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#1 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 02:35 PM

https://www.ticketsa...-tasting-rooms/

 

 

Florida liquor stores and beer distributors are teaming up to challenge the way the state is issuing licenses that let craft breweries sell their products in tasting rooms.

 

This is what kills me the most: Breweries, and especially craft breweries, spend millions of dollars on equipment and labor to produce a minuscule amount of beer. The retailers and distributors can sell that beer for just about whatever they want, but breweries are forced to make very small profits on distribution and spend thousands more for the ability to package enough beer to stay afloat. Why should any other part of the industry have the right to control how you sell your product? That's ####ing nuts. 

 

There is an exception in the FL law that allows for tasting rooms to promote tourism that was adopted in the 60's specifically because AB lobbied for it. Breweries are permitted to sell beer in a tasting room, BUT they still have to comply with every other local retail zoning and permitting laws that are applicable. In my county that means you have to be over 1000 feet from any schools or churches, in a manufacturing zone, and 250 feet from any residences. You have to pay thousands of dollars in public zoning hearing fees, you have to comply with FL laws regarding bars for fire suppression and safety, pay thousands in dram insurance, have the road paved and to code along with the proper parking spaces and ADA accessibility... the list is nearly endless. All that has to be done before you even sell your first beer. This also usually means the brewery isn't in a high traffic or populated area, certainly not in a normal retail area like the liquor stores are. 

 

So you tell me why the #### should a brewery NOT be allowed to sell their product directly to the people that come in to drink their beer? They've done all the work, they pay ridiculous taxes, so that means they shouldn't be allowed to make a living, right? The only answer these ####wads can come up with is, it hurts someone elses bottom line because they refuse to compete by making a product worth drinking. So they sue. They have billions of dollars behind them too. It's really sad. David is definitely having to fight goliath.

 

I'm so pissed right now.



#2 TehFury

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 02:54 PM

This is the same issue that came up last year, no? IIRC, the FL House of Reps basically said they had no plans to act on it. 



#3 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 03:11 PM

This is the same issue that came up last year, no? IIRC, the FL House of Reps basically said they had no plans to act on it. 

 

No, there was legislation being drawn up to make changes to the laws that got pigeon holed. This is the first law suit that I've heard of. 



#4 Big Nake

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 03:44 PM

It goes this way (or a similar way) all over including Illinois which follows the 3-tier system which means that small breweries cannot distribute their own products. It's just one of the hurdles and I can't say that it's 'crippling' because quite a few small breweries have popped up in Chicago and the surrounding areas over the past 2-3 years. I went to a craft beer tasting last year that highlighted a number of smaller breweries and I was pleasantly surprised at how many there were and the fact that I hadn't heard of 5 or 6 of them. All of that is good news but the truth is that small breweries have to pony up an unbelievable amount of cash plus a lot of highly focused direction so they can navigate through the red tape and try to come out on the other side intact. It's one reason I wouldn't jump into it without doing A LOT of extra homework which would probably include trying to talk with a number of other small brewery owners in the area to get their take on it.

#5 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 12:55 PM

httpss://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-florida-s-craft-breweries

 

This is a link to donate to the campaign for the Florida Brewers Guild to help fight the lawsuit. 

 

I've gained a little insight on this whole debacle.

 

Why the retailers/distributors are pissed...

 

1. Brewers can legally send kegs to each other without going through a distributor. All they have to do is write it on their federal reporting ledger. Technically the other brewery owes the first brewery the same amount of kegs, but in practice all they have to do is write it on their own ledger. This completely circumvents the three tier system. The beers don't even have to be a collaboration.

 

2. A brewery can pop up and effectively become a tied house of craft beer by putting in a homebrew sized system and getting a federal and state permit. They can receive kegs from any brewery in FL without buying them from a distributor.

 

3. Breweries can open as many brewpubs or satellite breweries as they want and ship beer without a distributor to their pubs from a main manufacturing location so long as there is a brewery/brew pub at the satellite location. This I'm OK with. It's their own beer.

 

I understand their ire with breweries. They are losing out on sales and they fear it could only get worse. OK fine, not once have any of the distributors or retailers called for a conference on creating some win-win legislation, they have only gone after breweries like a lion goes after a wounded gazelle.

 

BUT, by going after the tasting room exception the lawsuit will effectively shut down any new breweries from having the possibility to get off the ground. The tasting rooms are the life blood of every new brewery. Unless the brewery is financed to the teeth and can hit the ground making 3000+ BBL of beer per year then they won't be profitable and they'll fail.

 

The other side of this is the new breweries would have to open as a brewpub instead, which means NO distribution, No growlers, and they'd have to find somewhere to install an expensive kitchen, then have at least 50% food sales. It's ridiculous.

 

And the biggest fear is, if the lawsuit is won against the state the AB-InBev lobby machine only has to keep paying off state senators and house members to introduce legislation that is prohibitive to breweries and get any good legislation all mucked up so it's unvoteable. They could effectively keep new breweries from ever getting licensed with a tasting room by not allowing any legislation at all to be passed. All new breweries would be in a state of limbo. All existing breweries might have their licenses yanked. Thousands could be put out of work and millions of dollars lost in local economies. It's a very real threat.So I beg you, please send a little money to help fight this lawsuit. This is very near and dear to my heart.

 

Cheers,

Rich



#6 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 01:28 PM

httpss://www.change.org/p/save-florida-craft-breweries-please-sign-if-you-have-ever-traveled-to-or-within-fl-to-visit-breweries

 

Also, the least you can do is sign this change.org petition to help FL breweries keep their tasting rooms.



#7 Mynameisluka

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Posted 18 January 2015 - 10:05 PM

i have never understood the highly regulated distribution of alcohol. breweries should be able to sell direct if they want to.



#8 Howie

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 06:15 AM

i have never understood the highly regulated distribution of alcohol. breweries should be able to sell direct if they want to.

This. NC laws are pretty favorable for small breweries in that they can sell pints, growlers, and bottles/cans direct out of the brewery. They are also free to self distribute.The independent breweries that want to "make it big" still end up signing with one of the big distributors. They know they have to if they want to get it all the bars and retail places. So, in that sense, the AB-INBev lawsuit there means they're really only going after the smallest of the small. Bullies is all they are.

#9 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 08:16 AM

This. NC laws are pretty favorable for small breweries in that they can sell pints, growlers, and bottles/cans direct out of the brewery. They are also free to self distribute.The independent breweries that want to "make it big" still end up signing with one of the big distributors. They know they have to if they want to get it all the bars and retail places. So, in that sense, the AB-INBev lawsuit there means they're really only going after the smallest of the small.Bullies is all they are.

 

Yup.



#10 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 27 January 2015 - 09:18 AM

Small win! The law suit has been withdrawn. The regulators and congress agreed to look at the rules. This might mean that new licenses might be on hold for a little while though. ####ers.




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