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Farmer-Brewer License Change Threatens Local Breweries

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These aging hardwood barrels of the Utopias selection stacked in the barrel room of the Boston Beer Company, would not be brewed in Mass. under new rules by the state's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. (AP)
These aging hardwood barrels of the Utopias selection stacked in the barrel room of the Boston Beer Company, would not be brewed in Mass. under new rules by the state's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. (AP)

On Monday, the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission sent out a new advisory that beer brewers who operate under a farmer-brewer license will need to grow 50 percent of their raw material themselves, or buy it from local farms.

The advisory came as a shock to many in the craft beer industry. Though local small brewers often buy some of their raw material locally, Rob Martin, president of the Massachusetts Brewers Association and owner of Ipswich Brewery, says that the state lacks the infrastructure to produce enough malt and hops to keep all of the breweries going on local crops alone.

State Treasurer Steven Grossman will meet with brewers on Monday, and hopes to reach a compromise that will benefit small businesses and farmers alike.

Guests:

  • Rob Martin, president, Massachusetts Brewers Guild; owner, Ipswich Ale Brewery
  • Steven Grossman, treasurer, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

This program aired on August 5, 2011.

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