Raise a Glass

Tags

history, lists, Michigan, Prohibition

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the repeal of “The Noble Experiment,” Prohibition, with the passage of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. It’s interesting to note some of the consequences of the occasion as many states have considered or passed reforms to their liquor control laws, most of which are vestiges of this era.

In Michigan, a series of reforms has been debated over the past year. It appears the package of bills is being held up over a single issue dispute, regarding the unique Michigan practice of banning promotional items in bars. For non residents, that means you never see logoed glassware, napkins, coasters and the like in the Great Lakes State. That ban may or may not stay in force, but it’s fate is likely to determine that of the rest of the reforms as well. From our perch, we don’t care one way or the other on this issue, but do hope it’s resolved soon allowing everything else to move forward.

That said, it’s interesting to peruse some of the “odd” liquor laws around the country. Purposely created by the 21st Amendment, control is left to the states, which means that a patchwork of rules, regulations and goofy laws are dotted all across the land. Some of the dandies include:

• In Alabama, it’s unlawful to provide alcohol or tobacco to animals in public parks.
• In South Carolina public schools, by law, devote the fourth Friday of every October, called Francis Willard Day, to teaching kids about the dangers of overindulgence.
• Several states (Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah) permit only “low-point” beer—anything 3.2% alcohol by weight or 4% by volume—to be sold in groceries and convenience stores. Stronger beers can only be sold in liquor stores.
• Massachusetts bans “happy hour” specials. Bar owners get creative, though; since they legally can’t offer drink specials, they offer food discounts instead.
• Oregon allows bars and restaurants to offer happy-hour promotions, but ban them from being advertised.
• Growler laws vary state by state. Maryland allows only five establishments (all brewpubs) to refill growers. Florida bans growler refills altogether. Delaware’s governor signed a bill into law in May 2013 allowing liquor stores to sell and fill growlers on site. Michigan recently expanded growler fills to licensed bars & restaurants in addition to breweries and brewpubs previously allowed.
• Until recently, Virginia banned the mixture of wine and spirits…effectively outlawing a sangria.
• In Colorado, it’s illegal to be “drunk on horseback.”
• Utah liquor stores are run by the state and close at 10 PM.
• In Iowa, it’s illegal to run a bar tab (unless paying by credit card) or to pour any liquid – including water – down the drain in the presence of a police officer.
• 1989’s Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act (DFSCA) make it illegal for any U.S. exchange student under the age of 21 to drink in a foreign country, even if it is legal in that country.
• Kansas only made on-premises liquor sales legal in 1987, and as of today 29 counties still prohibit such sales. To obtain a license to run a liquor store, prospective owners must be an American citizen for ten years, a Kansan for four, can not be employed in law enforcement, and must never have been convicted of a felony, a crime of moral turpitude, or any alcohol offense… and if you’re married, your spouse has to meet the same requirements.
• Minnesota and Tennessee are so opposed to basic convenience that they forbid the sale of any non-alcoholic beverage in a liquor store, meaning that even the most basic cocktails require multiple stops to acquire mixers.
• Pennsylvania has some of the weirdest alcohol sale laws in the nation — no beer in grocery stores, six-packs can be purchased in restaurants while cases and kegs must be purchased from special “beverage outlets.” All liquor stores are owned and operated by the state. All beer brands and labels sold must be “registered” with the state as well, which often proves a nightmare for craft brewers.
• Alaska allows minors to drink alcohol, as long as it was not served in a licensed bar or restaurant and it was given to said minor by parents or legal guardians. In other words, they can drink at home where nobody should know anyway.
• In Missouri, it is illegal to put drugs in alcohol. No “coke” mixer for you.
• Nebraska prohibits any physical contact between the bar’s owner or employees and the bar’s customers, involving any kissing and/or any touching of either party’s personal and private areas of the body.
• In Ohio, it is illegal for sellers of alcohol to give you anything alcoholic for your birthday, anniversary, Christmas, or any other celebrations.
• Texas bars alcoholic bottle labels from carrying any design that can be associated with the U.S. flag, the Texas flag, or the armed forces.
• Members of the military can import more than one gallon of an alcoholic beverage into Florida without paying taxes on it, while average citizens cannot.
• In North Dakota, coupons are absolutely forbidden on sales of alcohol.

There are other goofy laws out there, but they all share one thing in common as to their origins: the Amendment passed eighty years ago today.

Apple Pie?

Tags

Beer, economic growth, education, Prohibition, spirits, taxes, wine

Perhaps you’ve noticed all the hard ciders suddenly on the market in your area.

To be sure, there are some great local cider makers who ply their wares from time to time. We had one about 15  years ago in our area known as Goldfinch Cider, made by the partner team of Black & Fagan (which was one of my personal favorites actually, made by real guys who gave a crap…but unfortunately no longer made as you can read in the link). There are others, of course, including older, well-known companies like Strongbow, but over the past couple years, there’s been a bunch of new names on the scene, such as REDD‘s (malt beverage, not technically a cider), Cidre, Vermont Hard Cider (a.k.a.: Woodchuck) & Crispin among others.  Wouldn’t you know it, but ALL these ciders referenced (and more) are owned by large brewers, including MillerCoors, Heineken, ABInbev, and others!

There must be a reason for this right? Well it’s all explained here: LINK
Rising sales, gluten free, appeal to the ladies, blah, blah…right? Well, there may be another reason: Taxes.

Not too many years ago, there was a wave of wine coolers that swept the nation. You may remember California Wine Cooler, Bartles & Jaymes, and others. A few of them are still around and they have alco-pops on board also, like Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Twisted Tea…remember Zima? Ironically, none of them contain any wine, despite the name, nor does a Bacardi Breezer or Seagram’s Twist contain any liquor. They’re malt beverages…just like beer. What difference does it make? Well…a lot.

Here’s the deal. Alcohol, tobacco and other products are charged a federal (and often a state) excise tax – it was actually one of the government’s largest sources of revenues before Prohibition and the lack of those revenues was a big reason for the 21st Amendment, which eventually repealed Prohibition. That excise tax varies by product, but we’ll go over the current Federal taxes for purposes of this discussion.

For brewers making over 60,000 Barrels (Bbl = 31 gallons) per year, which includes ALL the big guys, that tax is $18 per Bbl, or $0.58 per gallon. Small brewers pay $7 per Bbl, or almost $0.23 per gallon, with a small, sliding scale for brewers between 60,000 & 2 million Bbl annual production. Cider is taxed like a small brewer, basically at about $0.23 per gallon (there are some reductions also for small producers, based on Wine Gallons (w.g.) with the big guys paying the higher rate).

For comparison, wine makers are taxed on a sliding scale, based on Alcohol content, that ranges from $1.07 to $3.15 per gallon, with Sparkling Wine (or champaign) even higher at $3.30-3.40 per gallon. There are some discounts for smaller producers available, but all of those are at least double what beer makers pay and four times what cider makers pay.

For spirit makers, meaning liquor, spirits, and distillates, the Federal burden is even higher. They pay $13.50 per gallon at 80 proof, with adjustments for alcohol content. For the math challenged, this is over 23 times what beer makers pay and nearly 60 times what cider makers pay! (SIDE NOTE: This is another topic, but this excise tax is the reason that no true “ice beer” is sold in the United States, despite the image of Molson Ice, Icehouse and others. To remove ice or reduce the product would taxed as a distillate, and therefore, a huge excise tax increase or create a beer concentrate, which is forbidden by regulation.)

So for every “gallon” of malt beverage or cider a big brewer can sell to consumers, they claim not only market share and market dollars from a wine maker or a spirit maker, but they do so at a fraction of the cost in Federal excise tax, and in most cases, state taxes too!

Now, none of this is intended to be a statement on excise taxes or the propriety of their existence, nor to criticize there being a difference between various beverages. It IS, however, a statement against the further shady marketing practices of big brewers. Similar to the “faux craft” discussion that’s been raging in the beer world, the big brewers are in most cases hiding their ownership of these hard cider products and burying the fact that “malt beverages” contain no liquor and wine coolers contain no wine, yet are in most cases claiming the margin by selling “servings” at the same price as the competing beverage.

Maybe it’s no big deal, but we found it interesting and thought you might like to know.

UPDATE (5/17/13): A little review of Cidre. Comments British writer, Pete Brown, “Stella Cidre is nothing like a quality European dry cider and they’re basically lying to America by claiming that it is. For one thing it’s an Anheuser-Bush Inbev product and those guys take absolutely no pride, care or attention over anyth…ing they make. They’ve said on record they do not consider themselves to be a brewer, but rather a marketing company that happens to sell beer (and now cider).
Proper ciders are becoming more widely available of you know where to look. My new book, World’s Best Cider, co-authored with Bill Bradshaw, is published in the US by Sterling in October 2013 and has a chunky section on the US with around 40 recommendations, as well as sections on the UK, Canada, France, Spain and many more. Our favourites in the US included Tieton, EZ Orchards, Farnum Hill and Tandem. And then there’s Quebecois ice cider – an absolute sensation!”

…or Give me Death

Tags

Beer, education, Homebrew, politics, Prohibition

Talk about being stuck in the stone ages – no pun intended from yesterday’s post…

Alabama actually has a fight on their hands to finally legalize homebrewing, a safe, legitimate activity that most Americans have enjoyed freely since 1979.

LINK

I find the quote from Joe Godfrey, chief opposition leader and head of the Alabama Citizens Action Program, or ALCAP, most disturbing. You can read the full quote on the link above, but in part he says, “I’ve never met an alcoholic that started out saying, ‘I’m going to become an alcoholic.’ They start out socially drinking. They start out homebrewing and tasting.”

My response can be summed up thusly:

You, sir, are an idiot.

Memo to Joe: It’s already legal to buy beer, wine & spirits throughtout the great state of Alabama! In fact, that’d be radically easier and (at least initially) much cheaper than buying homebrew equipment, only to wait weeks to bottle, then secondarily ferment, so you can get hammered on your own beer.

A quick review of consumption and sales statistics would also back the arguement that homebrewers and craft drinkers consume LESS than drinkers of typical commerial beers, but don’t let facts and logic interfere with your “faith” that all homebrewers are future alcoholics.

Speaking of faith, is Joe aware that Jesus and all the Disciples drank wine? Or that the organized church was responsible for maintaining the brewing arts throughout the Middle Ages and into modern Europe? Or that the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth because they were out of beer?

Bottom  line is this: whether you care about homebrewing or some other issue, this is about basic rights to live free and enjoy your own legal activities in your own home, whether or not your neighbor would do the same. The next Prohibition may be something YOU enjoy, like french fries or an extra large Coke.

For more on the fight, click HERE for the actual bills and to lend support.

Corrupted Youth…or Enlightenment from Abroad?

Tags

Beer, education, health, Prohibition

Factoids:

Many high school cafeterias in Europe serve alcohol to their students who choose to drink.
(Brooke, James, School Spreads Alcohol Policy to Wine Sips in Paris. New York Times, May 31, 1998, p. NE12.)

McDonald’s restaurants in some European countries serve alcohol because otherwise parents would be less willing to take their children to them.
(Barr, Andrew. Drink: A Social History of America. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999, p. 124.)

***

Most Westernized countries allow youngsters to learn drinking with their families, typically at home and with a meal. Could it be that the U.S. philosophy of driving early, typically at age 16, and allowing drinking later, at 21, is contributing to “binge” drinking habits and sometimes poor alcohol practices in this country?

EDIT: News that casual chain restaurant Chipolte has added local craft beer to their menus in Chicago. Maybe the word is getting around?

Legal Hacks

Tags

politics, Prohibition

It’s only a matter of time before one of these cases is “won.” That verdict – absolving individuals of responsibility – will be the beginning of the end for the industry as it’s now known. Maybe that’s a good thing, maybe it isn’t. Regardless, it shouldn’t be for a court or nanny state to decice, in our view.

When they came for cigarettes, no one cared if they didn’t smoke. When they mandated seatbelts, people said it was for their own safety. They came after fatty goods, foie gras, hot coffee, football helmets, Hooters and a ton of other products and services that affect small groups of people. Now, they’re after fast food, Big Gulps (which finally has some people pissed off)…and, in the aforementioned case, licensed retailers selling legal products.

The lawyers & politicians are after money and notoriety, of course, but the price to the public is steep, despite their protests that restrictive laws & regulations and punitive lawsuits “protect” the public. In some cases, they do…but they also make some great products and services unavailable that responsible adults should be able to enjoy or access.

Family Affair

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advertising, Beer, competition, economic growth, history, Prohibition

“Regional Breweries” that survive – those in the traditional sense, old breweries that had a certain geographical following, such as Rheingold, Schaeffer, Goebel, Pfeiffer, Fox Deluxe, Blatz, Strohs, Hudepohl, Lone Star, Schlitz, Hamm’s, Olympia, Iron City/Pittsburgh Brewing among many others as examples – are in a tough spot and they have been for several decades.

From 1947 to 1958, 185 breweries shut down or sold out to larger companies. This period has been called the “Great Shakeout” of the brewing industry. Nearly all regionals have disappeared or have been absorbed by others – almost all of them that survive in “name only” fall under the Pabst ownership umbrella today, which are largely contract brewed by SABMiller/Coors, if at all. Many of them have disappeared entirely. By the end of the 1950’s, there were only 85 or so brewers still in business in the U.S.

Regardless, if they survived the shakeouts and pressure from their macro competitors, they have often been punished “from the bottom up” by the new wave of craft brewers beginning in the late 1980’s. They were often seen as “old” low quality products and the new craft brewers were seen as the local, quality choice by consumers looking for something different or more flavorful.

A precious few, Yuengling and Schell, have survived as family owned independents. They’ve done so by guile, luck and innovation. Whatever your feelings on their products, theirs is truly an American story. We thought you might enjoy this little autobiographical film from the folks in Pottsville. Some of it is “fluff,” to be sure, but it’s still a great story – and their Traditional Lager is still a darn fine session beer:

FDR

Tags

celebrity, history, politics, Prohibition

“I think this would be a good time for a beer.”

– Franklin D. Roosevelt, upon signing the Cullen Harrison Act on March 22, 1933, amending the 18th Amendment and effectively ending Prohibition.

The 21st Amendment, repealing the 18th and enacting a patchwork of state regulation, was passed on December 5, 1933.

Politics as (Un)usual.

Tags

education, history, politics, Prohibition

Ironically, the 16th Amendment (income tax),  17th Amendment (direct election of Senators), 18th Amendment (Prohibition) and 19th were all mutual goals of the Temperence & Suffrage Movements.
The Income (or direct) Tax replaced lost revenue from liquor & excise taxes (which had been one of the Federal government’s largest sources of revenue). Women’s suffrage led to a much higher proportion of the vote going “dry.”

Directly elected Senators were now inclined to be more responsive to the “will of the people,” as opposed to a more “conservative” and insulated appointed political class which had previously occupied the chamber.

Together, the two movements represented the most powerful and effective lobbies in American political history, claiming responsibility for FOUR Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

For a great read of the political pressures applied, read up on Wayne Wheeler, the attorney and activist who basically invented “modern” lobby pressure politics…or, even better, the fantastic Prohibition history Last Call by Daniel Okrent.

Those who Forget History are Doomed to Repeat it

Tags

Beer, history, politics, Prohibition

Speaking of “Political Dinosaurs,” how on Earth does this group get any coverage, much less be taken seriously?? Have they not been thoroughly discredited by history?

NEWS ITEM

NEWS ITEM

I’m quite sure that this “news” mention will actually generate some interest in their group.

As lesson #1, I offer the following:

“So convinced were they that alcohol was the cause of virtually all crime that, on the eve of Prohibition, some towns actually sold their jails.” –
Anti-Saloon League of America. Anti-Saloon League of America Yearbook. Westerville, Ohio: American Issue Press, 1920, p. 8. Cited by Mulford, Harold A. Alcohol and Alcoholism in Iowa, 1965. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa, 1965, p. 9.

For more tidbits on the complete nonsense of the Temperence movement, and specifically the WCTU, there’s some further reading here. Suffice it to say, there was more “emotion,” than “science” behind the movement.