{"id":3557,"date":"2011-06-21T13:59:06","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T18:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=3557"},"modified":"2018-02-06T14:25:16","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T20:25:16","slug":"watching-wisconsin-would-new-glarus-deb-carey-walk-away-you-bet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/watching-wisconsin-would-new-glarus-deb-carey-walk-away-you-bet\/","title":{"rendered":"Watching Wisconsin: Would New Glarus’ Deb Carey Walk Away? “You Bet.”"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n KARL:<\/strong> I’ve been reaching out to legislators on both sides for information on any changes to the amendment and to try and suss out whether or not the Wisconsin Veto might potentially get a workout as it pertains to the craft beer language we found last week.\u00a0 You can find the results of that outreach here<\/a>, but I also reached out to Deb Carey<\/a> of New Glarus Brewing<\/a>, as she’s been the point person for a lot of other media pieces about this issue.\u00a0 She kindly gave us a considerable piece of her afternoon to talk about what, from where she’s sitting, is going on in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n I have been describing this as the “craft beer amendment” or “craft beer motion,” but Carey is calling it the Wholesaler’s Amendment.\u00a0 “That\u2019s what it is.\u00a0 It\u2019s really awful,” she said.\u00a0 “It cuts to the bone of what being an entrepreneur is all about.\u00a0 To lose your wholesale and retail license…that means we can move the beer around, but it\u2019s not our business.\u00a0 Of course it\u2019s a real loss.\u00a0 Some breweries are on the verge of distribution, [but] some only hold a wholesaler license and will be put out of business.”<\/p>\n One of the main points of the motion is a requirement to have 25 individual retail accounts in order to hold a wholesaler’s license.\u00a0 You might think that would involve getting a couple dozen Piggly Wiggly stores or maybe some gas-station chains to carry your product.\u00a0 You’d be wrong.\u00a0 As Carey explains, each account takes every store into consideration.\u00a0 “That means all the Roundy\u2019s stores is one.\u00a0 All the Food Lion guys, that\u2019s one.\u00a0 All the 7-11s, they\u2019re one.\u00a0 I mean, 25 separate accounts and a warehouse before you get a license?\u00a0 This is protectionism?”<\/p>\n With so many Midwestern states legislating in favor of craft beer, from the Minnesota “Surly Bill<\/a>” to Indiana raising the craft brewer limits<\/a> for places like Three Floyds and Sun King, to SB754<\/a> here in Illinois, would there ever be an instance where Carey could see herself (and this is exactly how I put it to her) taking New Glarus out of New Glarus?<\/p>\n Would I distribute out of state?\u00a0 Well, Illinois isn\u2019t that much better than Wisconsin right now, but would I walk away from the brewery because I\u2019m tired of arguing at the capital 4 or 5 months out of the year?\u00a0 You bet.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to be building a new warehouse.\u00a0 I want to hire more people…It\u2019s insane that any business should be regulated in the dark, on the fly, in the budget and not get to say word one about it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Let me just repeat that one little bit.\u00a0 Would she walk away from the brewery?\u00a0 “You bet.”\u00a0 Without putting any sort of particular intent in Carey’s statement, I should note that I believe this statement to be more a measure of frustration rather than any sort of threat to the state of Wisconsin, but the end result would eventually be the same.\u00a0 Would Wisconsin be better off without the likes of New Glarus, or with it?\u00a0 If you’re a small brewer and would consider leaving the state if this legislature goes through, feel free to email me<\/a> as well. Everyone who’s ever enjoyed a Spotted Cow might consider getting on that phone to the Governor’s Office and tell Governor Walker to get out that line-item veto pen post haste.\u00a0 Here’s his contact info.\u00a0 You know what to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We spoke to New Glarus’ Deb Carey about the ‘Wholesalers Amendment’ — would she walk away if it passes? Her words: “You bet.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[500],"tags":[376,936,359,378],"yoast_head":"\n <\/code> Illinois, for example, is open for business.<\/p>\n