Changes Don’t Satisfy Craft Brewers
A new version of the legislation to allow the
sale of growlers by Florida craft brewers emerged in the Florida state Senate
on Monday, and while it is more favorable to small brewers than the previous
iteration, it still doesn’t go far enough to satisfy the state’s growing number
of small breweries. The growler is a half-gallon jug, typically filled and sold
at a brewery, and is a staple of the craft brewing industry nationwide.
However, Florida is one of the few states that doesn’t allow their sale.
The previous
version of the legislation would have allowed brewers to sell growlers on their
own premises, but would have required those who make more than 2,000 kegs per
year to route all their product for sale in bottles or cans through the state’s
existing beer distributors. That amount of beer is made by even the smallest of
brewers, and the distributor provision would apply to beer sold on site,
effectively giving others a cut of the craft brewers’ profits, even if the beer
never left the premises.
The new version
would legalize growlers and allow craft brewers to sell bottles and cans on
their premises, but would limit such sales to no more than 20 percent of their
production. Brewers selling more than that in bottles and cans would be forced
to sell their product threw the state’s system of distributors.
The state’s
craft brewers and their backers have been pushing for a clean growler bill.
Josh Abuchon, a lobbyist representing the Florida Brewers Guild, an organization
of craft brewers, said, “Unfortunately, the amendment contains provisions that
would harm the economic growth of the craft beer industry in Florida and places
limitations on brewery operators that are not currently in Florida law. It
would be difficult for us to support any language that places additional
burdens on small businesses that are experiencing such rapid growth.” In an
op-ed for the Orlando
(FL) Sentinel,
Ari Bargil, an attorney with the Florida Chapter of the Institute for Justice,
says that the bill protects some of the state’s “most deeply entrenched special
interests” and has “the potential to crush an entire industry.”
What’s Next:
The state Senate has until
Friday, the end of the current legislative session, to sort the issues out.
Further Reading:
The Orlando
(FL) Sentinel,
the Tampa (FL)
Tribune and
the Tampa Bay
(FL) Times
all run stories on the subject.
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