Small brewers bill introduced by Senators Kerry and Crapo

Beer brings the U.S. Congress together at least on small matters involving small brewers.  On Wednesday, March 16 Senator Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Crapo (R-ID) introduced Senate bill S 534 which reflects the same initiative which was introduced in the prior session of Congress (S 3339).

The extraordinary news about this bill is that it is truly bipartisan with18 original co-sponsors, 9 of which are Democrat and 9 of which are Republicans.   Name me a bill in Congress that has that many co-sponsors on both side of the table.

Truly the idea that small craft brewers are growing, creating jobs and contributing in small and big ways to the recovery of the American economy is a strong message most people will raise beer in toast to.  The 1,700+ small American breweries account for about 5 percent of all the beer enjoyed in the United States and 50% of brewery jobs.

The bill would reduce the small brewer rate on the first 60,000 barrels by 50 percent (from $7.00 to $3.50/barrel) and institute a new rate $16.00 per barrel on beer production above 60,000 barrels up to 2 million barrels. Breweries with an annual production of 6 million barrels or less would qualify for these tax rates.