00 PM Bourbon Tasting with Andrew Faulkner, ADI
6:00 PM BBQ at Stillwater Spirits

Monday 7:00 AM Coffee at Stillwater Spirits
12/7/09 9:00 AM Bill Owens, ADI, Mashing In
10:30 AM Bus to St. George Spirits/Hangar One Distillery, Alameda, CA
11:30 AM Lunch and Tour St. George Spirits/Hangar One
2:00 PM Ferry to San Francisco
3:00 PM Tour Anchor Distilling Co.
6:30 PM Whiskey Tasting at Elixer (3200 16th St) and Alembic (1725 Haight St)
8:00 PM Bus Returns to Petaluma

Tuesday 7:00 AM Coffee at Stillwater Spirits
12/8/09 8:30 AM Attorney Lynne Carmichael, Hinman & Carmichael, Licensing Your Distillery
10:30 AM Bus to Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant, Novato
11:30 AM Denise Jones, Brewmaster at Moylan's Brewery, on Whiskey Wash Production
12:00 PM Lunch at Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant
2:00 PM Bus to Cahill Winery, Sebastopol
2:30 PM Tour Cahill Winery, Barrel Charring Demonstration, Whiskey Tasting & BBQ
7:00 PM Bus Returns to Petaluma

Wednesday 7:00 AM Coffee at Stillwater Spirits
12/9/09 9:00 AM Jordan Via, Stillwater, PowerPoint, Whiskey Pot and Column Distillation
11:00 AM Jay Skovbjerg, Anton Paar, on Density Measurements
12:00 PM Lunch at Stillwater Spirits
1:00 PM John Zanini, Owens-Illinois, Custom Glass
2:00 PM Students Distill Whiskey Wash (sidebar: Labeling & COLA Process)
3:00 PM Students Distill Whiskey Wash (sidebar: Maturation)
4:00 PM Mike Nicholson, TCW / Complete Winemaker, Equipment & Supplies
5:00 PM Absinthe Tasting by Peter Schaf, Absintheur
6:30 PM Catered Dinner at Stillwater

Thursday 7:00 AM Poached Eggs Breakfast with Coffee at Stillwater Spirits
12/10/09 9:00 AM Jordan Via, Stillwater, Stripping & Spirits Distillation
10:00 AM Students Distill Whiskey Wash (sidebar: Distilling Recordkeeping)
11:30 AM Lunch at Stillwater Spirits
1:00 PM Speaker TBA
2:00 PM Students Distill Whiskey Wash (sidebar: Proofing)
3:00 PM Students Distill Whiskey Wash
5:00 PM Moonshine Tasting with Andrew Faulkner
6:00 PM Dinner at Turkish Restaurant

Friday 7:00 AM Coffee at Stillwater Spirits
12/11/09 8:30 AM Jordan Via, Stillwater, Distill Fermented Wash into Moonshine (Unaged Whiskey)
9:00 AM Students Distill Whiskey Wash
11:00 AM Lunch
12:00 PM Airport Shuttles 

If you're interested in registering for the upcoming class (next month), you can fill out the .pdf application form.

There are a lot of great books and websites out there for do-it-yourself distilling and whiskey-making as well, but sometimes the environment and camaraderie of a classroom, as well as the social connections and hands-on expertise, help encourage your all-around whiskey skills.  I will leave you with some other links for domestic and international distilling courses/programs that you can check out for yourselves:

Dry Fly Distilling School (Spokane, WA)
Distillique (South Africa)
American Distilling Institute (Louisville, KY)
The Institute of Brewing & Distilling (United Kingdom)
The Institute of Brewing & Distilling (Asia Pacific)