Lawmakers hoping to help small breweries and farmers

http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2012-06-25-81871.113122-Lawmakers-hoping-to-help-small-breweries-and-farmers.html

By Brandon Quinn
Staff Writer

	Bills passed by the Legislature will aid expansion of the state’s craft beer industry by creating a farm brewery license, loosening restrictions of the State Liquor Authority on small breweries and granting tax exemptions to micro-breweries. By 2024, the new farm breweries will be required to use 90 percent of their hops from local farms. Photo by AP.

June 25, 2012

The Legislature passed three bills to aid and expand the state's craft beer industry last week by creating a new type of business license, a farm brewery license, giving tax exemptions to small breweries and loosening the restrictions placed on them by the State Liquor Authority.

In support of the measures, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said, "New York's craft breweries create fantastic beer, but just as important, they have a strong and growing impact on our economy because they create jobs, support agriculture and promote tourism," a sentiment echoed by all parties involved.

The first part of the three-pronged approach, the new farm brewery license, would enable manufacturers of less than 60,000 gallons of beer annually to sell their products at retail outlets for off-premises consumption.

In addition, such breweries can now operate restaurants and inns on, or adjacent to, the farm brewery property, allowing for profit from beer-tasting events and other forms of "agro-tourism" that have provided a boon to New York state's wineries. Off-premises "branch offices" would also be allowed, up to a limit of five such establishments.

Under the legislation, breweries can generate other forms of revenue by selling products at these restaurants or inns. The bill allows for the sale of "beer-making equipment and supplies, food complementing beer and wine and souvenir items," as well as additional items such as pillows made out of hops and hop-soap.

This part of the legislation is modeled after the 1976 Farm Winery Act, which tripled the number of wineries to about 248 within the state, according to Julie Suarez, director of public policy of the New York Farm Bureau.

Suarez said at the time of the farm brewery bill's proposal that the legislation will most benefit the Finger Lakes and Central New York regions of the state, which grow the most hops in New York. It will benefit the growers as much as the brewers, she said, because by 2024, those with farm brewery licenses will be required to use 90 percent of their hops and 90 percent of all other ingredients in their beer from New York farms.

In a press release lauding the passage, Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau said, "Beer mugs are clinking across New York state as the NY Farm Bureau raises a glass to the Senate and Assembly for passing legislation creating a 'farm brewery' license. This will provide opportunities for local breweries to prosper and it will expand markets for New York farmers and their crops, much like what happened in the New York wine industry when similar legislation passed in the 1970s."

In terms of tax credits, the new law would establish a dual approach to financial relief.

First, it would give tax credits for small breweries based on the amount of gallons of beer they produce annually, up to a maximum credit of $745,000. Only breweries that brew less than 60 million gallons per year are eligible for the credit.

Additionally, the legislation would waive the $150 per barrel label fee imposed by the State Liquor Authority for breweries whose annual output is 1,500 barrels or less.

Lastly, concurrent legislation was passed exempting both farm wineries and new farm breweries "from a costly and burdensome tax filing requirement," as described by Gov. Andrew Cuomo months ago when he first introduced the bill.

Presently, "All beer, wine and liquor wholesalers here in New York are required to report sales made to restaurants, bars and other retailers," according to a press release from the Governor's Office. Under the new legislation, farm wineries and breweries would not be considered wholesalers anymore, hence would not need to file their numbers.

"Our farm wineries and farm distilleries are small, often family-owned operations and they have struggled to afford the costs of complying with this annual reporting," said Darrel Aubertine, commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets, when the legislation was first proposed.

Breweries will still have to keep records of how much beer they sell to individuals, wholesalers and retailers for Tax Department audit purposes, but would not need to file the paperwork.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver praised the passage of the agreed upon measures, saying "These measures will help create jobs, revitalize our local economies, and produce another great 'Made in New York' product. By enacting a brewers' tax credit, creating a State Liquor Authority beer label registration fee exemption for small breweries, and creating a new farm brewery license, we are supporting the future of a growing industry in the Empire State."

Sen. Joe Griffo, R-Rome, added, "Agriculture is one of the oldest industries in the state and this bill combines it with craft breweries, which is one of the fast growing. Promoting craft breweries and agriculture is common sense and good economic policy."

The Bier Abbey

It really has been worth the wait.  The Bier Abbey did not disappoint.  Best draft list  around the Tri Citys.   I had a Ichtegrem Grand Cru from the Strubbe Brewery and a  Bons Voeux from the La Brasserie-Dupont Brewery with my corn meal and wheat beer battered haddock.   With two beers pouring on Nitro I had to have 4oz er of  Left Hand Sawtooth before I left.  Elisabeth and George are waiting to serve you. What are you waiting for?  

Hop Events

Beer Here: Brewing New York's History

Bar tray, 1900–1930. The New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bella C. Landauer, 2002.1.3205

To consider the fascinating yet largely anonymous legacy of beer brewing in New York City, the New-York Historical Society presents Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History. This exhibit surveys the social, economic, political, and technological history of the production and consumption of beer, ale, and porter in the city from the seventeenth century to the present.

In the past three decades, New York City has become an important center of craft and home beer brewing. While this phenomenon began only after President Jimmy Carter signed into law an act that legalized home-brewing, the growth of New York’s present beer industry also marks the resurgence of a long-standing tradition known to few outside the world of beer aficionados. Beer has been brewed in New York City and State since the days of its earliest European settlement, when it was a vital source of nourishment and tax revenues. Brewing continued locally and statewide throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and for much of the nineteenth century New York State was home to one of the country’s largest brewing industries. Early nineteenth-century development of New York State’s hop farming industry was vital to this growth, and from the 1840s through the 1880s the state was the largest producer of hops in the United States.

Exhibit sections explore such topics as: the nutritional properties of colonial beer and early New York brewers in the age of revolution; infrastructure innovations and the importance of access to clean water; large-scale brewing in nineteenth-century New York and the influence of immigration; the influence of temperance and impact of prohibition; bottling, canning, refrigeration and other technological advances; and the state of the city’s breweries in the age of mass production. Featured artifacts and documents include: a 1779 account book from a New York City brewer who sold beer and ale to both the British and patriot sides; sections of early nineteenth-century wooden pipes from one of the city’s first water systems; a bronze medal that commemorates an 1855 New York State temperance law; beer trays from a variety of late nineteenth-century brewers; sign from the campaign to repeal prohibition; and a selection of advertisements from Piels, Rheingold and Schaefer, beloved hometown brewers. The exhibit concludes with a beer hall that features a selection of favorite New York City and State artisanal beers. The beer hall hours are:

Tuesday-Thursday and Saturdays: 2pm–6pm
Fridays: 2pm–8pm
Sundays: 2pm–5pm

Beer Here: Brewing New York's History is proudly sponsored by Crown Holdings, Inc. Additional support is provided by Brooklyn Brewery and Heartland Brewery.

The Festival

http://thefestival2012-atom.eventbrite.com/

Hop Chef Albany

 June 6th at the Pearl Event Centre was Brewery Ommegang's Hop Chef competition.  The event feachers eight local chefs pairing and cooking with Ommegang beers.

Jamie Ortiz serving Rare of the Dog Rare Vos and Faux Egg Shooter with a Honey Thyme Bacon Chaser

 Rachel Mabb and the ladies of Bitches Kitchen Serving up Chili Shrimp & Sausage Wonton in Hennepin Broth

 DP interviewing Elliot Cuniff Executive chef of the Colonie Country Club

Chef Aj Jayapal's Rare Vos-Infused Miss Sydney's Marinated Pork Tenderloin, Malted Savory Waffle, Rare Vos-Braised Fresh Sauerkraut of Apple, Bacon and Cabbage, Earthquake Mayo.

Gnome Week