Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous.

You might notice looking at this post and the last that it’s been a while since I updated you all on the distillery. And you might think that this could be because nothing’s happening. In fact, the last month or so has been jam packed with happening. It’s just that most of it is small, behind-the-scenes, put-you-to-sleep kind of stuff like filing for trademarks and copyrights, sorting out other legalities, meeting with my financial adviser, and looking at possible spaces. All stuff that needs to be done, but no stuff that makes particularly riveting blog posting material…

That said, the business has come a long, long way in those weeks. Probably the most exciting thing is that we’ve secured a good chunk toward our first-round fund-raising goal. That’s right! Money! In the bank! Very exciting! Four-consecutive-sentences-with-exclamation-points exciting, even. Quite seriously, though, the response to our fund-raising has been amazing  and I’m both excited and humbled to have so many people want to be involved with my business. There’s still plenty to be raised, but we’re well past halfway to our goal (!)  and well on our way (!).

Additionally, we acquired our first real live piece of equipment. Well, real, anyway. Live would probably not be so good. Anyway, my friend Garth went looking for me and found a great 800-gallon stainless tank that we’ll be using for part of our production process. It took me and the guy I bought it from nearly four hours and a whole lot of ingenuity (not to mention two roof beams, three 2 x 4s, countless wood blocks, 180 feet of rope…) to get that beast into the back of my trailer. Buy me a drink some time and I’ll show you the pictures. And now, much to my neighbors’ delight, there is an 800-gallon stainless steel tank sitting in my driveway until I find a location. Yep. Which leads me to…

…looking for spaces. I’ve been doing a LOT if looking at spaces.  Good spaces, bad spaces, spaces that are perfect in every way but one critical thing, spaces that aren’t perfect but will work really, really well with a little love and modification…  Of those listed in the previous post, one is still in the running (South Lake Union). In addition to that one, there are two other excellent candidates in the race now. With a little luck (and more than a little negotiating), I hope to have a space secured in the next few weeks, at which point, things are really off and running. And perhaps my neighbors can start talking to me again.

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