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Utah boosts beer tax

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Utah legislators have approved a beer tax increase the goes into effect May 1. The tax on beer will increase from $11 to $12.80 per barrel, down from the $14 increase originally contemplated. Some of the revenue from beer sales and increased license fees will go to combat overconsumption and underage drinking.

Lawmakers also pushed forward the tax hike’s effective date two months to May 1. The early start will help generate revenue needed to balance the 2003-04 general fund, where most of the new tax money will go, in addition to building up the fund for law enforcement.

Arguments against the beer-tax increase focused on the fact that the existing $11 per barrel tax already raises more money than previous legislatures had targeted to help local governments fight DUI cases, and even then, lawmakers have raided those funds repeatedly to cover general expenses.

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Washington brewers protest tax proposal

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Small brewers in the state of Washington went to the state legislature this week to protest proposals that would significantly raise taxes on beer.

House Bill 1255 proposes to double the tax on selling bottled and canned beer from $1.30 to $2.60 per barrel. The bill would raise another tax imposed on all beer from $2 to $24.36 per barrel. Along with other taxes already in place, brewers estimate they’ll pay a total of $31.74 per barrel, an increase from $8.08, if the bill is passed.

“It is very anti-small-business,” said Crayne Horton, founder of Fish Brewing Co. in Olympia. “They`re going to pass that price on to the consumer,” Horton said.

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Wyoming defeats higher beer tax

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Legislators in Wyoming have voted against raising the tax on beer in that state, but in New Mexico a state senator has proposed a new tax and backed it with anti-alcohol rhetoric.

All this comes at a time when state governments are face tax shortfalls and looking for additional revenue. Proposals have recently been put forth in Montana, Utah and Washington.

In Wyoming, the House Revenue Committee voted 5-3 against at bill that would have increased the beer tax from about 2 cents to 8 cents per gallon. The bill, sponsored by the Joint Interim Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee, would have earmarked proceeds from the tax — probably around $800,000 a year — to help pay for the state’s substance abuse treatment plan, according to Rep. Jane Warren, D-Laramie, who argued for the bill.

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Historic Washington brewery doomed

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Miller Brewing company said Thursday that it will close its brewery in Tumwater, Wash., ending a 106-year brewing legacy and eliminating the last major brewery in the Northwest. Nearly 400 workers will lose their jobs.

The brewery is probably best known nationally for the brand of beer long produced beside waterfalls on the Deschutes River — Olympia, whose “It’s the water” slogan was famous in the beer world.

“Significant investments would be required to upgrade this facility to standards where other breweries are,” said Michael Brophy, a Miller spokesman. “We cannot justify the cost of its operations beyond the date that we’re planning to close it.” Miller company intends to keep the buildings and grounds in good repair with hopes of finding a buyer, but industry analysts agree there’s little chance that the facility will be used as a brewery.

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Micro cans big beer

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Oskar Blues Brewery ships a new beer this week in a container unique for a Rocky Mountain craft brewery. Dale’s Pale Ale, a substantial beer at 6.5% alcohol by volume, will be sold along Colorado’s front range in aluminum cans.

Specialty brewers in other parts of the United States and around the world already sell specialty beers in cans, but Oskar Blues — located in the small town of Lyons — is the first from Colorado.

“We like pushing the envelope and stretching the boundaries,” said Dale Katechis, founder of Oskar Blues. “We like hearing something can’t or shouldn’t be done and then doing it. That’s what craft brewing is supposed to be about.”

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