Beer, many of us love it. I definitely count myself a fan. A nice
hefewiesen on a hot day while grilling burgers is one of the great gifts
of life. But stouts, ales, lagers, pilsners, porters, and bocks all
have their place. Variety is the spice of life, and beer. And that is
why craft brewers have sprouted up like barley shoots all over our great
nation over the last decade. It is a golden age for beer drinkers.
Never before have beer consumers had so much quality and so much
variety.
But the beer distributors are wary. Long a political powerhouse they
are not keen on these little breweries sprouting up and selling their
product directly to customers. Beer distribution is THEIR business
and they want a cut. As such, in Florida the lobbyists have come out in
force to get the government to force brewers to first sell their beer
to the distributors and then to buy back the beer at a 30-40% markup.
The beer doesn’t leave the brewery except with the customer, but the
distributors want a law which forces these budding beer businesses to
pay up. For nothing.
Sounds like the mafia, except it’s the government.
Read more here
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