Shut 'Er Down

...and there was much rejoicing... yeah.

You may have missed it if you don’t live in the DC/Northern Virginia/Maryland area, but the Federal Government has been shut down since Tuesday. I assure you, it’s not as bad as the main stream media is describing. There is a lot of arguing, name calling, and virtually nothing is being accomplished, but how is any of that any different from usual?

As the shutdown was becoming a reality, the media pundits tried to convince us that this thing was going to have a very real effect on the local economy, including the craft beer industry. The argument was that with people not working and not earning money, less money would be spent and the economy would decline. This, of course, is nonsense, intended by both sides of the fight to scare and convince you that the other side is evil. It’s even more of an abstract concept in the craft beer world, as I maintain that tough economies are actually good for the beer industry. Simply put, people will spend their last dime on a product that helps them forget about their worries. Every time.

However, I have discovered that the Federal Government shutdown actually does effect the craft beer industry. This effect is not abstract, and is not contained to the DC local level – the effect is nationwide. There are two main issues for the craft beer industry to deal with during the shutdown.

They also make you use one of these annoying ink well
pens to fill out the forms... frakin government

The larger of the two issues is the Treasury Department’s Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) ceasing approval of new beer labels and recipes. According to the beer news site Beerpulse, an estimated 400 labels per day won’t receive approvals during the shutdown, based on the over 110,000 labels that TTB had approved over the course of 2013 through the end of September.

What does this mean exactly? By federal law, breweries are required to submit requests for approvals for new products before they can offer them to the public. So every time a brewery plans to release a new beer (new as in they never offered it before), they have to first get a permission slip from the overly regulated federal government. As long as the TTB is shut down due to its non-essential status, there will be no new brews at your favorite local breweries. This pain will not be felt so much at the bigger breweries as they don’t create new beers nearly as often, and when they do, they submit applications well in advance.  But the little guys will certainly feel the sting, particularly breweries like Bad Wolf Brewery in Manassas, VA, that release never before released beers all the time.

What difference does it make?

The other issue, which is perhaps more immediately detrimental to the health of craft breweries, is the Small Business Administration halting approval of new loans for the duration of the shutdown. This one means that until these executors and legislators get their heads out of their butts, new breweries will not be able to receive a small business loan to help them open their business. The craft beer industry, unlike most segments of our economy, has been growing exponentially for years, and shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. But the inability to receive federal loans will almost certainly slow that growth down. There are, of course, other funding streams to draw from, so this second one isn't necessarily a deal breaker.

This is not a political blog, so I will refrain from making this post any more political than it is already is. Needless to say, let’s hurry this thing along so our small breweries can get back to being uninhibited in their mission to give us locally crafted deliciousness. Stupid government.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!