I have mentioned a time or two to my editor the complex, behind-the-scenes dealings involving lawmakers and the ever-growing world of craft beer.
Each time he has dismissed me with the same message: No one cares about growlers except you and a few brew pub owners.
That’s not true on at least two fronts. A lot of folks I know care about getting the growler law changed. And.I don’t really care for growlers. Yes, it’s absurd that Florida law does not permit breweries and brewpubs to sell half-gallon size glass containers, better known as growlers, of their product. That’s the standard size from Maine to California. Florida permits growlers, but only in quart (32-ounce) and gallon (128-ounce) sizes.
I’ve never been a big fan of growlers because I find them impractical and, to be honest, a tad disappointing.
Why? A couple or reasons. They’re a pain to lug around. Second, once you open a growler, you pretty much better finish the sucker; it loses its zip in a hurry. It’s not like having a keg that you keep tapping. It’s more like a sealed giant mug.
Don’t get me wrong. I have a quart-size empty growler waiting for its next opportunity to be filled. And back at my cabin in upstate New York are several more empty growlers, all half-gallon size, eager for a little love form the tap handle of my choice. But I have yet to bring home a growler, open it and share it with a buddy and have it taste as fresh and flavorful as that very same ale did sitting at the bar or standing in the tasting room. Something happens along the way. It’s a great concept that does not translate into the experience I want.
But that’s not where I’m going with this. As Florida legislators listen to pitches from various factions of the beer industry, I urge them to pay special attention to the craft brewers guild. It has far less juice in the halls of the Capitol than the lobbyists for the big distributors, who are used to having their way. They ensure that Big Beer – Bud and Miller and all of their countless, almost always tasteless products – dominate the shelves at every grocery and convenience store in the state. They are bullies.
But here’s why legislators need to think this through: There is only one segment of the beer world that is growing and that’s the craft beer market. For more than a decade, recession or no recession, former home brewers are becoming entrepreneurs and opening breweries and brewpubs. They are employing men and women and adding to our workforce.
This isn’t hyperbole; it’s reality. The Colorado-based Brewers Association tracks this stuff. Craft beer sales (and businesses) have grown by at least 7 percent every year for more than a decade. Sure, it’s still a sliver of the overall market. But it’s the only segment that’s growing.
I don’t have the numbers for Florida, but I’d bet a pint of Proof Brewing Co. IPA that the growth exceeds 10 percent during the past decade. Florida, long dormant during the early stages of the craft beer revolution, is now one of the fastest growing sectors, quickly making up for it one pour at a time.
Is the growler bill a do-or-die issue for Proof owner Byron Burroughs and his colleagues in the Florida Brewers Guild? I suspect not.
But make no mistake, they deserve to be listened to. They represent everything the governor has been preaching for the past four years as he campaigned and moved to Tallahassee following his election. They were ready to work even before he was in office. So why make it harder for them?
