{"id":18212,"date":"2015-03-30T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-03-30T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=18212"},"modified":"2018-02-06T14:11:22","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T20:11:22","slug":"craft-beer-legislation-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/craft-beer-legislation-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweeping Craft Beer Legislation on Tap Soon in Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"
Neither ABDI President Bob Myers<\/a> nor ICBG Executive Director Justin Maynard will talk specifics however the two have been talking. On the table for discussion, according to Maynard, is changes to the production cap on both breweries and brewpubs, self-distribution caps or self-distribution rules and licensing for brewpubs. The goal is to pass something comprehensive that would allow Illinois brewers to brew beer for a few years without having to look over their shoulder at production caps or come back to Springfield on a regular basis to renegotiate bits and pieces of the state’s Craft Beer Act.<\/p>\n If and when legislation is eventually introduced and passed, Illinois would join a growing number of states which are easing restrictions and opening up production caps for brewers. Lawmakers in Arizona<\/a>, Wyoming<\/a> and neighboring Iowa<\/a> and Indiana<\/a> — just to name a few — are taking up craft beer-friendly bills this legislative session.<\/p>\n Currently a craft brewer in Illinois is defined — in part — as one who brews 30,000 barrels of beer or less per year. Falling under that cap allows a brewer to self-distribute up to 7,500 barrels of beer a year and to own both a production brewery and a brewpub.<\/p>\n Revolution Brewing<\/a> has been pushing up against that production cap for a few years, finally surpassing that mark in 2014<\/a> and has the most to gain from a thorough re-write of the law — as does Atlas Brewing Company<\/a>. Both are operating production breweries and brewpubs and the future of those operations are in jeopardy if the law remains the same.<\/p>\n Rev Brew Managing Partner, Josh Deth, told Guys Drinking Beer<\/em> in February he’s eager for a resolution.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in meaningful discussions with the ILCC, ICBG and other stakeholders on improving the licensing climate for brewers in Illinois and we are hopeful that state regulations won\u2019t get in the way of our growth,\u201d said Deth.<\/p>\n While a bump in numbers, most likely in the production cap and perhaps in the amount a small brewer could self-distribute, is almost undoubtedly in the works the licensing rules are less certain. One issue both sides are trying to clear up stems from a re-interpretation of current law by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n