An “historic coalition,” as its being billed, took center stage at the Montana Brewers Association Fall Conference in October in Missoula to discuss a proposed bill to allow license stacking in the alcohol industry. The bill, expected to be introduced at the 2015 Montana Legislative Session, would effectively allow breweries to directly purchase a retail…
It wasn’t expected to be like this. Before the 63rd Montana Legislature convened on January 7, 2013, most observers predicted a quiet session for craft beer. The Department of Revenue had it’s brew-on-premise license proposal. A smattering of proposals to provide for true bottle shops and to change direct shipment rules lurked in the fine…
Two very different ideas were presented to the Montana House Business and Labor Committee this morning in a lengthy, civil hearing that drew tavern owners, brewers, barley growers, consumers and other industry members from around the state. The hearing on HB 616, the so-called “brewery killing bill,” sponsored by Rep. Roger Hagen, started out with…
Consider this, if you will: “Once considered nuisances, sources of noxious emissions and debasers of public morals, breweries now are being actively courted. Last May, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) signed into law a measure that allows breweries to retail beer by the pint or growler in their tasting rooms instead of merely giving…
The text of the Montana Tavern Association’s proposed bill to restrict brewery tap room sales (or force them to buy a retail license for $100,000) is now available on the Montana Legislature’s website. The bill is currently known as LC 1429 and the text is “unapproved” and subject to change until introduced to the Legislature. …
There is no hotter topic related to beer in Montana now than the (still unrelased) proposed bill to significantly amend the “small brewery exception” afforded Montana’s breweries with annual production of between 100 and 10,000 barrels. The exception permits small breweries to sell up to 48 ounces, per person, per day between the hours of…
A bill to clearly prohibit patrons from bringing their own alcohol into restaurants and other establishments that do not have an on-premise alcohol license was rejected by the Montana House of Representatives today on a 31-69 vote. Sponsored by Representative Roger Hagan, House Bill 405 easily passed out of committee (17-3), but it wasn’t even…
The Montana Tavern Association’s recent attempts to stifle brewery tap rooms touched a serious nerve with craft beer fans. Comments on this blog and other social media sites ranged from a call-to-arms to the unprintable (which I delete). Yet, commenters raised one common question more than any other: Why would the MTA want to enact…
Less than 24 hours after Growler Fills broke the news about the Montana Tavern Association’s proposed bill to enact disastrous limits on Montana’s breweries, the bill (LC 1322) has been put back on hold and, word has it, won’t be coming back.[Note: as of 1-17-13, the title of the bill request has changed] The bill…
Montana doesn’t have tap rooms, a point I’m reminded about by John Iverson, the new lobbyist for the Montana Tavern Association. They have sample rooms. That’s what the law calls them. From the MTA’s perspective, they’ve become far too successful. One industry representative who asked to remain anonymous describes it this way: They were supposed…