A dark cloud hangs over craft breweries in Massachusetts. The laws that govern the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages are complicated and vary from state to state. In Massachusetts, a brewery who wishes to offer on-site tastings and/or distribute their own beer must have a farmer-brewer license. This license was originally thought up to protect farming in the state.
The issue that has recently cropped up (no pun intended) is that state regulation had not quantified what percentage of ingredients needed to be grown on-site. This could soon change. The state is now considering updating the law so that a brewery must source 50% of its ingredients from their own farms. The impact could be huge as craft breweries in the state would be hard pressed to grow that much grain and hop and therefore be required to get a different brewers’ license. Other licenses cost much more and could require small beer makers to enlist distributors burning much of their profit.
Barley farm Hop farm
Hopefully Massachusetts law makers realize the consequences of their actions and reconsider. This is a story we will continue to watch closely.
