Gov. Jay Nixon Friday signed into law a bill that has broad implications for Missouri’s beer industry.
Senate Bill 919, which was opposed by Springfield’s Mother’s Brewing Co. and other craft beer producers, allows brewers to lease portable refrigeration units to retail store owners and stock them with the products of their choice, effective Aug. 28. It also allows licensed retailers, including grocery, liquor and convenience stores, to sell beer tapped on-site in growlers, receptacles that range from 32 ounces to 128 ounces, according to a news release from Nixon’s office.
Mother’s and some lawmakers took issue with the lease portion of the legislation, saying it favored larger breweries, such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, located in the district of bill sponsor Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale.
Schmitt and other proponents argued the bill helps the beer industry as a whole, as well as retailers, by making more cold beer available for customers. In February, a Facebook post signed by Mother’s owner Jeff Schrag said the clause is “an expense that small brewers simply cannot afford or compete against.”
Following Nixon’s signature, Schrag echoed that sentiment on
Twitter and in an interview with
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“This is about the slow annihilation of craft beer in America. They are going to do it by a thousand tiny cuts,” Schrag told the Post-Dispatch.
Mother’s
recently unveiled new packaging designed to create more consistent branding and, ultimately, move product off store shelves at a quicker pace.
