Legal Guide to Starting a Brewery in Indiana

IndianaBeer note: Today we’re pleased to bring you a guest article from Sara Aisenberg of Surety Bonds. As we’ve witnessed an increasing number of professional and amateur brewers pursuing the dream of launching their own brewery, Sara brings you some helpful tips on legal items you’ll need to consider.

If you make a great homebrew, you know that crafting beer is a process — from preparing to fermenting to conditioning to packaging and everything else in between. If you’ve decided to turn your hobby into a licensed business, you probably have the brewing part of the equation down. However, you might not know much about the business side of things. To ensure that your brewery gets up and running without any setbacks, follow this legal guide to starting a brewery in Indiana.

Know the law.

Anytime you jump into a venture that involves legalities, it’s important to know every law that applies to your industry. A great place to start is researching Indiana’s brewer permits as stated in Indiana Code 7.1-3-2. It’s also important to understand the federal laws pertaining to the brewing industry. For example, the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission doesn’t require brewery owners to post a surety bond to get licensed at the state level, but a bond is required at the federal level. In most cases, individuals interested in starting a brewery will need to post a brewer’s bond or a brewer’s collateral bond. For clarifications on fulfilling this surety bond requirement, consult the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau website.

Determine which liquor license you need.

The first step in getting an alcoholic beverage license in Indiana is to determine what kind of license you need, which you can do by visiting the license type section of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission website. In most cases, individuals wanting to open an independent brewery will need a brewer or small brewer license. If you plan to sell your beer on site, in restaurants or in stores, you might also need a beer retailer or beer wholesaler license.

Once you’ve determined the type of license you need, you’ll have to find out if that particular type of license is available in your area. If the license you need is available, you can move forward with the licensing process. If the quota for your particular license is filled, you can try to buy the license from a current license holder. In most cases, assistance is available to connect individuals seeking a license with individuals looking to sell their license.

Submit your paperwork.

When you’re ready to begin the application process, contact the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission to request the necessary forms. You must submit the following paperwork to be considered for an alcohol license in Indiana:

• four copies of your floor plans signed and dated by you
• any necessary articles of incorporation
• a signed lease or proof of ownership of the premises where the license will be used
• property tax clearance from your county treasurer
• a “consent to transfer” form signed by the current license holder, if applicable
• a renewal application if the license expires in less than four months from the transfer date, if applicable
• a transfer of location application, if applicable

After you’ve submitted your paperwork, you can expect to wait anywhere from 8-12 weeks before the process is completed. Most counties in Indiana require that applicants seeking an alcoholic beverage permit appear at a local board meeting. A member of the Indiana State Excise Police serves on this board and will visit the site at which you intend to operate the permit at some point during the application and approval process.

Although dealing with legal requirements is a large part of starting a business, doing so is just the beginning of the start-up process. Once your application is complete, it’s time to brainstorm and execute the tasks that will turn your idea into a tangible business and brand, which includes marketing products, setting prices, hiring employees and developing a company culture. Understanding the legal aspects of starting a brewery will give you a solid foundation on which to build.

Sara Aisenberg is the executive writer for the SuretyBonds.com educational outreach program, an effort to helps entrepreneurs of all kinds understand the legal requirements they must fulfill before starting their own businesses. As a newcomer to Columbia, Missouri, Sara is exploring all that the Midwest has to offer — including some local beer! Follow Sara on Twitter @SaraAisenberg.

Indiana Beer News – May 20

New Albanian has more specs and info about the Struise collaboration. B’Urban Trotter DIPA and Naughty Girl.

Great Crescent Brewery has label approval for Bourbon Barrel Stout in 16oz cans. ”This beer is a slightly bigger version of our regular stout that is aged in Maker’s Mark Bourbon barrels. This stout is about 7.5% ABV and 65 IBU’s to blend perfectly with the delicious aroma and flavor imparted by the bourbon and oak from the barrels.”

JeffE tells us “Barley Island will tap its very first Barleywine on Thurs, May 26th 6:00 pm at both locations (Noblesville and Broad Ripple).  Bum Rush Barleywine is American style with 100 IBUs and a strong intense malt flavor to balance the bitterness.  9.2% abv, samples, goblets and growlers.”

The next batch of Bell's Wedding Ale is destined for 750ml bottles. “Ale brewed with honey, coriander and orange peel.”

Georgia gets Sunday carryout sales. Can you say “Local Option”. Now the bluenosing starts. article

See The Stonemason’s Story. A must read.

Beer for Space Tourists: More Taste, Fewer Wet Burps is less so.

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Beer Laws status:

• HB 1325: Enrolled but completely changed to something vehicular rather than ID repeal. Introduced. Enrolled. Fascinating how this happens.
• SB 46 / HB 1088: Rational ID checking companion bills. Got nowhere.
• SB 78: Enrolled. ID check if looks under 40. Other stuff.
• SB 197: Cold beer dealers permit. Sunday sales at liquor stores. Got nowhere.
• SB 112: Stalled in the Senate, but not before the guts were stripped out. Introduced to allow distributors to deal in beer, wine, and liquor – something a nationwide chain distributor wants to move into Indiana. Died after amendments made it a permission slip so distributors can work for each other.
• HB 1093: Wet State Fair. Died. Sob.

Indiana Alcohol Bills, 2011 session update

Here’s the current legislative standings:

A) There were four competing “Identification for alcohol purchases” bills.

SB 46 - Card anyone who looks under 40. – Has gone nowhere. Essentially the same as SB 78 so it can die a quiet death.

SB 133 - Just repeals current must-card to return to the way it has been for decades. Gone nowhere sadly.

HB 1088 – The house version of SB 133. Also has died.

SB 78 - Card anyone who looks under 40. – Passed committee. Passed by Senate 47-3. Sent to house. Passed house committee with one amendment (below). Sent to House.

(a) The general assembly urges the legislative council to assign the topic of which state agency should have authority to control dangerous alcohol products to an existing study committee for study.
(b) If the topic of which state agency should have authority to control dangerous alcohol products is assigned to an existing study committee under subsection (a), the study committee shall issue a final report to the legislative council containing the study committee's finding and recommendations, including any recommended legislation concerning the topic, not later than November 1, 2011.

HB 1325 – Card anyone who looks under 40. House version of SB 78. Passed committee. Passed House. Senate committee added microbrewery limit of 30,000 bbls instead of 20,000 bbls. Sent to Senate.

This microbrewery limit gives breweries under (now) 20,000 bbls the OK to sell at the brewery (as in tasting room or brewpub) and to self-distribute. A raise to 30,000 bbls means Three Floyds will have to come back again for another ceiling in a couple of years.

B) Other Stuff:

SB 197 – Alcoholic beverage matters – Creates Supplemental dealer’s permit (Sunday carryout sales) and Cold Beer dealer’s permit, both for grocery/convenience stores. Package stores would be able to sell on Sunday without a permit. Seems to have died in committee.

SB 112 - Alcoholic beverage wholesalers – Wholesalers can handle all three: beer, wine, and liquor. Passed committee. Amended to allow allow one wholesaler to “provide services” for another wholesaler such as store beverages, deliver beverages, take payments for beverages. In other words, wholesalers will be able to farm out brands. Heading for senate vote.

SB 1093 - Serving alcohol during the Indiana State Fair – Looks to have died in committee. Dammit.

Indiana Beer News – March 22

On Thursday (Mar 24) New Albanian’s Bottle Release Party will be at Keg Liquors in Clarksville. 5-8pm. Appetizers and newly-available bottles of Elector, Hoptimus, and Elsa von Horizon. Coming up: Solidarity Baltic Porter.

Whoops: Todd Antz of Keg Liquors writes: We had to postpone the New Albanian Bottle Launch until next week, on the 31st from 5 - 8PM. They are having some equipment issues and we had to push it out so they can fix things.

This Saturday, a new Crown Liquors on the northwest side of Indy will have a grand opening. 106th St. and Michigan Rd. The Woodford Reserve/Jack/Patron bottle engraver will be there in the afternoon. Goodys, prizes, etc. This location will be joining the Carmel, Fishers, South (US 31 & Shelby) Crowns in their Friday afternoon beer tastings. 4-7pm.

Dark Lord tickets sold out in 22 minutes. Stubhub scalpers are asking from $60 to $250. Craigslist folks want them for $25 or $50 and want to sell them for $100. One guy will take your ticket and buy you the DL for $25.

The hot beer topic in the newspaper today is that three Indiana breweries may soon pass the 20,000 bbl cutoff for a reduced “micro” excise tax. Three Floyds will beat that this year. Upland might. Sun Kin probably in 2012. They’d like the limit raised to 60,000 bbls. IndyStar article

Headline: Oregon home brewers, winemakers can compete again: House gives final OK.

Sam Adams Category 23 Longshot will hit the shelves any day now. It’s 2 each of 3 different Pro-Am winners in the “think outside the box” style. Friar Hop Ale – Belgian IPA. Blackened Hops – Black IPA. Honey B’s Lavender Wheat. press release

And now, your moment of Zen

Indiana Beer News – March 11

On Wed, March 16th, this spring’s Upland Blackberry & Cherry Lambics will be available. Well, at least you can put in your reservation for one bottle of each starting at noon. $20 each. Go to their web site at that time to find the link. Pick-up will be March 29th through April 12th at the brewery or at the Indianapolis Tasting Room.

The Feds are on our side? “Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) today introduced legislation to reduce the beer excise tax for America’s small brewers. … Currently, a small brewer that produces less than two million barrels of beer per year is eligible to pay $7.00 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels produced each year. This legislation will reduce this rate to $3.50 per barrel, giving our nation’s smallest brewers approximately $19.9 million per year to expand and generate jobs. This change helps approximately 1,525 breweries nationwide.” If you’re bigger than 60,000 bbls (non in Indiana are) the excise tax is $18 per bbl and this bill will lower that to $16 per bbl.

beerpaintings.blogspot.com is two artistic folk who do oil painting of craft beer. They do commissions. These are paintings, not photos. OK, they are photos of paintings.

Headline: Scientists reveal that Guinness really does taste better in Ireland

Indiana Beer News – March 7

Back in January the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers (liquor stores) sued the state ATC, claiming they issued more permits than allowed by law. (Read, they don’t want more liquor stores and will spend a load of money to try to curtail more competition.) A Superior Court  last Thursday said it ain’t so.

“The retailers association and the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission disagree on whether stores that have both beer- and liquor-sales permits should be counted toward the quotas set for both categories. The commission says it counts stores that have both permits only toward the liquor-sales permit quota because the law doesn't offer clear guidance on the issue.” article

Maybe they’re saying 3-way licenses shouldn’t count toward the cap on beer or 2-way carry out licenses (which are not that hard to get).  Well, only because the law doesn’t say they should.

Bloomington Brewing’s new production digs west of Ind 37.

It’s been reported that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale will be appearing in cans late this year.

Mark Dredge visits Brew Dog. blog

This guy is good ==>>

You’ve aready seen The Obamas Make History With Homebrewed White House Honey Ale. Brewed in the White House. “There were no leftovers”.

Indiana Beer News – Feb 3

After a year’s absence, the tradition of a side-by-side tasting of the Replicale will return on Wed. Feb 23rd at 6pm at the Tomlinson Tap Room. On tap will be New Albanian, Broad Ripple, Great Crescent, People’s, Rock Bottom North, Sun King, Upland, and maybe more.

We hope HB 1093 isn’t dead, meaning no beer tent at the Indiana State Fair, but Bill Davis, the Chairman of the Public Policy Committee, doesn’t seem to like it. His office’s stock reply to queries says

“On one hand, I understand the desire of many people to have alcohol available at the State Fair, but on the other hand, I also understand the compelling interest in keeping the State Fair a safe and family-friendly place where we show our children that we can have fun without the presence of alcohol.  I am keeping an open mind on this issue and will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind as we proceed.”

In other legislative news:

• SB 78 – (Don’t card if over 40) has two more sponsors. Tomes and Nugent
• SB 112 - (Wholesalers can distribute beer, wine, and liquor) has a more authors. Steele, Arnold, Taylor, and Hershman join Merritt. Passed out of the Public Policy Committee. Now there are lots of amendments.

Sammy Smith writes: “I happened to be in Sarasota, FL the weekend of the Winterfest however I did happen to stumble into this craft beer bar called Mr Beery’s. http://www.mrbeeryssrq.com Check out their beer list (draft & bottles). Cheers!

Pete Slosberg’s Pete’s Wicked Ale has been around since 1986. He sold the brand to the Gambrinus Company in 1998 and they are now discontinuing it. Sigh.

Yuengling’s has finally joined the Brewers Association.

Indiana Beer News – Jan 31

Things we learned at Winterfest:

House Bill 1093 is not dead, despite what Inside Indiana Business said. There’s a hearing on Wednesday at the Committee on Public Policy and the Brewers of Indiana Guild will be out in force to support it. The wine people will also be there of course. Emails sent today and tomorrow may have an effect. Email addresses are hXX@in.gov where xx is the district number.

Committee Members:

Chair: Bill Davis, Republican, District 33 - Jay, Randolph, Delaware Counties
Vice Chair: Wesley Culver, Republican, District 49 – Elkhart
Sean Eberhart, Republican, District 57 - Shelbyville
Thomas Knollman, Republican, District 55 – Richmond & South
Matthew Lehman, Republican, District 79 – Southeast Allen Co.
L. Jack Lutz, Republican, District 35 – Some of Hendricks and Howard Co.
Mark Messmer, Republican, District 63 - Jasper
Phil GiaQuinta, Democrat, District 80 – Ft. Wayne
Terri Austin, Democrat, District 36 - Tipton
Linda Lawson, Democrat, District 1 - Chicagoland
Scott Pelath, Democrat, District 9 – Michigan City
Vanessa Summers, Democrat, District 99 – Northwest Indianapolis

Bee Creek Brewery is getting another 15bbl bright tank in the next week or two. That pole barn must be about full by now.

Ryan Cole and Mike Sale have started BrewBracket and will have an organized tasting, voting on April 17th at the State Fairgrounds. They hope to have 400 people. This event will benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis.

Brennan Croder has moved from Olinger to be the Store Manager at Kahn's Keystone location in Indy.

Adam and Jason Burk and Brent Chapman have expanded their Tuxedo Park Brewers to be a full homebrew store. Located at 1139 Shelby St. in the Fountain Square area of Indy, they are concentrating on moving new brewers to all-grain.

John Campbell, late of New Albanian has moved to be the brand manager at Falls City Beer in Louisville. Contract brewing right now, they are in dozens of Louisville and Kentuckiana pubs. They are building a tap room and microbrewery to continue their expansion.

Stan is having a homebrew contest at the Heorot on April 16th. More details in February.

Mike Lahti is moving from Upland to Figure 8.

Tom Uban (right) is probably looking forward to teaching rock climbing to Mike.

Indiana Alcohol Bills, 2011 session

It’s a short session this year and already politics has taken the forefront (Republicans want to satisfy their sugar daddys with an end to the closed shop and Democrats with weak numbers are going to try to block it the same way the Reps did to the US Senate the last 2 years). Maybe nothing will get done but there’s at least one bill that will get action if nothing else does. Actually, more than one since everyone has joined the you-don’t-have-to-card-old-people bandwagon.

SB 46 - Identification for alcohol purchases - Makes it a Class B misdemeanor for an alcoholic beverage permittee or an employee or agent of the permittee to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally sell, barter, exchange, provide, or furnish another person who is or reasonably appears to be less than 40 years of age an alcoholic beverage for consumption off the licensed premises without first requiring the person to produce specified identification showing that the person is at least 21 years of age. (Current law makes it a Class B misdemeanor for an alcoholic beverage permittee or an employee or agent of the permittee to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally sell, barter, exchange, provide, or furnish another person an alcoholic beverage for consumption off the licensed premises without first requiring the person to produce specified identification showing that the person is at least 21 years of age.) – (Senator Alting)

SB 78 - Identification requirements for alcohol purchases - Makes it a Class B misdemeanor for an alcoholic beverage permittee or an employee or agent of the permittee to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally sell, barter, exchange, provide, or furnish another person who is or reasonably appears to be less than 40 years of age an alcoholic beverage for consumption off the licensed premises without first requiring the person to produce specified identification showing that the person is at least 21 years of age. (Current law makes it a Class B misdemeanor for an alcoholic beverage permittee or an employee or agent of the permittee to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally sell, barter, exchange, provide, or furnish another person an alcoholic beverage for consumption off the licensed premises without first requiring the person to produce specified identification showing that the person is at least 21 years of age.) Essentially the same as SB 46. (Senator Merritt)

SB 133 - Identification requirements for alcohol purchases. Repeals a provision that makes it a Class B misdemeanor for an alcoholic beverage permittee or the permittee's employee or agent to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally sell, barter, exchange, provide, or furnish another person an alcoholic beverage for consumption off the licensed premises without first requiring the person to produce proof that the person is at least 21 years of age consisting of: (1) a driver's license; (2) a government issued identification card; or (3) a government issued document; that bears the person's photograph and birth date. (Senator Randolph)

HB 1088 - Identification requirements for alcohol purchases - Repeals a provision that makes it a Class B misdemeanor for an alcoholic beverage permittee or the permittee's employee or agent to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally sell, barter, exchange, provide, or furnish another person an alcoholic beverage for consumption off the licensed premises without first requiring the person to produce proof that the person is 21 years of age by: (1) a driver's license; (2) a government issued identification card; or (3) a government issued document; that bears the person's photograph and birth date. (Rep Pelath)

These are in committee and we hope SB133/HB1088 are the selected ones. They don’t have to be mangled in the reconciliation process and they just darn well make sense.

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Other bills affecting beer, including Sunday and cold sales: (bolding is mine)

SB 197 – Alcoholic beverage matters -  Creates a supplemental dealer's permit and a cold beer dealer's permit. Provides that a supplemental dealer's permit may be issued only to a holder of a beer, wine, or liquor dealer's permit. Allows the holder of a supplemental dealer's permit to sell alcoholic beverages for carryout on Sunday. Allows the holder of a cold beer dealer's permit to sell cold beer. Establishes fees for a supplemental dealer's permits and a cold beer dealer's permits. Requires the fees to be deposited in the enforcement and administration fund of the alcohol and tobacco commission. Allows the: (1) holder of a package liquor store permit, farm winery, or a microbrewery permit to sell carryout alcoholic beverages on Sunday without a supplemental dealer's permit; and (2) holder of a package liquor store permit to sell cold beer without a cold beer dealer's permit. Allows a minor to be on the licensed premises of a package liquor store if the minor is accompanied by the minor's parent or guardian who is at least 21 years of age. Eliminates residency requirements for alcoholic beverage dealers. Repeals a provision that limits the commodities that a package liquor store may sell. (Senator Boots)

This is the wrapped up Sunday and cold sales changes that the grocery/convenience store lobby wants. Boots also automatically gives liquor stores a Sunday license as well as breweries (which could sell growlers of any beer, not just their own – plus wine and spirit carryout just like many bars still do).

SB 112 - Alcoholic beverage wholesalers - Allows a person to wholesale beer, wine, and liquor. (Current law allows a person to wholesale only wine and beer or wine and liquor.) Allows a wine wholesaler that also holds a liquor wholesaler's permit to sell more than 1,000,000 gallons of flavored malt beverage during a calendar year. Repeals a provision that prohibits the alcohol and tobacco commission from issuing a beer wholesaler's permit to a person who holds both a wine wholesaler's permit and a liquor wholesaler's permit. (Senator Merritt)

You see, there’s a big new distributor in town. From Florida. Southern Wine and Spirits. And they would love to get into the beer business. And maybe Monarch would like to get into the craft spirits business with the Rogue rums, whiskeys, and gins.

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And the one that will bring more Hoosiers to craft beer than any other thing we could possibly do:

SB 1093 - Serving alcohol during the Indiana state fair - Provides that the state fair commission may give a priority to value added Indiana agriculture when determining the types of alcoholic beverages to be sold at the Indiana state fair grounds. Repeals a provision that prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages at the state fair grounds during the period of the Indiana state fair. (Senator Cherry)

This bill will allow booths on the fairgrounds sampling and selling Indiana beers, wines, and even spirits. The State Fair powers-that-be are quite happy to see this. It’s a possibility to put Indiana breweries in front of almost a million people next August 5th-21st.

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There are more such as rules for wineries, extra 3-way permits for choice locations, etc. but these are normal business items.

Misc News – Dec 13

A second-hand email we’ve received seems to indicate the Winterfest ReplicAle for 2011 will be an Imperial Double Stout. New Albanian Brewing Company is putting together a recipe based on Ackerman’s Imperial Stout brewed by the Southern Indiana Brewing Co. both before and after Prohibition.

Philip Ackerman and Frank Senn opened the Senn and Ackerman Brewing Co. in Louisville in 1876. It thrived and was merged into the Central Consumers Corp. in 1901 and closed in 1916.
Philip Ackerman became the brewmaster and superintendent of the re-incorporated Southern Indiana Ice & Brewing Co. after prohibition (Previously the Paul Reising Brewery) with a 100 bbl brewing plant. A $50,000 refurbishment was made and 3.2% beer rolled out of the plant on Sept 7, 1933. 19 The factory was locally known as Ackerman's Brewery.
Brands included Amsterdamer Bock; Great Eagle; Gold Crest; Imperial Double Stout; India Pale Ale; Daniel Boone; Ackerman’s Royal Munich, Vienna Select, and Old Rip.
The brewery, unable to make a profit in a competitive city, closed on November 15, 1935. The building site was used by the Polar Ice Co. until 1969 when the lot became a Holiday Inn Express.

Spec's:  OG 20 deg Plato.  ABV: circa 8%.  IBU: 35-40.
Grist Bill:
80%  Rahr 2 row pale
5% Briess Aromatic
5% Briess Dark Chocolate
5% Briess Roasted Barley
2.5% Briess 80 degree caramel
2.5% Briess cherry smoked malt
Hops:
Single addition at boil of your choice to achieve 35-40 IBU.

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The TTB has new rules about recalls and caffeinated alcoholic beverages. “The FDA letter warned the industry members that as it was used in their products, caffeine is an unsafe food additive, and therefore the products are adulterated under section 402(a)(2)(C) of the FFDCA, 21 U.S.C. 342(a)(2)(C). Among other things, the FDA letter stated that ‘FDA is not aware of any publicly available data to establish affirmatively safe conditions of use for caffeine added directly to alcoholic beverages and packaged in a combined form’.“

Watch Upland’s Gigantor tank go through the roof. YouTube (NSFWS)

Amazon’s estimated delivery date for John Holl’s Indiana Breweries is May.

Neal’s corner:

Watch a guy in a British pub eat a 1,359,000 Scoville unit chili pepper. The Naga Viper.

“The world’s most expensive beer.” Made from Antarctic ice. article

Misc News – Nov 17

Some tastings:

• Broad Ripple Brewpub Armadillo Oscar – Darkish tangerine color. No head. That's a 60 IBU bunch of American IPA. Then the hops taper of to a still orangey, less bitter finish.
• Broad Ripple Brewpub Bigger Boy – Very married but not to peak of maturity. Subtle fig, grape, caramel and probably more notes. A+
• Sun King / Broad Ripple Brewpub Sun Ripple ESB – Big rocky ivory head (that's all to be seen in the plastic cup at the 20th anniversary party. 1/2 glacier hops and 1/2 fuggles hops, being a combination of both brewerys' ESBs but made at 20° Plato for the 20th anniversary. Very nice, very drinkable.
• Rock Bottom, 86th St, Indy Blitzen Ale – Pure Black IPA and Pure Cascade grapefruit nose and similar taste. Could be 40 IBU plus lots of late addition hops. 6.5%. This is going to join the regular rotation of seasonals (as is Naughty Scot and Buffalo Gold).
• RB86thSt Doppleganger IPA. 6.7%. All-Amarillo. Bright lager gold that even looks crisp. Grassy floral nose, grassy bitter on tongue.
• RB86thSt Cask Conditioned Dry Hopped Pale Ale – Dark red copper apricot. Suitably warm, suitably low carbonation, suitably smooth, suitably ESB bitter with orangey Am hops notes.
• RB86thSt – Ask about the secret Espresso Stout, it's the GABF Silver-medal Oatmal Stout with a shot of liquid expresso in every point. 6.5%. Strong coffee with a nice sweetish background. Just short of Oaken Barrel's Coffee Stout of last March because there's less coffee in the aroma.

Bell's Batch 10,000 will be their last numbered batch and it's heading south next week. "The last of a series, Batch 10,000 Ale looks back to our roots, symbolizing the end of the home-brewing season with a creative take on 'cleaning out the brewing supplies closet'.  After combing through the catalogs of many malt and hop suppliers, our brewers used over 100 different malts, grains, and other fermentables, and followed them up with a blend of  60 different hop varietals between the kettle additions and dry-hopping. The resulting beer presents a deep, chocolate brown hue and offers roasted and caramel notes from the malts mixed with an assertive hop character. Sharply bitter, the beer possesses a full mouthfeel without being heavy and will withstand aging in your cellar, if you prefer." 9.2% ABV, "Shelf life: Unlimited".

Brew Masters Videos

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Caffeine, alcohol. FDA, FTC, and Chuck Schumer. They may make it unnecessary for the Indiana congresscritters to outlaw alcopops by doing it themselves. The BA has responded quickly with a petition to the TTB (U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau) that “seeks to disallow synthetic and pure caffeine additions to alcohol beverages, but allow incidental caffeine from ingredients that have a long tradition in brewing, such as coffee, chocolate and tea. The petition seeks to clarify that coffee, chocolate, herbs, spices, seeds and fruit are ingredients that should remain available to brewers to make beers for responsible enjoyment by beer drinkers.” This may turn out all right after all.

The FDA has some info online now which includes "Does this action apply  to coffee-based liqueurs?

No.  These Warning Letters are not directed at alcoholic beverages that only contain caffeine as a natural constituent of one or more of their ingredients, such as a coffee flavoring. The alcoholic beverages that are the subject of FDA's Warning Letters are malt beverages to which the manufacturer has directly added caffeine as a separate ingredient."

Yes, it may turn out all right.

Meanwhile, Four Loko, one of the oft-mentioned concoctions along with Joose, has announced they are dropping the caffeine. Right now a 16oz can is 12% ABV and has the caffeine of 3 cups of coffee.  press release So the headlines are now

Partyers rush to stock up on Four Loko before it gets pulled from shelves ...

Nanny State Watch: Loko Edition

FDA: Caffeinated Alcoholic Drinks Are Unsafe

'Blackout in a can' yanked

Parents sue makers of Four Loko drink after son shot himself in 30-hour binge

Misc News – Jan 27

As usual, HBG follows the State of the State address with a must-read 2010 State of the Six Pack covering the Craft Beer Scene, Sunday Sales, Excise Taxes, Brewing Trends, and 2010's forecast.

Worth note: Sparks fly over alcohol sales bill that will let wholesalers distribute beer, wine, and liquor instead of beer and wine or wine and liquor.

The Great Crescent Brewery in stained glass.

Thank Heaven for Beer raves about Sierra Nevada ESB spring seasonal.

Beer Business Daily has an article about The Effect of Mass. Decision on Small Brewers. An appeals court ruled differing laws for breweries depending upon size is unconstitutional. In Indiana, breweries under 20,000bbl (all of them right now) can self-distribute to retailers, have a true brewpub, and sell directly to the consumer (as in growlers, bottles, and kegs).

This may turn into a good thing in disguise since Three Floyds and Upland may soon be bumping up against that 20,000bbl limit. If the powers-that-be-in-granite-buildings realize no BMC breweries are coming back to Indiana they can just take the 20,000bbl limit off.

Sixpack by OOOMS of the Netherlands. ====>

"U.S. beer sales volumes fell 2.2% last year, the highest rate since the 1950s, with demand worsening late in the year in a sign of the pressures on big brewers to make their mergers pay off." Wall Street Journal article

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CDC data for US cities of at least 10,000: (based on the percent of people who say they had at least one drink in the last 30 days.

Wettest Cities Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA Nassau-Suffolk, NY Barnstable Town, MA Burlington-South Burlington, VT Boulder, CO Barre, VT Concord, NH Denver-Aurora, CO Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Fargo, ND-MN Essex County, MA Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME Boston-Quincy, MA Worcester, MA (Ranging from 69.4% to 64.3%)

Dryest Cities Provo-Orem, UT (11.7%) Ogden-Clearfield, UT (24.6%) Kingsport-Bristol, TN (27.7%) Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH (28.9%) Idaho Falls, ID (29%) Charleston, WV (32.1%) Tuscaloosa, AL (35.4%) Chattanooga, TN-GA (36%) Okeechobee, FL (36.9%) Memphis, TN (37.4%) Salt Lake City, UT (37.5%) Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, NC (37.9%) McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX (38.4%) Lake Charles, LA (38.8%) Louisville, KY-IN (40.4%)

Meanwhile, 80% of the online tickets to Winterfest are sold. There are still plenty at most of the brewpubs all over the state. No tickets will be sold at the door. See you Saturday.

Legalities and other Misc News – Jan 15

Senate Bill 75 (Sunday growler sales) got out of committee with a 9 to 2 vote.

AP: "Even if the bill clears the Senate, its chances of passing the House aren't good.

Some lawmakers worry the bill could be amended to include Sunday carryout sales from other venues or to expand takeout cold beer sales to places other than liquor stores and certain bars. Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, has filed a bill that would allow those changes.

Alting said he will not give Boots' bill a hearing, and he vowed to kill the microbrewery bill if it is amended with such changes.

But Democratic Rep. Trent Van Haaften, chairman of the House Public Policy Committee, has still expressed concerns that Alting's bill could become a catalyst for more sweeping changes in alcohol sales. Alting's bill likely would be assigned to Van Haaften's committee if it passed the Senate."

Meanwhile in a House committee for consideration: Drop dry election days. Extend bar closing on Monday mornings to 3am.

The IABR (liquor stores) are trying to stop or stall a bunch of beer permits the ATC is ready to issue. 97 for Walgreens stores, for instance. article

Resurrecting Sunday Sales Aim Of New ID Push says Channel 6.

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Hopcast interviews Three Floyds Brewing. Lincoln Anderson says they hope to grow 25%. Moving into Kentucky. Gumballhead is tied with Alpha King for sales leader. 16 minute video.

Bob Mack tells us about World Class Beverages' New Beer Releases in Indiana.

Hoosier Beer Geek: Bacon!

John Hickenlooper is running for Governor of Colorado. He's the mayor of Denver and founder of the Wynkoop Brewery.

Sunday Sales Slips Into the Senate

HORRAY. It's in. Introduced Version, Senate Bill 0120. Put into play by Sens. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette and Vi Simpson of Bloomington. Thanks Ron. It'll go to the Committee on Commerce and Public Policy & Interstate Cooperation instead of the Trent Van Haaften's Public Policy committee (he's against the bill).

Synopsis: Sunday sales for microbreweries. Allows a microbrewery to sell the brewery's beer for carryout on Sunday. It adds the bold text below:

(7) The holder of a brewer's permit or an out-of-state brewer holding either a primary source of supply permit or an out-of-state brewer's permit may do the following:

(5) If the brewer's brewery manufactures not more than twenty thousand (20,000) barrels of beer in a calendar year, do the following:

(I) Sell the brewery's beer as authorized by this section for carryout on Sunday in a quantity at any one (1) time of not more than one-quarter (1/4) barrel, but the beer may be contained in bottles or other permissible containers.

If it passes - on Sundays, growlers and (for all practical purposes) 1/6th bbl kegs will be able to be sold at brewpubs and production brewery tasting rooms (Sun King, Back Road, Crown, Great Crescent, Figure 8, Peoples). Also at satellite pubs owned by the brewery (Mishawaka, Mad Anthony, Ram, Upland, Barley Island, Turoni's).

The out-of-state clause allows BJ's and Granite City in on the action.

The Fiscal Impact Statement prepared for this bill says "To the extent that this bill increases alcoholic beverage sales, collections of alcoholic beverage excise taxes could increase. Any impact on Sales Tax revenue is expected to be minimal since any additional purchases of alcohol would likely reduce consumer spending on other sales taxable items."

Contact your Congresscritter.

Article in the Bloomington HeraldTimes. Article in Indy.com.

New Indiana Employee Permit requirements.

Employee Permits are necessary to be a Bartender, Liquor Store Clerk, or Wait Staff serving alcohol in Indiana. Permits are good for 3 years (check your wallet now). Renewal used to be a form and a check. But now. . .

LOOK OUT for a big change to get or renew an Employee Permit. From the Indiana ATC web site: "Starting January 1, 2010, all employee permit holders in the state will be required to attend a certified server training program prior to their permit being issued or renewed.  To review a list of the most Frequently Asked Questions, please click here".

Retailer and dealer permit holders must have a management representative attend server training also.

The State Excise Police training classes will still be at least one per month in each district with a limit of 30 people. List of Traning Class Dates

"If you are interested in becoming a certified trainer that can train servers, please click here".

Beer and the Law

On May 18th, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to NOT hear a case challenging the state’s face-to-face purchase requirement for alcohol. The face-to-face law gives the right to those selling alcohol to require identification in order to ensure those purchasing alcohol are at least 21 years old. National Beer Wholesalers Association President, Craig Purser, stated this decision was a “victory for state-based alcohol regulation.”

Drunkenness at the Indy 500? Expected. But you'll be surprised at the numbers. Nuvo says of the 350,000 attendees there were only 72 arrests. 36 for public intoxication. (28 for having weed). You gotta guess more than 1/100th of 1% were actually over .08 but the track police know how not to ruin a party. Huzzah.

Illinois legislative leaders are considering increasing the tax on beer by 2.6 cents per six-pack to raise $1 billion for a proposed multibillion-dollar statewide construction program. This will be the first increase in ten years. Also, under consideration will be increased taxes on liquor and wine, 80 cents and 13 cents per bottle respectively.