Brewery talks making headway
Talks between tavern owners and microbreweries appear to be making progress, as a coalition representing a large portion of the Montana alcohol beverage industry recently announced a draft solution.
Beer brewers in Montana originally operated as manufacturers for taverns, but in 1985 the Legislature allowed brewers to give away samples of their product in sample rooms as a marketing tool.
As strong interest in microbreweries spread across the Pacific Northwest, restrictions were eased further. In 1999, the Legislature allowed sample rooms to sell 48 ounces of beer per customer between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Since then, some breweries have grown to full-scale retail establishments, selling 100 percent of their product on premise. The result has been a growing conflict with tavern owners.
Montana tavern owners took their complaints about microbreweries to the legislature’s House Business and Labor Committee on March 26, 2013, claiming the new businesses have become full-scale retail establishments with too few restrictions. Both sides presented their case in a packed meeting.
The tavern owners expressed support for House Bill 616, which called for new licensing requirements and would require breweries with retail sales to purchase a $100,000 license.
Microbrewery representatives labeled the measure a “job-killing bill” and called for support of House Joint Resolution 18, which called for an interim study of the issue to reconcile the differences between the groups. Farmers who sell grain to Montana breweries also opposed HB 616 No action was taken on either bill.
Coalition members have met four times since the 2013 Legislature ended. They recently completed a plan that would allow brewers to hold one beer license or one liquor license and for bars to hold one brewery license.
Under current law, businesses can hold only one type of license. Brewers could go out on the open market and purchase an existing beer license. The plan would need to go before the Montana Legislature for approval next year.
Beer making in Montana has really taken off in recent years. By 2012, Montana had the second-highest number of small breweries per capita in the country. Five of the state’s 35 breweries are in Flathead and Lake counties.
With sales doubling and needing more room, Flathead Lake Brewing is moving from Woods Bay on Flathead Lake to Bigfork. Kalispell Brewing recently opened its doors on Main Street in Kalispell. Meanwhile, Desert Mountain Brewing closed its business in Columbia Falls, but locals Darin and Carla Fisher have purchased the equipment with plans to eventually start a brewery here.
According to a 2012 report by the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, craft brewing in Montana provided 430 jobs, $50 million in private sector sales, $9.8 million in private nonfarm compensation, $1.8 million in government compensation and $1.5 million in state government revenues.
The report notes that other sectors of the economy benefited from the brewery industry — 29 jobs in state and local government, 24 jobs in construction, 14 jobs in retail, 10 jobs in healthcare and 38 additional jobs in other sectors.