Armed with T-shirts, stickers, buttons and a new slogan, North Carolina craft brewers are fighting for their right to grow. Olde Mecklenburg Brewery and NoDa Brewing are spearheading a statewide campaign to pop the cap on beer distribution for local breweries.
John Marrino of OMB and Todd Ford of NoDa announced the Craft Freedom initiative during a press conference at the launch of Charlotte Craft Beer Week. Craft Freedom is a statewide effort to lift the cap on the amount of beer a local brewery can produce and distribute before it must hire a distributor. Simultaneous kick off events were held at Red Oak Brewery in Greensboro, Iron Clad in Wilmington and Raleigh Brewing Company in Raleigh on Friday. Asheville breweries also support the effort.
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| Courtesy of craftfreedom.org |
Forcing small breweries to cede distribution to an company results in a profit loss for local breweries and basically a loss of control on how/if their beer is promoted to potential vendors.
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| Courtesy of craftfreedom.org |
Lifting the cap will take effort similar to what we saw in 2003 when state legislators finally allowed higher gravity beer in the state. For 70 years, beer could onlh be a maximum of 6% ABV. Raising the limit is the reason craft breweries have sprouted like wildflowers throughout the state. Now, the craft industry must work together to educate the public, the media and legislators about the importance of raising the production limit.
Holla: sipandplayclt@gmail.com
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