Just finished a ten page paper on Texas Beer Law Reformation

[funkapottomous]

and can honestly say that I no longer give a ****.


for tonight, at least.

 

[BigUgly]

and can honestly say that I no longer give a ****.


for tonight, at least.

You got me all excited to see what needed reforming! Excerpt?

 

[funkapottomous]

You got me all excited to see what needed reforming! Excerpt?

Well obviously I talked about how the three tier system has done it's job of preventing a monopoly by creating an oligopoly, but when it came down to the actual legislation, there were a few points to argue.

Mainly that a lot of the laws in Texas are incorrect/illogical.

Any malt beverage below 4%abw is "Beer", and anything above that must be referred to as either "Ale" or "Malt beverage", which is obviously not always correct, it depends on the style of the beer being sold.

Obviously breweries aren't allowed to sell on site because of the three tier system, but also neither the brewery nor the distributor can tell consumers where to purchase products, they can't advertise, etc. Even if it's the exact same beer that a grocery store may be advertising about in their circulars, etc.

The main argument against the gag order and the inability to sell on site is that Texas gave wineries/vineyard the ability to sell from any site they owned in 1979, and amended the code once more in 2005 to allow them to advertise where their products could be purchased. In the filings between Jester King, Zax, Authentic and the TABC, the TABC goes out and claims that these amendments were made to increase grape production in Texas and also aid the Texas Wine Industry. From 2007 to 2009 the Texas wine industry grew from $1.3 to $1.7 billion

So, if the craft beer market in Texas continues to grow at the rate that it has been, where more than half of the craft breweries that are producing having opened within the last decade, the laws need to be reformed to do what they were intended: Encourage small breweries and protect them from anti-competitive practices from larger brewers once they have entered the market.

 

[funkapottomous]

a few interesting links regarding the court stuff going on with Jester King and the TABC. I ended up using a lot of this as the basis for the paper, citing the companies, etc.

Read the Jester King v. TABC filings | Beernews.org

Jester King Craft Brewery sues TABC for violation of 1st and 14th Amendment Rights | Beernews.org

Speak No Ale: Beer Men Sue for Free Speech - News - The Austin Chronicle

 

[funkapottomous]

For anyone who was interested, I just saw that Openthetaps.org posted this on facebook:

we have some great news in regards to the Jester King Craft Brewery lawsuit! The judge has rules 1 section of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code unconstitutional (108.01(a)(4)) as well as three sections of the Texas Administrative Code: Title 16, Section 45.11, 45.79(f) & 45.110(c)(3). We will have more information for you shortly!

Pretty damn cool.

 

[TomHanx]

The three tier system only applies in Texas after 75,000 bbl a year. If a brewery produces less than that they can self distribute. http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/government-affairs/self-distribution-laws I don't see how it's that big a deal unless you're a good size brewery? It might suck to be in the middle I suppose, bigger than a micro-brewer but smaller than say Shiner but other than that I would think microbreweries in Texas have it pretty good.

I think the 3 tier system in general is a stupid idea but how many breweries are there in Texas that are making that much beer? St. Arnolds probably, Shiner, ?