Big Beer lobbyists at work in Texas

[Spurminator]

Scott may be too modest to post this but he's been writing an excellent blog about the fight to get rid of restrictions on Texas brewpubs.

This should concern anyone who claims to care about small business growth. Your Texas politicians are stifling in-state business growth for the benefit of out-of-state macro brewers like Coors and A-B.

http://brewednotbattered.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/day-25-a-snowballs-chance/

[boutons_deux]

but, but, but, the "free market" / competition solves all problems.

[coyotes_geek]

but, but, but, the "free market" / competition solves all problems.

:lol

Typical boutons. Spouting off useless rhetoric without bothering to actually read up on the topic at hand.

[Yonivore]

Good luck, Scott! Hell, I'll drink your beer as long as I don't have to drive to San Antonio to get it.

[boutons_deux]

Typical corporate/political espousing/adoring loudly but rigging "free markets" to reduce competition, maintain a no-compete price-fixing cartel, erect barriers for new entrants.

Identical to Southwest Airlines getting Texas High speed rail killed. Texas oilcos refiners hated, hate high speed rail, too because it got people out of cars.

[Nbadan]

what an interesting blog......thanks for posting that.....I travel some and its nice to go into independent breweries and try out their specialty beers.....San Antonians in general get too easily stuck on one beer and they are afraid to try new things...that's a shame for people who support these independent brewers...

Fight the good fight Scott!

[DarrinS]

san antonians in general get too easily stuck on one beer and they are afraid to try new things...

gfy

[baseline bum]

The three-tier distribution system in this country is sickening, but its support is pretty bipartisan thanks to Anheiser-Busch's relentless bribery in Washington.

[DarrinS]

The three-tier distribution system in this country is sickening, but its support is pretty bipartisan thanks to Anheiser-Busch's relentless bribery in Washington.


Strangely enough, I can go to my local HEB and find all kinds of micro brews. And, a vast assortment of wines.

[Spurminator]

Strangely enough, I can go to my local HEB and find all kinds of micro brews.

None of those would be from Texas breweries who serve on site. In other states you can own a brewpub/restaurant like Freetail and still sell your beer in stores. Texas won't let you do that, for no good reason.

[scott]

Thanks for posting this and bringing more attention to the situation, Spurminator. My industry is one that will never be able to compete in a battle of lobbyist dollars, so we must truly rely on grass roots support and the hope that the will of the people would eventually prevail.

Cheers,

Scott

[Yonivore]

Thanks for posting this and bringing more attention to the situation, Spurminator. My industry is one that will never be able to compete in a battle of lobbyist dollars, so we must truly rely on grass roots support and the hope that the will of the people would eventually prevail.

Cheers,

Scott
Here's hoping!

[boutons_deux]

"rely on grass roots support and the hope that the will of the people would eventually prevail."

yep, that worked out great for the tea baggers. Their candidates were defeated, and those that got elected hired DC insiders as staff, and got corrupted immediately. Tea baggers will change nothing in DC.

"grass roots" citizens, even legit ones, can't compete with the high-powered, heavily funded, full-time lobbyists who buy politicians.

UCA has completely disenfranchised Human-Americans.

[Winehole23]

Fuckin bullshit. Set our people free!

[johnsmith]

"rely on grass roots support and the hope that the will of the people would eventually prevail."

yep, that worked out great for the tea baggers. Their candidates were defeated, and those that got elected hired DC insiders as staff, and got corrupted immediately. Tea baggers will change nothing in DC.

"grass roots" citizens, even legit ones, can't compete with the high-powered, heavily funded, full-time lobbyists who buy politicians.

UCA has completely disenfranchised Human-Americans.

You, Darrin, and Wild Cobra should all get together. Then you should each borrow one of WC's guns, then you should each put gun in mouth..........then pull the trigger.


Your are FUCKING WORTHLESS on this site............I can only imagine how worthless you must be in real life.

[DarrinS]

You, Darrin, and Wild Cobra should all get together. Then you should each borrow one of WC's guns, then you should each put gun in mouth..........then pull the trigger.


Your are FUCKING WORTHLESS on this site............I can only imagine how worthless you must be in real life.



Is this the new civility I've been hearing about?

[johnsmith]

Is this the new civility I've been hearing about?

lol. I was hungover and cranky when I got on here this morning.........sorry about that.

[MiamiHeat]

Scott may be too modest to post this but he's been writing an excellent blog about the fight to get rid of restrictions on Texas brewpubs.

This should concern anyone who claims to care about small business growth. Your Texas politicians are stifling in-state business growth for the benefit of out-of-state macro brewers like Coors and A-B.

http://brewednotbattered.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/day-25-a-snowballs-chance/

Normally, behavior like this would be grounds for an anti-trust monopoly case, but what do you do when the government is the one creating/supporting the monopoly?

[MiamiHeat]

Thanks for posting this and bringing more attention to the situation, Spurminator. My industry is one that will never be able to compete in a battle of lobbyist dollars, so we must truly rely on grass roots support and the hope that the will of the people would eventually prevail.

Cheers,

Scott

You are in the age of the internet.

1) You have the favorable position of being the underdog, hard working small business. The american public is a sucker for this stereotype.

2) You can wage a propaganda war, and you would win. However, you have to be creative. Start a YouTube channel. Find your poster boy/face of the struggle, a small brewery, preferably family owned, that is struggling financially because of this. Make videos dramatic and designed to pull at heart strings, etc...

3) Start an organization in your area that will represent all small businesses in your industry for your county/state. You will be the spearhead and provide the soundbites/representation to the media if it ever picks up. Call it whatever you want, "American Small Brewery Protection Association" (name sucks, only example)

Just don't become another corrupted a-hole if you succeed and get approached for a bribe/buyout whatever.

[boutons_deux]

"when the government is the one creating/supporting the monopoly"

As Bruce Sprinsteen would sing it:

I Wuz ... Fucked in UCA!

I Wuz ... Fucked in UCA!

[Vici]

I don't see how that isn't a major lawsuit.

[Vici]

So what would happen if a restaurant wanted to sell only local beer?

[Spurminator]

So what would happen if a restaurant wanted to sell only local beer?

They can do that. But those local distributors are not legally allowed to sell their product at the brewery.

[boutons_deux]

"major lawsuit."

application of monopoly and other such business practices laws is purely political. You think Perry and his Repug thugs gonna go after big business?

[boutons_deux]

...

[Vici]

They can do that. But those local distributors are not legally allowed to sell their product at the brewery.

There is a restaurant here in Austin which brews their own beer and sells it on the same property. NXNW

[Spurminator]

There is a restaurant here in Austin which brews their own beer and sells it on the same property. NXNW

Sure. But you won't find their beer at any other bars or grocery stores.

You can either distribute or sell on site. You can't do both in Texas.

[Vici]

Sure. But you won't find their beer at any other bars or grocery stores.

You can either distribute or sell on site. You can't do both in Texas.

Ah ok that makes sense. Still, it seems like it wouldn't be a hard lawsuit. Especailly if the smaller breweries ban together.

[ChuckD]

scott, I visited your establishment, had a beer and a bite, and enjoyed both.

I think your best bet is social media. The political process is so completely corrupt that they need to see the grass roots support. It doesn't even matter to them that it's the right thing to do to free up the market. You may even have to build your social base, and threaten a Big Three boycott in Texas to get er done.

You may also want to see if you can contact HEB and get them on your side. Variety and choice increases their sales, too. They would be a political heavy hitter in TX.

[johnsmith]

Scott...what/where is your establishment?

[MannyIsGod]

I would doubt HEB would ever be on Scott's side to be quite frank. They're going to side with the Ben E Keith's and Budcos who don't want Scott taking up space in the coolers that HEB has because it takes away from their sales. HEB is going to sell more of those beers than anything Freetail brews for obvious reasons and the relationship with Ben E Keith etc is much more important than relationships with small brew pubs that fill a small niche.

[johnsmith]

I would doubt HEB would ever be on Scott's side to be quite frank. They're going to side with the Ben E Keith's and Budcos who don't want Scott taking up space in the coolers that HEB has because it takes away from their sales. HEB is going to sell more of those beers than anything Freetail brews for obvious reasons and the relationship with Ben E Keith etc is much more important than relationships with small brew pubs that fill a small niche.

I agree with you........but how fucked up is that? Go to any other state in the union and there you have Bud, Coors, Miller......right next to Fat Tire, Easy Street Wheat, Tommyknockers, etc.....and it works just fine.


Again, Texas.......full of Texans, and that's why it's gay.

[ChuckD]

Scott...what/where is your establishment?

http://www.freetailbrewing.com/

I've thought of an end run for future entrepreneurs. You have to start and incorporate TWO distinct businesses, a restaurant with a liquor license that brews NO beer on the premises, and a brewery in the mold of Real Ale that has no retail front end. You use the restaurant to distribute the beer from the brewery that you own, which can then be sold in stores too.

It's complete dirty pool what the Big Three are pulling here. If they can get and like your beer at a brew pub, they can't get it in a store. If you distribute only, no one knows what your stuff tastes like because they can't order it with their meal. I can see why they're running scared, though. Big Three beer is dog piss, and they're losing market share. Doesn't make it right, though.

[jman3000]

brisket pizza, along with a few freetail ales at freetails is bliss.

[balli]

All I hope is the brainless scum in the Utah legislature don't ever get word of this. Not that my locale has to worry about lobbyist influence from the bev industry, but shit, our state leg'd probably enact a similar policy just to... simply to fuck over the audacious local micro-breweries.

And that sucks for TX. Horrible, beyond hypocritical policy.

[MannyIsGod]

I agree with you........but how fucked up is that? Go to any other state in the union and there you have Bud, Coors, Miller......right next to Fat Tire, Easy Street Wheat, Tommyknockers, etc.....and it works just fine.


Again, Texas.......full of Texans, and that's why it's gay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm completely on the side of Scott here. I agree that its a total crock of shit. My reply was just in reference to the above post where it was advocated that Scott seek the help of HEB etc.

Its a huge uphill fight for these brewpubs because the competing interests have so much more pull.

[Spurminator]

doublepost

[Spurminator]

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/find-your-representative/

Look up your state rep here and send them an email. Also tell your friends.

This is the kind of law most people don't know about, but when they hear about it, there's pretty much unanimous and bipartisan agreement that it's fucked up.

[scott]

Just for clarification, it isn't the "Big Three" brewers (which are actually the big two in the US as Miller & Coors have an American Joint Venture called, you guessed it, MillerCoors) who are against this. I don't think they particularly care.

It is, however, the distributors of the Big Two that care. Because they see their sales dwindling, they don't want any new products (especially local products, which have an obvious marketing advantage) to compete with what they are already having a hard time holding on to. So they use the Alcoholic Beverage Code to restrict competition and protect their positions.

ChuckD and jman, glad y'all enjoyed yourselves at the pub.

Thanks again for the support, everyone.

[baseline bum]

It sucks, because I'd almost certainly buy Freetail if it was bottled and sold in Specs or HEB. I absolutely hate driving after even one beer though, so I don't like going to bars/pubs unless they're very closeby.

[scott]

The New York Times picked up a story by the Texas Tribune today. The Tribune version includes some charts on compaign donations.

Times link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/18ttbeer.html?_r=1

Tribune link: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-lobbying/lobby-and-lobbyists/small-texas-brewers-want-to-tap-into-bigger-market/

[boutons_deux]

The corps buy the legislators to block competition and screw the consumer the better? what a surprise.

[Duff McCartney]

I watched a documentary called Beer Wars...have you seen it Scott? It's basically about the fight micro-breweries have to go through just to get their product on the shelf when the big two dominate everything.

I think it's hilarious that at the beginning of the documentary at a bar, they put a sampling of three each of Coors light, Miller Lite and Bud Light and asked people which was their favorite. All of them were adamant about their favorite and none of them could pick the beer out of an unmarked glass.

I think these Miller Lite commercials that say "MAN UP!" are laughable. Man up to drink mass watered down swill.

I'd definitely petition to end this nonsense.