Brewers Find ABCC Ruling Sobering
The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission ruled Tuesday that any brewery in Massachusetts holding a farmer-brewer license - which many of the breweries in Central Massachusetts do - must grow or buy at least 50 percent of the ingredients for its beers in Massachusetts.
Local brewers said the mandate is an unreasonable one because there are not enough distributors of grains and hops to supply all the breweries in Massachusetts. They are also worried that the ruling will add costs and restrict their ability to give tours and tastings.
"If this ruling stays in place it will hurt a lot of breweries," said Ben Roesch, owner of Wormtown Brewery in Worcester.
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The ABCC, which is the state regulatory agency for alcoholic beverage production and sales, issued the ruling as part of an application from the Idle Hands Brewery in Everett.
Idle Hands proposed to open a brewery in an industrial park in Everett using a farmer-brewer license. The backers of the brewery estimated that it would receive less than 10 percent of its ingredients from Massachusetts distributors and would not grow any ingredients on site.
In denying the brewery's application, the three ABCC commissioners noted that it would require all future farmer-brewer license holders to prove that at least half of the ingredients used to make their beer are produced on site, or purchased from Massachusetts growers.
The ABCC noted it will apply the ruling to all brewers that are up for renewal at the end of the year.
Brewers do have other options besides a farmer-brewer license, including the manufacturer's or pub-brewery licenses.
Unlike the farmer-brewer license, a manufacturer's license does not allow the sale of beer on the site of the brewery. The pub-brewery license requires most of the beer to be consumed on site and is meant for restaurants or bars.
The Massachusetts Brewers Guild wrote in an email to members that a manufacture's license can cost up to $10,000, as opposed to about $500 for a farmer-brewer license.
"This unilateral decision on the part of the members of the ABCC makes no economic sense," states the letter from the guild.
Ned LaFortune, owner of Wachusett Brewery in Westminster, the largest brewery in Central Massachusetts, could not be reached for comment on the ruling this morning. His staff said he was in Boston to meet with members of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild to discuss the ruling.
It's not just established breweries like Wachusett and Wormtown that are reacting to the ABCC ruling. One of the newest breweries in Central Massachusetts is worried about the regulation as well.
Jack's Abby Brewing just opened in Framingham, but that might not have been the case if the ruling had come out earlier, according to one of the company's founders, Sam Hendler.
Hendler said it is unrealistic for the brewery to be able to buy half of its ingredients from Massachusetts sellers. There are simply not enough malt and hops produced in the Bay State to support all of the breweries. Having a manufacturer's license would cost the brewery more money and Hendler said he's unsure if the company will be able to develop a relationship with a distributor in time for the company's license renewal at the end of the year.
"If this ruling had come out a year ago, we wouldn't have opened in this state," he said.
The ABCC decision was made with "an eye toward encouraging agriculture and farming" in Massachusetts, said Alethea Harney, a spokesperson for the ABCC.
Because Idle Hands was proposing to set up a brewery in an industrial park, the commission did not believe it fell in line with the farmer-brewer license requirements, she said.
In an effort to clarify the laws, the ABCC issued the advisory, which calls for farmer-brewers to obtain half of their ingredients from within Massachusetts, or be produced on site, she said.
Officials from the state treasurer's office, which oversees the ABCC, expect to meet with craft brewers next week to discuss the situation and work toward a "reasonable working" solution, she said.
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