Dear Brewe
My name is Eric Zamonski and I am a brewer born-and-raised in Dayton, Ohio. I am a graduate of the University of California Davis Master Brewer’s program, and have worked at various levels of the brewing industry on the West Coast. When I moved back to Dayton in 2007, I began researching the state laws concerning brewpub licensing. I learned that in Ohio, brewpub owners must pay the state around $8,000 per year just for the privilege of selling their beer. This fact alone is the reason why there are so few brewpubs in Ohio, and Dayton has none. Compare our licensing fee to Michigan: there it is just a $100 extra fee, and as a result they have a thriving brewpub segment.
I also learned that, in addition to being too high, Ohio’s license fees are also hugely unfair: where a brewpub is assessed around $8,000, a giant macrobrewer (like the Budweiser Columbus plant, for example) is only required to pay HALF OF WHAT A BREWPUB MUST PAY. This outrageous situation clearly disadvantages the small brewer to the benefit of the larger players. In addition to the amount of the fee, the law also requires brewpubs to relinquish their typical D-class liquor permit and apply for the A-class manufacturing permit, which is something a tavern owner shouldn’t be asked to do in the first place.
I spent a year contacting state representatives to see what could be done about this situation, and each rep gave me the same basic run-around: they graciously had their staff research it with me, agreed that it was something that called for a legislative fix, then politely told me they were just too busy to take on the issue. I was a slow learner, but I eventually read between the lines to understand that this was a simple political calculation on their parts: the benefit from changing an obvious inequity in this fee structure does not outweigh the cost of losing political contributions from the Ohio Beer and Wine Wholesalers (the distributors’ lobby). What leads to this inescapable conclusion is the fact that, in at least one year during the mid-2000s, the wholesalers’ lobby was THE SINGLE LARGEST CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTOR TO OHIO POLITICIANS.
As a result of all this, I have decided that the only viable way to rectify this situation is to start a grassroots movement to get a state issue on the ballot to create a separate, cheaper license for Ohio’s brewpubs. I have nicknamed this whole thing BLFO, which stands for “Brewpub License For Ohio” (pronounced BILL-foe). BLFO’s objective is to create a separate license just for small brewers in Ohio along the lines of Michigan’s law. In Michigan, if you produce less than 2,000 barrels of beer per year, your license fee is just $100, and importantly, you don’t have to give up your normal liquor license to do it, which you do in Ohio. By comparison, current Ohio law makes it so that Budweiser Columbus, which makes over TEN MILLION barrels per year only has to pay half what the tiniest little brewpub would have to pay. This is a classic case of politicians paying lip service to protecting small businesses while quietly protecting a tilted playing field in favor of the big-money players.
I have every confidence that the voters of Ohio will pass this issue since the only people benefitting from the current laws are the distributors, and to a lesser extent the macro-brewers. This distinguishes the issue from other recent ballot initiatives such as riverboat gambling or the smoking ban. Those issues tend to polarize voters, and there are strong, rational arguments on both sides. But this issue is about access to good beer, and leveling the playing field for the small business owner. Once the inherent unfairness lf the current license structure is explained to them, even non-drinkers tend to agree that it needs to be changed. In short, once this gets to the ballot, it will be a slam-dunk.
Now, how do we get our issue on the ballot? We need approximately 140,000 signatures. This is a big number, but as the recent Issue 5 union bill signature drive has proven, many hands make light work. With many people collecting signatures and spreading the word, we can easily collect all the signatures we need to get our new proposed law on next year’s state ballot---but we need your help. I am sending this letter to every brewclub in Ohio because I know that there is no more passionate, dedicated group of beer enthusiasts anywhere than you!
I have attached to this email a copy of the proposed new law, along with a formatted signature collection sheet and a topsheet that explains what it's all about. Procedurally, Ohio requires a ballot initiative to begin the process with an “initial petition”. This petition consists of 1,000 signatures and the proposed language for the new law, and is submitted to the Secretary of State for authorization. The state then has ten days to certify the proposed statute and at that point we will officially be able to begin collecting the 140,000 signatures. I believe that the signature sheets will probably need to be reformatted for the main collection, but for the 1,000 for the initial petition, the enclosed collection sheet is fine. Keep in mind that the signatures for the initial petition don’t have anything to do with the 140,000 for the main collection, so people who sign the initial petition are perfectly free to later sign the main drive form as well. The purpose of the initial petition is simply a first hoop they make you jump through so they can qualify your proposed statute as satisfying the basic requirements of a law.
Thank you all for your time and attention, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Let’s work together to get good beer on tap in Ohio!
Sincerely,
Eric Zamonski
PS: Please call me or email me with any questions you have about BLFO, the proposed law, or anything else that’s on your mind. My cell number is (937) 414-1662 and my email is
[email protected]. I'd love to hear from you!
Language of proposed statute:
A Brewpub License shall be issued to the holder of a current D-class permit, to manufacture on the premises up to 2,000 barrels of beer per year for sale at retail either in glass or other container, for consumption on the premises where sold; and to sell beer at retail in other receptacles or in original or other containers having a capacity of not more than five and one-sixth gallons not for consumption on the premises where sold. The fee for this permit is one hundred dollars per year. The D-class permit holder need not relinquish his D-class permit in order to be issued the Brewpub License.
Further Reading:
State liquor permitting classes:
http://www.com.ohio.gov/liqr/permitclasses.aspx
Ohio Secretary of State website info on process of “Initiated Statute” (issue drive):
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/issues/InitiatedStatute.aspx
I've drank plenty of that stuff over the years. I saw it was back on the shelves along with Java and Mokah. The Choklat is awesome too. Actually everything from Southern Tier's Blackwater Series is great.
Hmm, I have not tried it, but after seeing this I shall keep my eye open for it.
I'm going to brew a free creme brulee stout.
Bud Light is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better!!!
god another beer snob thread.
I'd like to try it simply because it's 10 percent.
bigdaddy2003;855821 wrote:I'd like to try it simply because it's 10 percent.
I had this at Melt a couple weekends ago but didn't think it deserved its own thread, so I posted about in on the beer thread. Awesome stuff...recommend it for after dinner.
Have had and yea its tasty.