Back to the Future Dept: Balcones vs Chip, a follow-up

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:01 pm

When we left off...

Balcones and Tate had parted ways with Tate learning to like crow, and continuing his litigious ways, with this troubled young man suing his old friend and new Balcones master distiller, and if that wasn't enough, refused to pay his first batch of attorneys as he simply wasn't happy with the results.

He also broke more wind when he bragged that he'd be "breaking ground" for his new, soon to be world famous duplicate distillery last December but we've heard absolutely nothing about it. Did I miss something? Maybe the Bear knows.

In the meanwhile, Balcones - sans the Tatemeister - has continued to win awards, to wit:

"February 20th, Waco, TX—Balcones Distilling is proud to announce that the results of the 2015 Wizards of Whisky, held in England, have named the distillery "American Craft Distillery of the Year." The distillery's products also garnered 5 medals. Gold was awarded to FR.OAK Single Malt, Baby Blue, Brimstone, and a single barrel Texas whisky due to be released this year. '1' Texas Single Malt, Balcones' flagship expression, received silver. Out of the Top 40 malt whiskies, Balcones held two positions with FR.OAK and '1' Texas Single Malt, the only American whiskies to place in the list. Baby Blue, the first ever Texas whisky on the market, was the highest-rated American whisky in the competition's "Other Grain" category."

(Thanks to Winston for keeping me in the loop)

This despite the fact that Tate's insistence that Balcone's products had suffered his absence. Such is life...

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:41 pm

News from the prairie...

"Chip Tate, a Texas distiller ousted from his company last year, is taking a piece of Baltimore back to Texas for his next whiskey operation.

Tate, who founded Balcones distillery in Waco, Texas, is starting a new distillery, Tate Distilling. And he'll be brewing whiskey in Heavy Seas Beer's old tanks.

Tate is disassembling Heavy Seas' old brewhouse, the 50-barrel brewing system the Halethorpe brewery recently replaced with a 60-barrel system. Tate has been in town for the last three days dismantling the equipment, Heavy Seas founder Hugh Sisson said.

"It makes me very happy that this is going off to do a good deal of good work," Sisson said. "I'm looking forward to making a trip down to Waco to try some of the whiskey."

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/bl ... pment.html

This is certainly a departure for Tate, who rolled his own stills and equipment the first time. It appears Tate is going forward with used beer equipment which he is disassembling in Baltimore as we speak (assuming the snow isn't too heavy). The groundbreaking awaits...

bearmark · Post by **bearmark** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 7:03 pm

Congrats to the Balcones team! I'm sure it feels good to get continued recognition now that they're un-Chipped. As far as the Distillery of the Year award, that's not a Chip-less endeavor as he was there for more than half of the year. It's like Apple without Steve Jobs... can they innovate without Jobs? Balcones' first year without Chip will be 2015 and we'll continue to watch they're progress.

On a related note, some buddies and I want to collect up some of the new Balcones Chip-less offerings to compare to the older Chipped stuff that we have. I'll let you know how that goes when we're able to get around to it (Balcones stuff is still hard to come by). In the meantime, I'm waiting for some review site to conduct a side-by-side for reference.

Again, congrats to Jared, Winston, et. al.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:52 am

From the Waco Tribune (January)...

"Tate has an 11,000-square-foot building under contract on Steinbeck Bend Road near Waco Regional Airport and said he will begin distilling brandy there this year. As he did with Balcones, he will build everything by hand, including six copper pot stills of up to 2,500 gallons a piece."

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/e ... e7e44.html

Yet in my last post we learn that rather than "building everything by hand", he has now decided to buy, dis and reassemble and use some old beer equipment he purchased from a brewery in Baltimore. See above.

Bottom Line: this guy changes direction with the wind. Still, it's clear he's going forward with something, but at this rate it'll be a few years before we know whassup. Apparently he intends to begin with brandy, not exactly a hot category. What's really sad is that this guy was on the verge of great success, but allowed his ego to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

What a shame.

bearmark · Post by **bearmark** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 11:05 am

Capn Jimbo wrote:From the Waco Tribune (January)...

"Tate has an 11,000-square-foot building under contract on Steinbeck Bend Road near Waco Regional Airport and said he will begin distilling brandy there this year. As he did with Balcones, he will build everything by hand, including six copper pot stills of up to 2,500 gallons a piece."

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/e ... e7e44.html

Yet in my last post we learn that rather than "building everything by hand", he has now decided to buy, dis and reassemble and use some old beer equipment he purchased from a brewery in Baltimore. See above.

Bottom Line: this guy changes direction with the wind. Still, it's clear he's going forward with something, but at this rate it'll be a few years before we know whassup. Apparently he intends to begin with brandy, not exactly a hot category. What's really sad is that this guy was on the verge of great success, but allowed his ego to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

What a shame.

Top Line: Tate seems to be adapting to his new situation and employing new tactics, indicating that he continues to learn from his experience with Balcones. Although product appears to be at least a couple of years off, distillery buildout seems to be progressing rapidly. Despite the setback dealt by the board of the "Un-Chipped Balcones," Tate seems to be moving forward with even more determination than on his first outing. Despite the perceived successes that awaited him at Balcones, it appears that the "jaws of defeat" failed to snatch its prey and that Tate is forging on towards a different victory.

It'll be fun to watch as the story unfolds over the next several years.

PS - Same facts... different perspective.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 2:11 pm

Actually, we're on the same page...

Well, almost. It appears he's learned that he must retain absolute personal control and the ability to micro-manage to his heart's desire. What he hasn't learned is to stop making clear cut statements that don't stand time or scrutiny. In this case he bragged that he was breaking ground and "making all his own equipment" as he did before, both of which pronouncements haven't happened.

He'd be wiser to announce things are they are done and completed, rather than having to backpedal, this especially with his track record. No real harm or foul yet, but time will tell. I do wish him well however, as there can't be too many independent distillers...

bearmark · Post by **bearmark** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:06 pm

Here's more fodder for you... the first article in a series by Chip Tate for a magazine called, Worldwide CRAFT by Under My Host. Here is a link to Chip's first Spirit Guide column in issue #4. I thought that it was an interesting read and I'm looking forward to the upcoming issues.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:09 am

He has time to craft, er write a column? Not at all badly written, but full of oblique references to his own very well known past experience. It's interesting that the e-magazine identifies him only by name, and sans any reference to his past or present company and skill set. He too scrupulously avoids this, and surely not by accident. I wonder where the editor will draw the line...

But handled with care, a good PR move that could backfire on the basis of my opening comment...

bearmark · Post by **bearmark** » Fri Mar 13, 2015 1:30 pm

Capn Jimbo wrote:It's interesting that the e-magazine identifies him only by name, and sans any reference to his past or present company and skill set. He too scrupulously avoids this, and surely not by accident. I wonder where the editor will draw the line...

A brief bio appears on page 5.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Fri Mar 13, 2015 4:58 pm

Where's the vaseline?

. . . . . . .

Lessee. And I quote "...promises to be his most exciting chapter yet (and) ...a mecca for craft distilling not only through his own distilling projects but through exciting collaborations (with) craft and artisan distillers around the world ...hand building what is promised to be the most versatile craft distillery in the country..."

It's now clear that the editor not only lacks a red pen, but we now know he swallowed every drop of Tate's output. I not only rest my case, but stand by every word I posted, lol. And it coulda been worse - if he cited "the universe", lol...

Here we go again - thanks for the link.