• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

The Economist weighs in on Brewers Association vs. Beer Institute on excise tax

May 9, 2013Keith Gribbins

Beer money cans
The Brewers Association and Beer Institute sit on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to beer and taxes.

The Economist is one of the most prestigious publications in the world, and when we’re not reading about brew news, we’re often pursuing those pages of the famous London-based international affairs magazine. This week, The Economist posted a nice feature article on the craft brewing industry in America, talking about Big Beer vs. Craft and the Brewers Association vs. Beer Institute on the excise tax (among other things).

Way back in February, as the 113th Congress got underway, we noted the reintroduction of H.R. 494, the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act (Small BREW Act) in the House of Representatives. The bipartisan legislation, which was reintroduced by Representatives Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), seeks to re-calibrate the federal beer excise tax that small brewers pay on every barrel of beer they produce.

Under current federal law, brewers making less than 2 million barrels (bbls) annually pay $7 per barrel on the first 60,000 bbls they brew, and $18 per barrel on every barrel thereafter. The Small BREW Act would create a new rate structure that reflects the evolution of the craft brewing industry. The rate for the smallest brewers and brewpubs would be $3.50 on the first 60,000 bbls. For production between 60,001 and 2 million bbls the rate would be $16 per barrel. Any brewer that exceeds 2 million bbls (about 1 percent of the U.S. beer market) would begin paying the full $18 rate. Breweries with an annual production of 6 million bbls or less would qualify for these tax rates.

Two big brewing associations sit on opposite sides of the fence. We let The Economist continue:

As the craft-beer industry grows, the Brewers Association thinks more of its members will join Boston Beer on the wrong side of the tax code. So it is pushing Congress to pass a bill that would raise the excise-tax bar to 6 million barrels a year. In March, hundreds of small-brewery owners took their case to Congress. But the Beer Institute, which represents big and small brewers alike, unsurprisingly favors a different bill that would cut the excise tax for the whole industry.

Opponents of slashing the excise tax, which has not been adjusted since 1991, note that inflation has already reduced its potency. Moreover, some see higher alcohol taxes as a way to increase revenues. But others are sympathetic to the Beer Institute’s claim that taxes have become the most expensive ingredient of beer. Hence, perhaps, the bitter taste of some brews.

The article’s titled “A Brewing Fight” and is definitely worth a read. We’ll keep you updated on the excise tax as more information becomes available.

BEER Act excise tax legislation introduced to the House, BA sounds off
capital hill in the sky
Congress reintroduces Small BREW Act (we start slow clap)
beer american flag
The BEER Act vs. the Small BREW Act: What’s the difference?
Small BREW Act Senate
Small BREW Act reintroduced into the Senate

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Craftpeak launches Square integration within its digital storefront
  • Why (and how) Cabarrus Brewing will stick with online sales post-lockdown
  • Marketing Idea of the Week: CraftHaus Brewery’s scratch ‘n sniff cans
  • Portland Cider Co. donates $12,500 to Hunger-Free Schools

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • libdib online beer distributorWhy (and how) Cabarrus Brewing will stick with online sales post-lockdown
    February 25, 2021
  • craft beer consumer tastesCraft Beer Consumer Habits in February 2021: Are on-site attitudes changing?
    February 24, 2021
  • No and low alcohol beer grew 30+ percent last year, now enjoy some big haps in the NA beer sector
    February 23, 2021
  • How to Seduce a Distributor: The importance of branding, common misconceptions and automatic disqualifiers
    February 22, 2021
  • I would totally sit in a hot tub of hops and drink chill pints at this new beer spa in Denver
    February 18, 2021
  • truly hard seltzer‘Truly’ crushing it: Boston Beer nets over $1.7 billion in 2020 revenue
    February 18, 2021

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2021 · CBB Media LLC

Continue ...

sponsored by