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Report: Charlie Geren hates good beer
Remember that legislation that would allow craft and microbreweries to sell their beers on-premises as part of a tour? The one that lots of small brewers thought was a great deal but predicted would never pass because the big beer distributors are all-powerful and evil to an almost comic degree?
Well, it’s happening. Sources at the Lege say Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Ft. Worth), overlord of the House Administration Committee, is set on making sure the bill dies. (And even if it made it out, the clock is ticking on the session and Geren and Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, control the calendar.)
If true, this makes no sense whatsoever, which is what one reliably can count on from the Texas Legislature. Geren runs a barbecue restaurant with a bar, so he’s no Carrie Nation. And Miller does have a brewery in Ft. Worth, but Miller was reportedly OK with the legislation.
So: Huh?
Live Oak’s Chip McElroy, who’s fresh from a beer distributors’ conference, is surprised. “All these guys are singing the praises of craft beer,” he said. “They’re making a lot of money selling our beer. Trying to keep us down is backwards, old-time thinking. I am surprised they would want to shut us down on this…. “I’m surprised the distributors don’t understand the value of this to them.”
We’re pursuing a comment from Geren.
Privately, some small Texas brewers aren’t crushed that the bill’s prospects are poor if not grave. Giving away beer as part of a paid brewery tour was kind of gimmicky, they say. Eventually the law will change and the world might not end.
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