Craft brewers raising a glass to Cuomo, legislature
Posted at: 07/19/2012 5:32 PM
By: John McLoughlin
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TROY - From one end of New York to the other, the folks who own small breweries and the farmers who supply them with the hops are toasting Gov. Cuomo and state lawmakers for delivering on what they say is badly needed assistance for their industry.
Cuomo signed it into law Wednesday the so-called "farm brewery bill." What amazes the brewers and the farmers is that Albany got this all done and wrapped up in just several months.
At Brown's Brewing Company in Troy there is high praise for a legislative process not all that accustomed to any kind of praise.
"The (advertising) campaign is out now saying that New York's open for business and you know what, this proves that to a great extent, that's the case," Brown's Brewing Company Vice President Gregg Stacy said.
In just four months, start to finish, lawmakers approved and the governor signed into law a measure that protects the state's 90 or so craft breweries from having to pay excise taxes as per a court ruling.
Craft brewers enjoyed a 15 percent sales increase last year while overall beer sales declined by one percent. New York's new law, they say, protects that growth
“So, I think for the consumer, it means a more selection and better beer,” Stacy said.
Steve Ammerman of the New York Farm Bureau says farmers are excited because the new law requires that 90 percent of the ingredients in beer -- most notably the hops -- must be grown in New York by the year 2024.
“It allows farmers to have on-site breweries and to have tasting rooms right their on their own farms,” Ammerman said.
Brown's Brewing will save $11,000 a year. That’s not exactly a fortune, but they say it's enough to help out with their new brewery in northern Rensselaer County.
