Posts Tagged ‘progress’

Ein Prosit!

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Raise a glass today to brewer’s freedom! Finally the state of Iowa has normalized our Prohibition-era alcohol control laws. (Well not entirely.)

As part of an administrative reorganization bill the Alcoholic Beverages Division has lost control of high-proof beers. Interesting to note that this was a cost-cutting bill, since one of the arguments for maintaining the status quo has always been the vast sums of money the state made by having its fingers in the beer trade.

I still can’t figure out the exact nature of the change. An article from Cedar Rapids’ KCRG might indicate that the beer will still be considered liquor, and one from the Daily Iowan is not very clear. Following their recent history of stellar reporting, the Des Moines Register announces the change by reprinting a press release from Olde Main Brewing Co. in Ames.

If you feel up to it check out the text of Senate File 2088 here. The relevant section is “Division IX – Alcoholic Beverages Division – Reorganization”, however I can’t see exactly where the important change lies. Any lawyers feel free to enlighten me. Otherwise I’ll get back to you when I figure it out.

But regardless of the details, the end result is that Iowa brewers will now be able to competitively make and sell the full gamut of beer styles. And that is most definitely a good thing. Look forward to daring new offerings in the coming months from Iowa’s craft brewers.

Huzzah!