The Brewers Association (that’s the big, national one, not the Montana one) recently stirred up a major backlash when its op-ed piece appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 13, 2012. The piece was written by Charlie Papazian and Bob Pease, President and COO of the Brewer’s Association, and Dan Kopman, CEO of Schlafly…
House Bill 204, to create a new license for beer and wine bottle shops, came before the House Business and Labor Committee this morning. But before anything could happen with the bill, the sponsor, Representative Christy Clark, asked the Committee to table it without a hearing. Given the huge workload during the session, they readily…
Here’s a brief update on beer related items at the Montana Legislature for Tuesday, January 22, 2013. HB 58, creating a brew-on-premise license, easily passed the House by a 70 to 29 vote and has been transmitted to the Senate for its consideration. Along the way, the bill was amended to clarify that a licensee…
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…
True beer and wine bottle shops will be allowed in Montana for the first time if House Bill 204 finds favor with the 63rd Montana Legislature. The bill, sponsored by Representative Christy Clark, would create a new license category for retail sales and also permit limited tasting events for such shops. Presently, only “bona fide”…
The 2013 Montana Legislature got underway on Monday, January 7, and wasted little time in taking up the first significant legislation pertaining to beer. House Bill 58 would create a new license for brew-on-premises operations. The bill received its first hearing before the House Business and Labor Committee early Friday morning. The bill is sponsored…
Billings has six. Missoula four. Bozeman, Helena and Great Falls have two each. Butte is soon to get its second one. Heck, even Philipsburg and Wibaux have one. For some reason, Kalispell has long remained the only one of Montana’s seven “large” cities without a brewery. Missoula’s Bayern Brewing Co. kicked things off in the…
Think a little snow and cold temperatures get in the way of some outdoor brewfest action? If so, and you’re a Montana resident, you may be living in the wrong state. For the past three years, Bigfork, MT, has laughed in the face of old man winter while holding an outdoor brewfest on the town’s…
This month’s Session* topic is hosted by John at Homebrew Manual. He raises the topic of brewers and drinkers and writes: Brewers and Drinkers is about your relationship with beer and how it’s made. Do you brew? If so why? If not, why not? How does that affect your enjoyment of drinking beer? Here are some…