You may have heard this (especially if you follow me on Twitter or read any of the various Texas Beer blogs out there), but yesterday afternoon HB 660 (click to read the text of the bill) was filed by San Antonio Representative Mike Villarreal. This is the bill I’ve alluded to over the last few days – the bill that would allow Texas brewpubs to sell their beer into the distribution system for resale. If this bill passes, you’ll be able to find brews from your favorite brewpub all over the state.
Here is a quick summary of exactly what the bill proposes:
- Allows Texas brewpubs to sell beer, ale and malt liquor to distributors license and wholesale permit holders or to qualified persons in other states
- Change the existing production limit of 5,000 barrels per year to apply ONLY to product sold on the brewpub premise to ultimate consumers
- Create a limit of 75,000 barrels per year that applies to the total production of beer, ale and malt liquor
- Allow Texas brewpubs to self distribute their product until they reach 10,000 barrels per year
The passage of this bill would benefit all tiers of the Texas beer industry. Texas small brewers would be a vital avenue by which to grow their business; it would create additional sales volume for Texas distributors and wholesalers; it would allow retailers to highlight locally produced beers; it gives consumers greater choice and bring them products previously unavailable in their respective markets; and, especially important in this economic climate and state budget situation, it would create new jobs and increase the tax base.
In the coming days and weeks I’ll be posting all sorts of new information on the economic benefits of this bill. In the meantime, I am especially curious about your ideas of ways to promote this bill. I’ve got a few ideas bouncing around in my head of ways I can organize support from a brewer perspective, but I know you folks have tons of great ideas as well. Tomorrow’s blog will focus specifically on some of these preliminary ideas.
Also, if you see any articles or blogs pop up on this subject, please share them!
We can do this.
Cheers,
Scott
PS: If you are in San Antonio, tune in to WOAI Channel 4 tonight – I’m about to jump behind a camera for an interview on the subject that should air this evening!
