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David Reimer Sr.’s living-and-breathing project, Micro-Distilleries in the U.S. and Canada, is no small undertaking.  His goal is to provide today’s discerning spirits drinkers with a comprehensive, regional guide to micro-distilleries in the U.S. and Canada, as told through a series of meticulously-curated distillery profiles. 

His background as an investigative journalist certainly didn’t hurt.  With an obsessive nature and a list of several hundred micro-distilleries, he picked up the phone and began to gather information.   Reimer Sr. was pleased that “many distilleries responded with great enthusiasm and…were excited to see a project like my book.”  In such a difficult industry, it’s not hard to imagine that most micro-distilleries, whether their stills have been guzzling for years or have just been screwed to the ground, would jump at the chance to receive some free marketing and publicity.

Reimer Sr.’s life wasn’t always spent socializing with zany booze-makers.  Aside from being a freelance journalist, he’s also an award-winning photographer, veteran volunteer firefighter, entrepreneur and Technology Coordinator at public and academic libraries.  During a month-long trip to the South Caribbean, Reimer Sr. visited many rum distilleries in St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Trinidad, and fell in love with the hands-on, artisanal approach to distilling.

Back home, he set out to find a guide to artisanal micro-distilleries in the U.S. that would satisfy his craving for craft distilling.  Not able to find any online or in bookstores, he started doing research on his own, and then figured, “if I’m going to do all this research, why not publish a book with all the information!”

The 108 distillery profiles in the book are exhaustive and informative.  Micro-Distilleries in the U.S. and Canada is methodically researched and has a little something for everyone, whether you’re interested in visiting a distillery (tours and tastings info), interacting with distillers (Twitter and Facebook accounts) or simply learning more about a distillery’s history, management team, products or current distribution.  He’s also got suggested drink recipes, for those of us who also like to enjoy our fine spirits in beautiful, hand-crafted cocktails.  Reimer Sr. has also included information on distilleries’ green efforts, whether it’s solar power, water reclamation, composting, using green suppliers, or other innovative, earth-friendly efforts. 

One of my favorite tidbits of information that Reimer Sr. collects for each profile is “future business plans and goals”, which gives readers a glimpse at each distillery’s aspirations and growth stage.  Future plans vary, from ‘expand distribution’ and ‘facility expansion’ to ‘expand marketing efforts’ and specific ‘new product launches’. 

So what’s next for Reimer Sr.?  Besides getting the word out about micro-distillers and proselytizing the message of “quality over quantity”, Reimer Sr. is already working on the 2012 edition of Micro-Distilleries, which should be released in early 2012.  Following the success of the 2011 edition, many more distillers are knocking on the door, wanting to be included in the next edition, which should be expanded with more profiles, juicy new sections, and color print.  And who knows, there may be already-percolating plans to open his own micro-distillery one day.  Stay tuned!

If you’d like to speak to David about his book, he can be reached at david@microdistillerybooks.com or by Twitter at @djreimersr.