I cannot believe how much was included in this course. The Sons of Vancouver are so knowledgeable, open, and encouraging; I got more than I imagined from this week. It really was a master class in opening and running a distillery.
-- J. Munro
James and Richard put on an amazing distillery school. I walked in with no experience in distilling and just a dream. They took the time to cover off every aspect of starting and operating your own distillery – from the mash right through the stripping, running stills, tasting product and all the details about marketing your product. They are an amazing wealth of information and always willing to give extra time to a question or a point. The best part is they are open about the mistakes they made and are invested in your success. They have an incredible approach to people. It was a fantastic experience and would highly recommend SoV to anyone considering a distillery.
-- G. Ehman
After researching numerous distilling courses in B.C., Canada and the Pacific Northwest, I can say with confidence the week-long BC Distilled course gives excellent value to anyone wanting to be part of this growing industry.
B.C. craft distillery pioneers Richard Klaus and James Lester lead by example our small group at Sons of Vancouver Distillery.
Other than some preparatory online work, the entire course is taught inside a working distillery, where we got coaching on equipment sizing, selection and care, pointers on process flow and distillery design, business planning and budgeting, and tips on new product development. Most of it was hands-on learning, from milling and mashing grain through making spirits cuts through filtering and bottling.
It gave a realistic sense of what to expect operating or working in a small- to medium-sized craft distillery.
I have no reservation about recommending the Distillery School course.
-- D. Bellaart
Linking up with Richard and James on the path towards opening a distillery has honestly been the most valuable step in the process thus far. Not only did we cover almost every practical and theoretical aspect of spirits production and distillery operations over the course of 5 days, they also provided firsthand experience regarding business planning and marketing materials as well. They’re always willing to answer any question, even after the course concluded they’ve been a huge help with questions around leasing space and equipment procurement. There's no other course in the country offering this kind of hands on support and learning.
--J. Diubaldo