Small craft distillers across the country have been on a spending spree since the turn of the new year.

St. George Spirits, in Alameda, Calif., recently invested in more efficient pumps, new lab equipment and an automated bottling line. House Spirits Distillery, in Portland, Ore., has laid down many more barrels of its Westward single-malt whiskey to meet anticipated future demand.

Few Spirits, in Evanston, Ill., has hired two new people, plans to hire more, and is in the process of finding an American glass manufacturer to replace its overseas subcontractor. J. Rieger & Co., of Kansas City, Mo., also hired two new salespeople, a move that afforded a co-founder, Ryan Maybee, the time to introduce the brand in California. Copper & Kings, which makes brandy and gin in Louisville, Ky., has taken on more staff and is investing in new warehousing.

The reason for all the spending isn’t a sales spurt or newly opened markets. It’s the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, an amendment that quietly found its way into the omnibus tax bill that President Trump signed into law in December. The measure lowers the federal excise tax that producers pay to $2.70 per proof gallon (a gallon of spirits that is 50 percent alcohol), from $13.50, for the first 100,000 gallons of distilled spirits produced or imported annually.