So in case you’ve had enough legislation for the week, here’s something different… Summit Brewing Co. is moving to pry-off caps next week. Though I haven’t bottled much homebrew in the past five years, I’ve always thought that Summit bottles would be nice vessels for homebrew. Unfortunately my first batch of homebrew was bottled returnables from Old Milwaukee and Leinenkugel’s. And yes, I drank the beer. With a little help, thank God.

“It’s time to give our customers what they really want—an easier way to get inside our bottles,” said Mark Strutrud, CEO and Founder of Summit Brewing Company. “We’ve received an increasing number of comments over the last year or so about how difficult it is to twist off our bottle caps, and we’re not joking when we say we’ve felt our customers’ pain.”

Amen. I hate twist-offs.

Well here it is folks… a nice breakdown of Surly’s point of view regarding their proposed brewery. They’re encouraging you to contact your local representatives in support. Read on…

February 15th, 2011

SURLY NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Surly Nation:

What a week! The news that we are planning to build a new destination brewery has had an amazing response. The ranks of the Surly Nation have grown and we are humbled by all of your encouragement. THANK YOU.

But as you know, not quite everybody is in favor of what we want to do.  The bill has not yet been introduced but already there is stiff opposition, with some people telling us we should go to another state and build. We don’t see that as an option right now so we need YOUR help!

Surly Brewing is calling on YOU to make sure state legislators know there is public support behind Surly’s effort to allow Minnesota brewers to apply for a license to SELL GLASSES OF THEIR OWN BEER at the brewery.

We are asking you to contact your state Representative and state Senator to let them know you support the Surly expansion– and the law change that’s needed to make it happen. Here’s how you can help:

Click this link and enter your address to find your state Representative and state Senator: http://www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts/

Email/Call your state Representative and state Senator (contact only YOUR district’s legislators)

Tell them you’re a Surly fan and you support the proposal to allow Surly to sell glasses of THEIR beer at THEIR brewery. Ask your legislators to join you in support of Surly and Minnesota’s other craft breweries.

If you call, it’s likely you’ll get voicemail or be asked to leave a message with your legislator’s assistant, which is just fine. And it’s ok to be passionate but remember to mind your manners. We’re trying to win these folks over to the Surly cause.

Tell your family and friends to support the proposal and contact their state legislators too!

THE LATEST

Since we announced our plans for the Surly Destination Brewery project last week, there’s been a lot of interest and excitement. But, there’s also been a lot of misinformation so we wanted to clarify what we are working toward and formally ask for your help.

WE ARE A SMALL BUSINESS WITH A BIG IDEA: We want to build a brewery that includes a restaurant, bar, beer garden, and event center, which will make it a destination for craft beer fans in Minnesota and across the country. The destination brewery will be another Twin Cities amenity.

WE ARE NOT LOOKING TO TEAR DOWN THE “THREE-TIER SYSTEM”: Right now we self-distribute our beer, but with the new brewery we are going to give that up and will therefore hire a Minnesota distributor.

WE ONLY WANT TO SELL OUR GLASSES OF BEER AND ONLY AT THE BREWERY: We don’t want to sell liquor, wine, or another brewery’s beer. And we aren’t looking to have multiple locations – just one location, at the brewery.

WE DON’T WANT TO SELL OUR PACKAGED BEERS: We don’t want to sell growlers, cans, or bottles at the new brewery.

WE ARE A PROUD MINNESOTA COMPANY: Some in the opposition have suggested that we build our destination brewery in another state, where the laws are more accommodating. While it’s true that we could get this brewery built in many other states, we don’t see that as an option right now. We want to build it in Minnesota—we are a Minnesota company and would like to keep it that way. Some of the country’s hottest craft beer brands have breweries in their states similar to the one we are proposing.

WE ARE WORKING TO FIND A SOLUTION: This a whole new world for us and it has proven to be an uphill climb to update the law so we can continue to grow our business the way we want to.  But we DO want to meet with the opposition to find a resolution. Our destination brewery will benefit Minnesota in many ways.

MINNESOTA IS A BEER STATE: Other states, such as Colorado, Wisconsin, California, and Oregon are seen as notable beer states and have breweries like the one we are proposing. They attract tourists, which helps other local businesses, including hotels, bars/restaurants and transportation. Beer tourism is becoming more and more popular. In fact, Surly founder Omar Ansari and his wife came up with the concept of Surly on a four-day beer trip to Oregon. And, the New York Times recently featured a beer trip one of its writers took to Northern Minnesota, which further confirms that these trips and craft beer are more popular than ever.

Thanks for your continued support. Now’s the time to connect with your friends, family and co-workers to help keep our proposal moving forward. Keep following us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/surlybrewing) and Facebook (http://on.fb.me/4I71Pj) for more news and ways you can help.

THANK YOU!

Omar Ansari

Founder of Surly Brewing

Great article from Tom Scheck at MPR, A Brew Ha Ha over proposed brewery?

Update: Here’s a response from Frank Ball, with the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association:

It’s pretty simple within the parameters of the three-tier structure we have in Minnesota. The manufactures make the product, the wholesalers distribute the product and we, the retailers, sell the product to the consumer. It’s even more simple if you say it the way my retailers say it: “you make it, we’ll sell it”…you make it ‘and’ sell it, we won’t buy from you”.The reason for the three-tier structure was to keep the integrity of the distribution of a controlled, highly regulated, commodity. Alcohol — like prescription drugs or firearms — is no ordinary commodity. In fact, alcoholic beverages are the only commercial products specifically named in the United States Constitution. Because our society recognizes the importance of controlling alcohol use and access, alcohol has always been treated differently under the law than most other products.

The manufacturers (breweries, vineyards and distilleries) supply distributors. Under the laws which created the three-tier system, each level of the system is independent of the others, ensuring accountability to the public as well as the benefits of healthy competition. By preventing tied houses (i.e. Retailers that sell the products of only one supplier), the three-tier system limits the number of retail outlets and therefore promotes moderate consumption, hence our position with the Surly matter. We want the Surly product to sell in our stores, we don’t want the manufacturer of a great beer to sell to the public, we’ll do that enthusiastically as possible.

Personally, I see “you make it, we’ll sell it”…you make it ‘and’ sell it, we won’t buy from you”. as unfortunate. Certainly these retailers don’t need Surly to stay afloat, though I wonder whether you’d actually see an all-out boycot of Surly products by MLBA retailers should the law get changed. Would you dump a product that sells well & that your customers ask for? “You don’t sell it, I can’t buy it from you… I’ll have to go somewhere else.”