A Show for the Little Guys (no, not Doc) Sunday, Oct. 25th

[Brewcaster J]

This week we are proud to bring you a show about the little guys! Now, we founded the BN on the little guys, but some have forgotten how truly important local beer is with the rising popularity of "Craft Beer" in general. First we welcome Anat Baron, the woman behind the film Beer Wars to talk about the movie and why it was made. Then we'll talk to Peter Hoey, formerly of the recently closed Sacramento Brewing Company about how local beer is still in trouble and about his new venture as well. And we've got more in store so stay tuned. This could be the most important topic we've ever covered.

Tune in, join the chat room or call 888.401.BEER to ask questions and watch the studio cam @ www.justin.tv/brewingnetwork

[TheDarkSide]

Pennichuck Brewery here in NH almost closed, but I guess they are still open after a last minute investor stepped up.

Come on everybody...DRINK MORE CRAFT BEER!!!

[Evan B]

sounds like an awesome show! Lookin forward to it

[TheMadHopper]

Looking forward to the show. Especially Anat Baron. She did a great job on Beer Wars. Would love to hear her talk about it.

[leaky_porch]

I'd love to hear an interview with a nanobrewery like Schooner Exact:
http://cityguides.msn.com/articles/city ... &gt1=24000

I know a lot of folks are considering that path as an alternative to going pro full-time.

[ApresSkiBrewer]

Are there still screenings of this? I missed it, but would love to find a way to see it/buy it, etc. Anyone know?

[Jaeger48]

I bought a copy off the beer wars website. I think that JP brought it up at some time that the movie helps illustrate some (not most but some) problems facing craft brewers but doesn't offer any solutions. A movie like this has the capability to offer solutions that people in the industry can take up.

Personally I'd like to see and participate in law reform/simplification process.

[passlaku]

I bought a copy off the beer wars website. I think that JP brought it up at some time that the movie helps illustrate some (not most but some) problems facing craft brewers but doesn't offer any solutions. A movie like this has the capability to offer solutions that people in the industry can take up.

Personally I'd like to see and participate in law reform/simplification process.

Reforming the distribution system would be a good start but that is done in a piecemeal, state-by-state way because every state has different laws. The Illinois Liquor Distribution law, was actually blamed for driving Bell's out of the Chicago market because:

State law says that a distributor can drop (or better yet, sell the rights to) a brewery at any time. But outside of identifying "just cause" like gross professional misconduct--such as selling beer past its sell-by date--there's no easy way for a brewery to dump its distributor. It happens rarely--multiple industry sources couldn't cite a single example. Approximately 30 states have similar laws, known as franchise laws. Illinois's, called the Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act, dates back to 1982. It was originally established to protect little distributors from big brewers: if a brewer wanted to leave its distributor, the distributor was entitled to compensation, a sort of alimony, if you will. "The law was designed when we didn't have craft beers and the brewers were a lot bigger than the distributors," says Jim Ebel. Now "the distributor has more power over the supplier than he's ever had before."

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/by ... oid=923858