# Skeptic Distillery

Award-Winning Gin and Vodka. Unique Whiskeys, Cold-Distilled from Craft Beer.

## Elevator pitch
We use a unique distilling process to preserve the freshness and flavor of our ingredients.  We make award-winning spirits, distilled at natural temperatures, with no sugar or additives for the consumer who cares about how his/her spirits are made. Our two main products are currently gin and vodka. We'll have at least three when the whiskey is ready. Our spirits are available to buy at the distillery, online and in various bars, restaurants and stores in Illinois, Alaska, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/skeptic.distillery
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:46016
- Last updated: 2026-06-22T05:03:02Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-22T17:40:56Z

## Quick facts
- In our first competition, we won "Best In Show" for Gin, "Gin of the Year" and "Vodka of the Year." We've since won a dozen more awards.
- Skeptic Gin was rated one of the Top 100 Spirits in the World by Wine Enthusiast in December 2019
- Skeptic spirits capture and retain the freshness of our base ingredients by distilling at colder, more natural temperatures.
- We are expanding rapidly, including 4 new markets in Q1 2020, which will expand our customer base and revenues.
- We will achieve break even later this year at approx. 200 cases sold per month, or about $180,000 annual sales, just from vodka and gin.
- Our craft beer whiskey will catapult us to profitability rapidly. Demand is high and our whiskey creates a new niche in the space.
- Our founder has a history of success. He turned a company on the edge of bankruptcy into the industry leader with over 80% market share.
- We are self-funded, with zero bank/investor debt. In the past 12 months, we've had revenues of $53K despite no distribution until May.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:28242: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
A Skeptic Is BornI always thought that most liquor tasted too harsh.  As an avid home brewer, I knew that fresh beer tasted better than mass produced, pasteurized beer.  I wondered if there was a way to make liquor taste fresher and smoother, like cold brewed coffee or cold pressed juice. A Curious ProcessVacuum distillation is a process often used in industrial plants to better separate chemicals, remove impurities and distill at lower temperatures.  I began distilling some of my craft beers in the laboratory at work and they smelled and tasted super fresh and just like the beer! At that moment, I decided to change my startup brewery concept into a distillery, focused on using this process to make award-winning, cold distilled, fresh spirits. Building Something out of NothingVacuum distillation had been done before with gin, and was not an entirely new idea. But it had never been done in a way that was scale-able, or for other types of spirits.  So we built a distillery and the still ourselves, because nobody had ever made one quite like ours before.3, 2, 1...WaitIn November 2017 we received our Federal Permit for distilling. A few months later we got the Illinois Craft Distiller's Permit and we were ready to go! However, there was still a little roadblock known as the three tier system, and due to timing we wouldn't be able to launch with a distributor in Illinois until May 2019.In the Meantime, the Awards Roll InWhile biding our time until our launch with Heritage Wine Cellars, we focused on building our brand and developing alternate sales avenues, including online. We also entered as many competitions as we could afford and wound up with some serious hardware!Skeptic Gin Review - Wine Enthusiast (91 Points) – August 2019"The bright spearmint scent gives a hint of what's to come: a refreshing, tingly sip with plenty of lemon peel, juniper and minty zing, with just a tinge of sweetness on the exhale. Distilled from corn, with botanicals that include hibiscus, gooseberry, mango and cardamom, although the soft palate doesn't read as particularly floral or fruity. It's pleasing just the same." Wine Enthusiast - Kara Newman, Spirits Editor3, 2, 1...Lift-Off!On May 1st, 2019 we officially launched with our Illinois distributor.  Skeptic Vodka and Gin are currently being sold in over 30 retail stores in the Chicago area, including 12 Binny's Beverage Depots and over 40 bars and restaurants.  Just recently, we sold our 500th case overall and 150th in Illinois, and sales are doubling month over month as we continue to grow sales.Keeping the Rocket FueledGin and vodka sales are projected to continue to expand in Illinois at a steady rate of approx. 20-30% per month on average.  While it cannot be guaranteed, we hope to sell a target of at least 2,400 cases (of ONLY gin and vodka) by the end of 2020, while also branching into the neighboring states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Indiana as well as California and possibly Florida.  Based on our margins now, we expect profitability will occur at approx. 250 cases per month in sales, which we hope to achieve by the middle of 2020.  Cold Distilled Brew-skeysBy adding our cold distilled craft beer whiskeys to the mix, we'll begin opening up new revenue channels in both on and off premise locations, not only because the demand for whiskey is so high, but because it will indirectly amplify our other product sales as part of a complete portfolio offering. Our whiskeys will be uniquely "Skeptic" and scale-able, so that we'll be able to meet what we expect will be a very strong demand based on conversations with our customers.Product Portfolio ExpansionWe have plans for new products and line extensions, beginning with a limited release gin (GinQuila) based on the paloma cocktail and Mexican-inspired flavors, aged in Cazadores tequila barrels.  Other revenue streams include working with other distillers and brand companies to contract distill and collaborating with craft breweries to distill and market whiskeys cold distilled from some of their more popular beers.

## FAQ
1. **I was disappointed to see that this offering is for a loan rather than ownership, why was the choice made to offer debt instead of equity?**
   - Thanks for your question, Andrew!  Yours is the first one and I appreciate your interest in what we're offering.There were a number of reasons for opting for the revenue share as opposed to equity.  Since we're so early on in our actual operating and sales history, it would have been very difficult to determine a valuation that would attract investment without giving up too much equity.  On the other hand, our plan has never been to build the company and sell later.  It co...
2. **Good luck and wish you all the best!!!**
   - Thank you so much, Alexander! I appreciate your investment and belief in us!
3. **Is this an IPO, will this be publicly traded?**
   - Hi Marty, thanks for your question!  This is actually a loan investment which will be paid back via a revenue share model in quarterly installments, not an equity offering.  The benefit of this model is that the revenue share payments increase in value as our business revenues grow, so the community we build with our investors will allow us all to make money together, faster.  I'm actually not sure if the equity offerings through Wefunder are considered...
4. **I notice that the payment start date on the investor agreement is blank. What will that payment start date be? I've had prior investments where that was placed years in the future, so I'd like to know what it will be here.**
   - Hi Maxwell, thanks for your question! Ours will not be pushed off years into the future. It's blank on the form at the moment because we don't know yet when the offering might close, therefore it will be filled in when at least the lower amount is raised and we close the offer. The latest the offering will run until would be end of February 2020, however we could close it earlier if we feel we've raised enough, and we've at least reached the minimum raise amount. We would start payments begin...
5. **Do you have an estimate of the duration it will take for the investor to get the 2.25 multiple?**
   - Hi Arjun! Thanks for this question. We anticipate it will be between 3-5 years. Of course there are no guarantees on it but we certainly plan to pay it back as soon as possible. It only makes sense as we wouldn't want to tick off our investors/customers! We have a lot of exciting news coming up in the future as well that will help show how we are growing. Stay tuned to the updates!

## Team
- Karl C Loepke (President)
- James Semrick (National Sales Manager)
- Brittany Breaux (Graphic Designer / Marketer )

## Recent posts
- Q1 Detailed Update/State of the Biz (2021-04-18T00:03:05Z)
- Skeptic Online Store is Live (edited) (2021-01-25T19:24:51Z)
- Skeptic Online Store Is Live (2021-01-25T19:17:59Z)
- Walkin' in a Skeptic Wonderland (December Update) (2020-12-01T21:28:25Z)
- September Update. Happy Fall! (2020-09-28T17:11:09Z)
- Just Another Update! (2020-08-24T03:32:48Z)
- July Update! (2020-07-10T21:36:30Z)
- June Update (2020-06-05T19:31:31Z)
- Investment Opportunity Ending Today (2020-04-17T21:01:56Z)
- Cranking out the Hand Sanitizer! (2020-04-04T22:55:39Z)
- How We're Handling the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020-03-23T18:45:17Z)
- News from the Intersection of Craft & Science (2020-03-12T01:29:14Z)
- Skeptic and A. Bommarito Wines Partner to Bring Skeptic Gin & Vodka to Missouri (2020-02-19T17:55:02Z)
- Starting 2020 Strong (2020-01-31T18:01:49Z)
- Skeptic Spirits Approved for Major Grocery Chain (2020-01-16T18:49:17Z)

## Q&A
- Q: Thanks Karl thats what I thought I read. But my understanding was ill get something back in April. I just want to make sure that I got everything filled out so that funds can get to me.
- Q: Not really a question, just disappointed I missed the opportunity!
  - A: Who knows? Perhaps another opportunity will arise! Nevertheless, we appreciate your interest.
- Q: just tried the vodka today and it’s pretty amazing stuff.  I will look forward to supporting in any way I can 
  - A: Thanks Mike! We're glad you liked it!
- Q: Hi Karl, I'm following your campaign from the beginning and I am impressed with your entire work. Maybe I wasn't able to invest but I will gladly develop free website for your business. If you need one please let me know. Kind regards, Marko.
  - A: Thanks Markovic! We will keep your service in mind and we appreciate your kind sentiment!
- Q: Hi, this is a nicely done presentation. My questions involve the business plan and financial aspects of the raise. You detail that much of the money, if you are closer to the minimum than maximum, will go toward production. But I would think that in order for your brand to take off after an initial run of flat revenue growth you need to do a ton of advertising and marketing. Can you clarify how you feel you can get to those aggressive sales numbers? As far as runway, let's say that sales do not go as well as planned and you are not in fact at break even in 2020. What changes could you make to extend the time the business can stay afloat without needing a lot more cash? Finally, an easy one: For some reason I can't find info about when payments start - is it the first full quarter post raise (if you don't use the deferral). Thanks!
- Q: I was disappointed to see that this offering is for a loan rather than ownership, why was the choice made to offer debt instead of equity?
  - A: Thanks for your question, Andrew!  Yours is the first one and I appreciate your interest in what we're offering.There were a number of reasons for opting for the revenue share as opposed to equity.  Since we're so early on in our actual operating and sales history, it would have been very difficult to determine a valuation that would attract investment without giving up too much equity.  On the other hand, our plan has never been to build the company and sell later.  It could be many, many years before that opportunity ever comes, if ever.  Having had many conversations with potential investors prior to launch, most seemed to prefer the revenue share debt model where a return on the investment would come much sooner via regular, scheduled payments.  I also felt that this would be the best model to achieve one of our other goals, to build a community and maintain contact with our investors.  Each of our investors would be reminded four times per year when a check arrives in the mail of why they believed in and invested their hard earned cash in Skeptic.  I felt it would also create numerous opportunities for further interaction and conversation with this community going forward as well.  I hope that answers your question!
- Q: Payments stopped Jan Of 2024. Contract says quarterly distros. What happened?
- Q: Hi Team, I invested on March 6, 2021 and haven't heard anything from WeFunder regarding the revenue share distribution. I emailed the email you provided in your update and they said to contact you directly. Any insight would be appreciated. - Ethan
- Q: I've been invested since November 2019 and wandering when ill see a return. I checked Webull and nothing there. Jeff
  - A: Hey Jeff (or Brian?),It's based on one year after the time the first disbursement came to us.  I explained this in more detail in a previous question response,  but based on your investment date and the first disbursement being in March,  the first payment will be made back on April 15th, and continue quarterly after.  I hope this answers your question. 
- Q: Just wondering how your distribution is for Christmas?
  - A: Hi Catherine, we're greatly looking forward to this holiday season. We're currently in the following markets: Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alaska, Kansas, Missouri, and Massachusetts. By the years end we hope to enter into at least one more market. In addition to this, we're working on partnering with a third party fulfillment service to be able to ship nationally. This may or may not happen before Christmas, but we're hopeful. I hope this answers your question, and happy holidays!
- Q: I have partners in africa countries can they retail your products over there
  - A: If we're able to lock down distribution in those countries, that would be great. We're always open to distributions recommendations!
- Q: What quarter will the revenue-sharing begin? And how will the money be paid out to us?
  - A: Sorry I thought I answered this question earlier... I believe it is with Q3 but don't quote me on that, I still have to check on it. If that's true, it will be paid to Wefunder, who will then distribute proportionally to the investors.
- Q: Have you already or do you have any intention to apply for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or other stimulus-related small business measures?
  - A: Hi Andrew, thanks for your question! Yes, we have applied for it.
- Q: When will this round of funding close?
  - A: Hi Derrick, It will come to a close on April 17th!
- Q: What is the customer retention rate? How will you grow the customer retention rate? What is the current EBITDA? Future EBITDA?
  - A: Hi Alexander.  First, apologies for not responding to your LinkedIn message yet.  I'll get to that later today.Being relatively new to the market, we don't have a lot of data on retention rate yet, at least not much of statistical significance.  I haven't run an analysis on it yet to be honest.  I can say that somewhere around 85-90% of our accounts that purchase do continue to purchase.  Some accounts from the initial launch period in Illinois last May have not reordered, but these were not prominent accounts that would ever drive much pull through or volume sales.  Gross Profit for January 2020 was approx. $10,000.00.  Last year (2019) we had a GP of approx. $25,000.00 on sales of $40,000.00 (not finalized figures yet on either of these, please keep in mind).  EBITDA would basically track with GP at this point because we don't have much of any interest, taxes (no taxable gains yet), depreciation or amortization currently.  We are forecasting GP of around $130,000.00 this year, of which we are only forecasting in Gin and Vodka.  If we get the whiskey still up and running by July/August, then we should see an additional 30-40k in GP there.  If we are able to open up the tasting room and start generating more sales at the distillery, then we will see a similar number increase there.  Unfortunately, there are many unknowns, but we do expect to have the whiskey still and tasting room/distillery store open by middle of this year.  So, I would estimate EBITDA for 2020 in the neighborhood of 200k overall.  I hope that answers your question?