See
Government shutdown side effect: no new craft beers by Carrie Antlfinger and Todd Richmond of the Associated Press. Excerpt:
"The federal government shutdown could leave America’s craft brewers with a
serious hangover.
Stores will still offer plenty of suds. But the shutdown has closed an
obscure agency that quietly approves new breweries, recipes and labels, which
could create huge delays throughout the rapidly growing craft industry, whose
customers expect a constant supply of inventive and seasonal beers.
Mike Brenner is trying to open a craft brewery in Milwaukee by December. His
application to include a tasting room is now on hold, as are his plans to file
paperwork for four labels over the next few weeks. He expects to lose about
$8,000 for every month his opening is delayed.
‘‘My dream, this is six years in the making, is to open this
brewery,’’ Brenner said. ‘‘I’ve been working so hard, and I find all these great
investors. And now I can’t get started because people are fighting over this or
that in Washington. ... This is something people don’t mess around with. Even in
a bad economy, people drink beer.’’
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is a little-known arm
of the Treasury Department. The agency will continue to process taxes from
existing permit holders, but applications for anything new are in limbo."
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