Our Build-out

Hope Springs Distillery has come a long way since we decided to embark into distilling. The federal government requires that in order to apply for a license to operate a distillery, the applicants must first have lockable premises, and have the equipment on order.

We found some space in a building in Old Town Lilburn, and it took quite a bit of imagination to envision it as a distillery. However, it became our lockable premises with the help of a lot of people. The City of Lilburn could not have been more welcoming, and our wonderful contractor, Howard Connor, assembled quite a team of people to renovate the interior.

While the building work was going on, we ordered our still and other major equipment from Affordable Distilling Equipment. It arrived in March, and is now set up. We are in the process of having all this shiny equipment connected to the boiler and chiller, and having the required ventilation and safety features installed.

Next up was a final inspection from the Fire Marshal. When we had that, some other permits needed to be acquired from both the US government and the State of Georgia. After a lengthy process we began distillation in 2017.