SENATE REVENUE COMMITTEE 'WATERS DOWN' CRAFT BREWER BILL
Production caps are too low and brewpub provisions too cumbersome to be helpful
The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild (ICBG) stands in opposition to a recent amendment* adopted on Wednesday by the Illinois Senate Revenue committee to Senate Bill 754 that hurts the state's small brewers. The amendment, which was supported by beer distributors, places small caps on craft brewers ability to self distribute their beer, which was *previously unlimited* before a recent Anheuser Busch lawsuit. The beer distributors' organization, *Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois is the second largest donor to state legislative campaigns* according to a report last week by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
"Instead of passing a consumer-friendly bill to support small businesses, the distributors passed a distributor-friendly bill to protect their interests. The craft beer industry is growing in response to consumer demand and the right kind of legislation will respond to that - this bill ignores that." commented Josh Deth, owner of Revolution Brewing in Chicago.
The amended bill only provides for 7,500 barrels of self distribution for craft brewers making less than 15,000 barrels a year. By comparison, Goose Island who was just purchased by Anheuser Busch made 130,000 barrels of beer last year, over 8 times the proposed definition of a craft brewer. ICBG calls for a cap of 60,000 barrels of beer to allow for the state's small brewers to grow their businesses through self-distribution.
The amended bill also strips out valuable language allowing brewpubs to self distribute a small amount of beer (up to 50,000 gallons). *The bill now requires brewpubs to open a second facility in order to self distribute*, which is not economically feasible. "We just want to sell a small amount of the beer we already make at our brewpubs to local establishments and promote our locally made product" said Pete Crowley, Brewmaster at Haymarket Brewing in Chicago's West Loop. "We can't afford to build a whole new brewery to do
that and we shouldn't have to."
Following the Anheuser Busch vs. Illinois Liquor Control Commission decision, the Illinois General Assembly faces at a court ordered deadline of May 31st to revise the Illinois Liquor Control Act or brewers of all sizes will lose their right to self distribute their beer. There are currently 40 small brewers in Illinois and approximately 5 new brewers opening each year. *Nationally in an uncertain economy, growth of the craft brewing industry in 2010 was 11% by volume* compared to growth in 2009 of 7.2% by volume. Overall, U.S. beer sales were down an estimated 1.0% by volume in 2010.
If you want more beer choices in Illinois, please take these three steps TODAY:
1. Call your State Senator Look up who represents you here:
http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/districtofficialsearchbyaddress.aspx 2. Ask them to oppose Senate Bill 754 as amended
3. Tell them you want more choices and better laws for craft brewers in Illinois
Thank you!
Illinois Craft Brewers Guild
illinoisbeer.com
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=754&GAID=11&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=55583&SessionID=84&GA=97
http://blog.ilcampaign.org/2011/04/ameren-and-others-giving-to-legislators.html
