Attention Fellow Beer Snobs

As you Texas beer drinkers know (or should know) Texas has some of the most archaic and backward beer laws in the country.  Among the multitude of ridiculous beer laws were those written to protect the big brewers from incursions by small brewers and allows the people running the TABC to collect large re-election donations from the big brewers that they are trying to protect.  Representative Mike Villarreal is introducing a bill to shake those complacent asses out of their stupor and gives some breathing room to the little guy for a change.  I implore you to go to the link below and sign the petition that could open the doors to allow more and better micro-breweries into our cultural desert.  It reads as follows:

To: Texas Legislators

Texas House Bill 660, filed by Representative Mike Villarreal in the 82nd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, would be a game changer for Texas Craft Beer.

Currently Texas brewpubs are not allowed to sell to wholesalers, distributors or retailers for resale. That means you can't find beer from any of Texas' amazing brewpubs at your local grocery store, restaurant or bar. Meanwhile, out-of-state brewpubs are free to have their beer distributed all over the state.

HB 660 would finally allow Texas brewpubs to play on an even playing field. The exact specifics of the bills are:

*Would allow Texas brewpubs to sell to wholesalers and distributors for resale
*Change the existing 5,000 barrel/year limit to apply only to on-premise sales to the ultimate consumer
*Lift the overall production limit to 75,000 barrels/year
*Allow brewpubs to self-distribute to retailers so long as their total annual production is less than 10,000 barrels.

The law will not only help our state's brewpubs (which are almost all independently owned small businesses), but it would give distributors incremental sales volume, allow retailers to highlight local products, and give consumers access to the products they desire.

Facing a $27 billion budget shortfall, HB 660 also benefits our State by increasing the tax base as breweries grow.

http://www.petitiononline.com/TXHB660/petition.html

Please go to the site now and sign away.
Thank You.