Small BREW Act and Fair BEER Act Examined

There are two proposed bills through Congress right now and they are big news for the craft beer industry. Both bills bring revisions to the federal excise tax on beer produced by craft breweries. Under the current law, breweries that produce less than 2 million barrels (63 million gallons), must pay $7/barrel for the first 60,000 barrels they produce and $18/barrel for every barrel after the first 60,000. Breweries who produce more than 2 million barrels a year must pay $18 a barrel for every barrel produced.

The Small BREW Act

The Small BREW Act would revise these taxes by lowering the amount paid by breweries who produce less than 6 million barrels of beer each year. This number corresponds to the new “limit” that the Brewer’s Association puts on craft breweries. The original basis for the taxes seem to stem from the old definition of craft which limited the production to under 2 million barrels a year. This was changed in 2011 to accommodate for Samuel Adams’ parent company, Boston

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