This is bad news for craft brewers in Florida

[LouieMacGoo]

I hope this doesn't become a trend in other states!

http://www.politicalfixflorida.com/2014 ... breweries/

[FedoraDave]

That's just insane.

You know what I say? Follow the money. I'm betting the bozo who introduced this bill is getting his campaign coffers wallpapered by Big Beer and/or Distributers.

What a racket.

[Brewbirds]

I just kept trying to type a response three or four times and just gave up in frustration.

[Beer-lord]

To hell with that! I have to believe it will be vetoed or amended as they will surely hear more noise when word really gets out.
I hate politicians! I don't care which party they belong to, they don't belong to me!

[ScrewyBrewer]

Considering all the regulatory and licensing hurdles it takes to open a brewery in the first place. Then add to that regulations for disposing of spent grains and on top of that the illogical concept of having to buy your own beer back from a distributor to serve in the place it was made is just sickening. Anything to turn a buck. Craft beer brewing is the first business paradigm that actually creates jobs in this country in over a decade and they want to over regulate it and tax it out of existence. I think we need more people willing to help grow the industry and less people trying to suck the life and profit out of it for their own self interests.

[swenocha]

Best thing you can do is to get involved with your local brewer's group. Ours is the Tennessee Craft Brewer's Guild. They do a bunch of lobbying on behalf of better beer laws, and have won some significant battles in the last two years, and they count on support from craft beer consumers like you and me. They succeeded in fixing our beer tax structure last year... though we're still the highest taxed state on beer sales, the structure was changed to be in line with the tax structure of other states, which has stopped the rapid escalation of the beer tax and the slanted structure of the tax that greatly benefited BMC. This year they have gotten bills through to raise our beer cap... the abv that is considered beer and can be sold outside of liquor stores. Currently it's at 6%. They tried to get it to 12%, but with compromise with the wine and liquor folks, they have ended up with 10% as the new cap. It has moved out of committee on both sides and will hopefully be up for full votes soon.

[philm00x]

Eddie posted this article the other day. I feel like this is going to end up driving craft brewers from my state out into other states in order to avoid having such ridiculous restrictions and causing prices to increase higher than they ought to be.

[swenocha]

Yes, that's what TN beer laws did here. A few were planning to open here and ended up in Mississippi. Yazoo considered leaving at one point, as Linus is from Yazoo City, Mississippi (hence the brewery name). Other bigger craft breweries considered opening up here (Sierra Nevada the most prominent one), but ended up going to NC instead because of the laws. We also didn't get Founder's, New Holland, Dogfish (they were here at one time, but have recently announced they are coming back) here until it was somewhat fixed last year. Bell's and the like also distribute all around us but not in TN. The politicians don't realize that they are driving off jobs and tax revenue. Bowling Green and Huntsville get our sales tax when we go there to get beers, and the business taxes go elsewhere as well.

(This is an issue I'm really fired up about, as you can tell... )

[Yankeedag]

Hey Swen... why don't you really say what you think. Stop beating around the bush.... or drinking Bush. That's nasty beer.

[Funky Skunk Brewing]

Eddie posted this article the other day. I feel like this is going to end up driving craft brewers from my state out into other states in order to avoid having such ridiculous restrictions and causing prices to increase higher than they ought to be.

If this actually passes, I know we are prepared to move to North Carolina to open the brewery. It's easy to see what it is, just follow the money trail. I've been keeping up with this very, very closely as we move forward. It's already difficult in Florida as it is to have a brewery with the hoops you have to jump through and all the other fees, taxes, etc. you have to pay. Now they want a brewery to pay someone else to buy the beer back they already made to sell at their own business.

[FedoraDave]

I have to say I don't know what NYS's laws and policies are re: this issue.

But I do know we have a lot of small craft and nanos in the state, including my own local Defiant, which has only just begun distributing on a small scale. Captain Lawrence, located in Westchester County, has also begun to bottle and distribute locally, as I see their product in my local supermarket, as well as other venues.

I simply can't imagine Defiant having to buy its own beer back from someone when it never leaves their brewery/tap room. It's insane, it's counter-productive, and it's no doubt a result of lobbying from macros/distributors to get every penny they can from any beer they can.

I'm wondering if, on a national/federal level, the 3-tier distribution system is going to be challenged. Perhaps it's time. It's been nearly 100 years since Prohibition ended and this system was established, and the beer scene has changed in a dramatic way, especially in the last 15 years or so. Rather than forcing new things into the old system, perhaps it's time to revamp the system to accommodate the new.

I'm sure the AHA is on this like white on rice.

[Funky Skunk Brewing]

I have to say I don't know what NYS's laws and policies are re: this issue.

But I do know we have a lot of small craft and nanos in the state, including my own local Defiant, which has only just begun distributing on a small scale. Captain Lawrence, located in Westchester County, has also begun to bottle and distribute locally, as I see their product in my local supermarket, as well as other venues.

I simply can't imagine Defiant having to buy its own beer back from someone when it never leaves their brewery/tap room. It's insane, it's counter-productive, and it's no doubt a result of lobbying from macros/distributors to get every penny they can from any beer they can.

I'm wondering if, on a national/federal level, the 3-tier distribution system is going to be challenged. Perhaps it's time. It's been nearly 100 years since Prohibition ended and this system was established, and the beer scene has changed in a dramatic way, especially in the last 15 years or so. Rather than forcing new things into the old system, perhaps it's time to revamp the system to accommodate the new.

I'm sure the AHA is on this like white on rice.

The AHA is over it closer than that I believe, Dave. And you hit it on the head, it is time for change in a system that is flawed and geared towards others interest and not the business owners that are producing the product they are getting rich off of. To me and other brewers I know, it's not the money that is the huge concern here with self distributing. It's the fact we would have to buy our own products to sell in our own tap rooms or direct to bars, restaurants, etc. and that is just not right.

The system needs to be looked at by someone other than the "good old boy network" that put it into place. If breweries want to self distribute what's the issue? It would not effect the already established distribution companies as other larger scale breweries would never go through their selves in the first place, it's simply too big of an under taking. The smaller breweries are the ones that are forced to suffer through this ancient practice of some three tier system and then that's not even in place in every state.

[FedoraDave]

Good assessment, Eddie. Especially as it relates to how the commercial brewing scheme has changed since the 1930s. Being someone with roots in the NYC area, I know Rheingold and Schaefer were big local concerns in the 1940s and '50s. Any footage you see of a baseball game in the Polo Grounds or Ebbets Field will probably feature a prominent Rheingold and/or Schaefer sign on the outfield wall. Even as late as the early '60s, the Mets were sponsored by Rheingold. Where are they now? Gone the way of the dodo, I'm afraid.

Monopolies are illegal, and Teddy Roosevelt was known as a very active trust-buster. But the big companies find a way around it, I'm afraid, and the little guy is still getting it in the neck.

[Funky Skunk Brewing]

But the big companies find a way around it, I'm afraid, and the little guy is still getting it in the neck.

And there en-lies the issues to me actually. The big companies have their way .... However, the "little" guy should be able to take on the added responsibility, work load and fiscal issues that come along with distributing, especially in self distributing as they seem fit. If they fail then they fail and big business wins anyway. If they succeed then it's really no hair off big business's back other than a distributor, who doesn't count on micro breweries for the lion share of their revenue anyway, lose a few extra sales per quarter. The small company's drive and dream is what this country was founded on and thrived on in it's early days. Why get away from what makes this country great and separates it from others around the globe? Even Budweiser started out small at one point. Microsoft, Apple ... All did not start out as billion dollar corporations. Business owners should not be told by anyone else how they HAVE to run their business. Other than taxes and all of course

Distributors still have their big business contracts and that's what drives their revenues. I can't imagine their bottom line would fluctuate anything noticeable if they were to lose a four keg per quarter account from a smaller micro/nano/craft brewery.

Not only does this proposed law just seem like a cash grab for big business, it is also potentially hurting the local economies as well. And where will the breweries look to regain that lost revenue from having to buy back their own product to sell? The end consumer. So now a $5.00 per pint beer just went to $6.00. On a larger scale, it could even go as far as to costing someone at the brewery their job, who knows.

[FedoraDave]

Good points, Skunk, but you're preaching to the choir, obviously.

It's extremely troubling to me how short-sighted these politicians are, creating legislation that benefits only the Big Guy and themselves, through campaign contributions.

Politics is such a dirty business any more. But therein lies the solution: call them out. Make it public how venal and self-serving they are. And don't shut up about it. Keep holding the flame to their feet, because eventually they'll either modify their stance, if only for the sake of Public Relations, or else they'll get voted out, which would serve them right (and serve the public better).

Find out what they DON'T want the public to know and then let the public know. These people are weasels.