Fixing beer
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
That’s the line I get most often here in Missoula.
We have three great breweries, lots of good beer from all over the world in our stores and plenty of choices when it comes to styles.
Life is good.
But can it be better?
For the last nine years I lived next door to a winery. I worked many holiday seasons as a representative of the winery at area tastings, and I spent many hours hanging out in tasting rooms and wine cellars with wine makers.
I watched the Oregon wine industry go from small, unorganized and unknown to a premier wine growing region with recognition and distribution all over the world.
What happened?
The Oregon wine industry, which began with the hard work and dedication of industry pioneers like Richard Ponzi, Dick Erath and David Lett, had to grow. It had to become what it would, and as the industry faced obstacles in the form of prohibition-era laws, state rules and regulations and the lack of infrastructure, men and women who started with little more than a few rows of pinot noir grapes became wine advocates and lobbyists. They learned to promote their product in their towns, counties, the state and eventually beyond.
Today, the wine industry in Oregon is a multi-million dollar industry that is a boon to the economy as well as huge tourism draw. The state actually contributes money for advertising so that Oregon wines get wider play nationally and internationally.
Oregon brewers took a page right out of the Oregon wine industry play book and began organizing a year ago. Today they are far from were the wine industry is in terms of recognition and economic clout, but they are growing rapidly and creating growth by actively promoting their product within the state and around the country. Oregon microbrew tours are starting to sell out like winery tours do. When brewers face ridiculous state regulations or proposed taxes, they find support in fellow brewers who share a common goal.
I think Montana is a prime place for alcohol regulation reform, and though our population is not huge, our breweries are amazing. There is no reason why this industry shouldn’t become a big draw for people visiting the state. What’s better than a great microbrew after a long hike in Glacier National Park?
Beer for thought,
GG
The Oregon wine industry is estimated to have a new economic impact, including all the trickle-down spending, etc. of just 1.2 billion dollars. Direct revenues are obviously much less than that (I don’t know the multiplier they used in the study last year, but it’s probably about $6:$1 or so). The full text of the study can be found at http://www.oregonwines.org. I don’t care if you delete this comment, just thought I’d pass along the factual information.
“I think Montana is a prime place for alcohol regulation reform”.
That is an understatement!
Let’s start with the archaic cabaret laws.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20041003/localnews/1347068.html
A system which inhibits economic development, creates a so-called lottery which ends up giving licenses to a few people who end up selling them at “market prices” much higher than what they purchased them for. So, not only do the national chains find problems with this system, Joe Montana who wants to serve alcohol in his restaurant CAN’t afford a license (even if one was available). So much for free market, expansion of business opportunities, and taxable business that MT could benefit from. It is simple, MT should provide license to anyone who can afford the price and regulatory hurdle at a set price for the size/type of business. Limiting licenses limits tax revenue. Hello?
Then there is the other aspect of alcohol laws…
aptly presented in this article from the Missoulian on why wine tastings are not allowed in places that sell the wine.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/03/11/opinion/opinion1.txt
Summarized here (quoting):
“Why?
That’s way more complicated. Even broaching the subject guarantees me a mean letter to the editor from the Montana Tavern Owners Association, a hospitality industry group that hates it when anyone talks about Montana’s goofy liquor laws. The reason wine retailers can’t host wine tastings is pretty much the same reason why new bars or restaurants find it virtually impossible to get a full liquor license – and ruinously expensive if they do. It’s the same reason it’s far more difficult and time-consuming in Montana than anywhere else for restaurants to get the most basic license to serve beer and wine.
Montana’s arcane liquor laws were written in the 1940s with a neo-Prohibitionist mentality but have evolved primarily to serve entrenched business interests, with the state using its vast police powers to protect quasi-monopolies at the expense of consumers and economic development.”
[quote ended]
The same laws make the sale of non-distilled malt products like Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA illegal because of a 20% ABV. The liquor store can’t sell it because it is beer, the authorized grocery store can’t sell it because it is too high in alcohol. Pulllease….
If you want to see proper alcohol sales at the retail level, don’t look to Montana. Drop into any grocery store in Portland, OR for beer+wine –they don’t seem to have any problems with providing beer like all the Dogfish Head products, regardless of ABV.(OR has liquor in state stores). Or visit a super liquor+beer+wine outlet in Denver, CO. Granted the population base provides the market for larger outlets with more variety, but the law allows the market to exist as it should.
I could talk about this issue all day, and if you ask anyone at the retail level (restaurants, grocers) what they like about this archaic laws, the inevitable answer is “nothing”.