Boston Beer Company is on the verge of losing its craft status
The brewery that was founded in 1984 and makes Sam Adams is in a dispute with the Brewers Association, according to the "New York Times".
The Brewers Association, a national trade group, defines craft brewers in part as producing fewer than two million barrels a year. The federal government defines small brewers similarly, imposing a lower excise tax on those that stay under the two-million-barrel threshold. “If we’re not a craft brewer,” said Jim Koch, president of Boston Beer, “what else are we? We’re certainly not Budweiser.” Koch predicted that Boston Beer would surpass the two-million mark by 2012, according to the "New York Times". Hoping to maintain that status and keep their low excise tax, Koch went to Washington where Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and Idaho Senator Micahel D. Crapo are fighting for a bill they introduced six months ago that increases the yearly production limit on "craft" breweries from two million to six million barrels, wrote the "Huffington Post". (bmg)
