Craft beer breweries feel impact of US shutdown
12 Oct 2013
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Makers of craft beers are an unsuspected casualty of the US government shutdown, leaving those who prefer fine beer to wine with their luncheon or dinner with a bit of a hangover.
The shutdown has closed an obscure agency that approves new breweries, recipes and labels, which could create huge delays throughout the rapidly growing craft beer industry all across the US.
The taste for craft beer is growing throughout Europe and the US. Such beers are very different from the standard commercial brews; they are made by traditional methods or hand-crafted with new methods.
Gourmets agree that craft beer goes down better with Indian food than does wine. And many varieties of craft beer are available in the major Indian cities; but ridiculous taxation levels make them prohibitively expensive.
Indian prices of course differ from state to state. An 'Arrogant Bastard' (made in Texas) or a 'Fat Tyre' (Belgian) would cost around 50 per cent more in over-taxed Mumbai than it would in Kolkata. But that's another story.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is a little-known arm of the US Treasury Department. The agency will continue to process taxes from existing permit holders, but applications for anything new are in limbo.
Yellow Springs Brewery is among the breweries feeling an impact, according to co-founder Lisa Wolters.
''We have plans to submit a new label design for our first 22-ounce bottle release sometime in the next couple of weeks, and if the shutdown goes on much longer, we will most definitely feel the pinch,'' Wolters said.
The brewery has a keg-label application and a formula application pending in the TTB's offices, and Wolters said she is bracing for the likelihood of a lengthy delay in getting those approved.
The closing isn't expected to have much effect on industry giants such as MillerCoors or Anheuser-Busch. They can continue to produce existing products as usual. But the shutdown poses a huge problem for craft brewers, who build their businesses by producing quirky, offbeat flavours and introducing new seasonal beers, sometimes as often as every quarter.
Craft brewers around the US say TTB was already taking as long as 75 days to approve applications before the shutdown. Now they're bracing for even longer waits for fresh permits.
The shutdown has closed an obscure agency that approves new breweries, recipes and labels, which could create huge delays throughout the rapidly growing craft beer industry all across the US.The taste for craft beer is growing throughout Europe and the US. Such beers are very different from the standard commercial brews; they are made by traditional methods or hand-crafted with new methods.
Gourmets agree that craft beer goes down better with Indian food than does wine. And many varieties of craft beer are available in the major Indian cities; but ridiculous taxation levels make them prohibitively expensive.
Indian prices of course differ from state to state. An 'Arrogant Bastard' (made in Texas) or a 'Fat Tyre' (Belgian) would cost around 50 per cent more in over-taxed Mumbai than it would in Kolkata. But that's another story.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is a little-known arm of the US Treasury Department. The agency will continue to process taxes from existing permit holders, but applications for anything new are in limbo.
Yellow Springs Brewery is among the breweries feeling an impact, according to co-founder Lisa Wolters.
''We have plans to submit a new label design for our first 22-ounce bottle release sometime in the next couple of weeks, and if the shutdown goes on much longer, we will most definitely feel the pinch,'' Wolters said.
The brewery has a keg-label application and a formula application pending in the TTB's offices, and Wolters said she is bracing for the likelihood of a lengthy delay in getting those approved.
The closing isn't expected to have much effect on industry giants such as MillerCoors or Anheuser-Busch. They can continue to produce existing products as usual. But the shutdown poses a huge problem for craft brewers, who build their businesses by producing quirky, offbeat flavours and introducing new seasonal beers, sometimes as often as every quarter.
Craft brewers around the US say TTB was already taking as long as 75 days to approve applications before the shutdown. Now they're bracing for even longer waits for fresh permits.
