A year and a week ago I mentioned a lawsuit in Illinois brought by Anheuser-Busch Inbev. The brewing giant was claiming discrimination because the state wouldn't allow it to buy a distributor even though in-state breweries were allowed to self-distribute.
Well, ABI won their suit. The judge in the case, realizing that the outcome would put an end to self-distribution for all breweries, gave the legislature in Illinois until May of this year to come up with law that would save the small brewers in the state from having to go through a distributor. The problem with distribution is that it is next to impossible for a new brewer to build his brand when he has to go through a third party that isn't particularly interested in nurturing a new beer. Why would a distributor go through that trouble if it already has plenty of brands that sell perfectly well? That, plus the additional cost, is just one more headache that a new brewery doesn't need.
Illinois lawmakers seem to agree. They are currently considering HB205 which would solve this problem. The bill allows breweries that produce fewer than 20,000 barrels of beer per year and brewpubs producing fewer than 50,000 to self-distribute.
It seems to have decent momentum but, there's a fear the ABI might dig into their deep pockets and fight it. I can't find any information about the brewing behemoth doing so. Lawmakers have until May to get this done so ABI may still raise its ugly head. One group, however, is actively opposed: the distributors. This new law would mean lost business for them. Their argument is the the barrel numbers are unnecessarily high.
Not surprisingly, I'm for this. I don't live in Illinois, although on certain days when the weather is just right I can literally see it from my house. Any law that can potentially help new brewers gets my support.
Check out Save the Craft to get more info about this issue.
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