BBQ Ribs are back.

 Thursday 5pm to close

We are featuring our award winning

Baby Back Ribs

With AYCE Ribs.

 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-smart-meter-letter-20100625,0,333441.story

 this is only a 1200% tax on alcohol drinks

The Brewers Association of Maryland will hold the Annual Springfest At

Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick on

May 29, 2009. Noon to 8 pm

Over 60 Beers

Live Music

& New this year is the VIP Hour

Click on link below for more information

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/team1/page.jsp?ymd=20100301&content_id=8634942&vkey=team1_t493&fext=.jsp&sid=t493

We are asking you to support America’s small brewers by making a very simple request of your U.S. Representative to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 4278.

Federal legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 4278 (link opens a PDF), seeks to enact a reduction in beer excise tax for America’s small brewers.

For small brewers brewing less than 6 million barrels annually, this legislation would cut the small brewer tax rate in half, to $3.50/barrel on the first 60,000 barrels, and reduce the upper tax rate from $18/barrel to $16/barrel on beer production above 60,000 barrels up to 2 million barrels.

Of the 1,525 breweries in America, 962 are brewpubs and 470 are the smallest bottling breweries, which produce volumes of 15,000 barrels of beer a year or less and sell their beers in local markets. Once barrel equals about 13.8 cases of beer.

The original small brewer tax rate of $7/barrel was established in 1976 and has never been updated. Since then, the annual U.S. production of America’s largest brewery increased from about 45 million to 107 million barrels and over 200 million barrels globally (or 1,240,000,000 five-gallon batches of homebrew!). Much has changed and the challenges small brewers face as small American businesses have grown dramatically since 1976.

Why is this a good idea?

1. A tax reduction will help grow small business breweries and provide greater access to the beers you enjoy.
2. Harvard University’s John Friedman’s study, Economic Impact of Small Brewers Excise Tax Reduction (H.R. 4278), (link opens a PDF), reveals that H.R. 4278 would also help stimulate job creation quickly and at a low cost:
   • The bill would generate more than 2,700 new jobs over the first year to 18 months, followed by an average of 375 new jobs per year over the following four years.

Please contact your U.S. Representative and ask that he/she sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 4278.

We have developed a resource page to give you the information and tools you need to make the case to your Representative for supporting this tax relief measure—and by extension, for supporting the small brewery businesses that are such a vital part of our local communities.

On the resource page, you will find a link to a list of current sponsors of H.R. 4278. If your Representative DOES NOT appear on this list, please take a moment and email your Member of Congress to ask them to cosponsor H.R. 4278.

If your Representative is already a cosponsor, please email him/her a brief thank you for their support of small brewers and you, the craft beer drinker and enthusiast.

Thanks for helping us advance the interests of all small brewers by contacting your Representative on this issue. Your active support is absolutely essential to our success.

 Barley And Hops are

Starting it off Right.

Sunday March 14 From 6pm til Close AT THE BAR we will be celebrating

The Selection Process And

 matching Basketball Wits.

 Drafts will be $1.50 from 6pm til close.

And Brackets for the Pool will be created.

See you there.

The sponsors are passing this bill off as a harmless proposal that Marylanders pay a “dime a drink” – which certainly sounds reasonable enough. They are also hiding the bill under a feel good Name “The Lorraine Sheehan Health and Community Services Act of 2010”   But if you look a little deeper, the true impact could be to increase the cost of a case of beer at retail by about $4.50 per case – anywhere from a 15 to 25 % increase in cost to the consumer.

For my brewery alone this would raise our tax burden over $120,000.  Since there is no way we could absorb that kind of cost increase, we would have to pass that along – hence your increase in cost to consumer.  This would certainly negatively impact our sales, and then translate into JOB losses.  And don’t forget we are talking manufacturing jobs here  – the kind of jobs the economists are telling us we want to keep.  It would be difficult to effectively outsource local beer manufacturing jobs to India!

This proposed beer tax increase is of course in addition to the increase we have already gotten on MD unemployment insurance.  However, if we have to lay people off to deal with these tax issues, I guess that means we can put that extra unemployment tax money to good use. And none of this deals with the negative impact that would faced by the hospitality industry and package stores.  Wow, I guess we can really put those extra unemployment dollars to good use.

Also, let’s not forget the inestimable benefit this tax increase will deliver to our good neighbors in Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and DC.  Think of all the Marylanders who will flock to those states to buy beer, wine, and liquor – saving fairly large dollars and making sure that all that money goes out of state where it will do us all a world of good.  Kind of makes you feel giddy doesn’t it!

You know it occurs to me that with all of the positives noted above the state might actually net fewer tax dollars as a result of this proposed tax increase.

Seriously, whether you are a beer drinker or not, this kind of legislation is more about small business rather than beverage alcohol.  Those of us in this industry are an easy target – they call it a “sin tax” remember!  But just because we are an easy target doesn’t make it either right, good business, or even more importantly, good tax policy.  We are collectively just now beginning to emerge from one of the most difficult economic time periods in our history.  This is NOT the time to take this kind of action.  Let MD small business get back on its feet, and then let’s look at options for balancing the state budget correctly – with broad based initiatives rather than penalizing any one industry.

To communicate to your state Delegate that you oppose this bill you can…

1) Click here

2) Enter your address and city and hit “Find Elected Officials”

3) The next screen will give you email links to both your State Senator and Delegates.

4) Send them an email today!  Please be respectful, but tell them what you think! 

5) Remember who sponsored this bill at the polls in November!