We are the best home brewing equipment, nano brewery equipment and commercial beer brewing equipment manufacturer and factory china.
Wemac beer
  • (+86)15550449953
  • Admin@senmobrew.com

Montana Compromise in Hand, Senate Approves HB 541


HB 541 may soon be headed for the Governor’s signature after the Montana Brewers Association, Montana Tavern Association, and Montana Beer and Wine Distributors Association agreed to a compromise Thursday morning.

As proposed, HB 541 was intended to raise beer production limits from 10,000 bbl to 60,000 bbl to allow for on-premise sales of beer in larger breweries. Several Montana breweries have either stopped growing to avoid eliminating their taproom, or split off their taprooms from the brewery in a complicated work-around upon hitting the 10,000 bbl limit.

Earlier this week, the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee gutted the principle provisions of HB 541 with amendments which would have forced Kettlehouse Brewing Co. to shut down is Northside Taproom.

The move spawned a flurry of emails and calls to Senators from angry beer fans and a rather direct editorial from the Missoulian newspaper.

But a Thursday morning meeting called by Senator Fred Thomas, (R) Stevensville, with assistance from Senator Tom Facey, (D) Missoula, resulted in a compromise between the industry participants to restore the heart of the bill. Senator Thomas carried the bill on the Senate Floor Thursday and introduced the amendments to reflect the compromise.

The compromise restores the production limit to 60,000 bbl after the Senate Committee had cut it to 12,000 bbl, an increase brewers claimed was useless because the cost of expansion would exceed the revenue generated by the additional 2,000 bbl.

In exchange, the MBA agreed to cap the amount of beer which can be sold for on-premise consumption at 2,000 bbl annually. Additionally, no more than three locations of affiliated manufactures could have taprooms, and sales at all three locations would count toward the 2,000 bbl limit.

According to one brewer familiar with operations around Montana, no taproom is presently exceeding, or even approaching 2,000 bbl of annual sales for on-premise consumption.  Sales of growlers for off-premise consumption would not be included in the 2,000 bbl limit.

The tax hike added by the Senate Committee remains, as does the new definition of “affiliated manufacturers.”  Taxes on barrels of beer produced above10,000 bbl would increase from .30/bbl to .30/bbl.

Debate on the floor of the Senate produced some minor fireworks with Sen. Ed Buttrey, (R) Great Falls, chairman of the Senate Committee that gutted the bill, referencing the “malicious” emails Senators have been receiving in opposition to the Committee’s amendments.

Senator Dee Brown, (R) Hungry Horse, asked her fellow Senators to reject the new amendments, arguing they had been crafted by one-tenth of the membership of the Committee in a backroom deal.

In response, Sen. Thomas said the meeting was conducted the same way much of the Legislature’s business is done and the bill will likely be headed to a conference committee to allow additional dialogue.

Reached by telephone on Tuesday, Tim O’Leary, co-owner of Kettlehouse Brewing Co., said the 60,000 bbl limit would allow Kettlehouse to add an on-premise taproom at the new K3 location in Bonner.

Bayern Brewing Company has capped its production over the past several years to avoid having to give up its taproom. Should the bill obtain final approvals, owner Jürgen Knöller explained he has the capacity to increase production by at least 20 to 30% using his existing equipment.

Big Sky Brewing Co., the only Montana brewery that has never been allowed to sell pints, would be allowed to begin selling beer for consumption at the brewery’s existing taproom.  Co-owner Bjorn Nabozney estimates the brewery has given away more than ,000,000 in free beer over the past 10 years while limiting patrons to four small samples each day.

The Senate approved the bill 42-8 and must take one more vote on it (3rd reading). That vote is likely to take place on Friday at which point the bill will go back to the House of Representatives for consideration of the Amendments.

According to Sen. Thomas’ discussion on the Senate floor, Representative Adam Hertz, (R) Missoula, the sponsor of HB 541, expects the House to reject the amendments in order to send the bill to a conference committee where the industry participants can affirmatively (and publicly) state their agreement with the compromise.

Contact
  • Address : Block B, Headquarters Base ABP, No.2600, Zhuangjian Road, Weifang City, Shandong, China
  • Joseph WhatsApp : +8617863612639
  • Naomi WhatsApp : +8615315252862
  • Tel/Fax : +86-536-8800237
  • Email : export@wemac.cn

Newest Products

2000 L Commercial Beer Equipment: A Moderate Scale Brewing Journey
2000 L Commercial Beer Equipment: A Moderate Scale Brewing Journey

Commercial beer equipment is at the heart of the modern brewing industry. This article will look at 2000 liter commercial beer equipment, a moderately sized brewing system suitable for small to medium sized bars, restaurants and breweries. We'll learn about its key components, operational processes, and the business considerations associated with them.

More >>
Restaurant Nano Brewery Equipment
Restaurant Nano Brewery Equipment

Brewing system: The Restaurant Nano Brewery Equipment brewing system is the heart of any brewery, and a nano brewery is no exception. Restaurant Nano Brewery Equipment typically consists of a mash tun, brew kettle, and fermenter. The size of the brewing system will depend on the amount of beer you plan to brew, but for a restaurant nano brewery, a 1- or 2-barrel system is common.

More >>
Steam Heating 500L Beer Microbrewery Equipment
Steam Heating 500L Beer Microbrewery Equipment

Craft brewery equipment is widely used in medium breweries and beer pubs. It can brew pale lager, amber lager, dark lager, ale and etc at proper temperature with different raw material.

More >>
500L brewery system for craft beer brewing
500L brewery system for craft beer brewing

A complete set of 500L beer equipment consists of malt crushing system, saccharification system, fermentation system, steam system, refrigeration system, CIP cleaning system, pipeline system, etc. 500L brewing beer equipment is generally used in commercial, restaurants, bars, barbecue shops and other places.

More >>
100L home brewery equipment for craft beer brewing
100L home brewery equipment for craft beer brewing

100L beer equipment can be used in home brewing and business. Each batch can produce 100L beer, and two batches can be made every day, up to 200L beer. If you are at home, you can produce beer every few days. If it is commercial, first of all, it is necessary to determine how many liters of beer are produced a day. The 100L beer equipment can produce up to three batches a day, but considering the labor intensity, it can produce up to one or two batches a day. The number of fermentation tanks is determined according to the amount of beer produced.

More >>
50L micro brewery system in US
50L micro brewery system in US

Small beer equipment is generally divided into two types, one is small household simple equipment, and the other is commercial beer equipment. Small household simple equipment generally refers to 30l-100l, with small floor area, convenient operation and relatively simple technology. Commercial beer equipment generally refers to 300l-2000l beer equipment. Now the popular fine brewing beer equipment in the market is made with this equipment.

More >>
100L Micro brewery equipment for sale
100L Micro brewery equipment for sale

The 100L micro beer equipment belongs to a small beer brewing system. Small space, high degree of automation, simple and easy to operate. The mash process is electric heating, which is generally equipped with two device specifications (mashing+lautering + boiling+whirlpool), with ice water tank, plate heat exchanger, wort oxygenator, wort pump, etc; The fermentation process is automatically controlled by PLC, and 6 fermentation tanks are generally configured according to the standard. It belongs to self entertainment beer brewing equipment.

More >>
Turnkey solution for the beer brewing production line
Turnkey solution for the beer brewing production line

If you are planning to build a brewery, you must consider the turnkey beer project. What is the whole turnkey beer production line like? Which manufacturers can do a good job in this beer production line? What problems should we pay attention to? The beginning of a new project certainly requires a lot of preparatory work and a lot of problems. Many times, it is very difficult. This professional problem should be solved by a professional company. We can provide you with the turnkey work of the whole beer project, with more than 60 years of production experience.

More >>

Newest News

How to make craft beer South Africa
How to make craft beer South Africa

As a popular drink, more and more people like to brew beer. How is beer brewed? According to beer concentration, it is divided into high concentration beer, medium concentration beer and low concentration beer. According to the production mode, it is divided into: fresh beer, pure draft beer and cooked beer. No matter what kind of beer, the beer brewing system is divided into: malt crushing system, saccharification system, fermentation system, CIP cleaning system, refrigeration system, control system, filling system and water treatment system.

More >>
What is the craft beer?
What is the craft beer?

As one of the oldest beverages in the world, beer has a history of 4000-5000 years. It uses malt as the main raw material, adds hops, and is brewed by yeast. Craft beer is actually an innovation movement in the beer industry. Behind it is the rise of the young consumers born in the 80s and 90s. They have higher requirements for consumer experience, personalization and diversification.

More >>
Optional additional configuration of beer brewing equipment
Optional additional configuration of beer brewing equipment

For beer equipment, each customer has different requirements. We have talked about what equipment beer equipment needs, how to choose beer equipment, and what is the most suitable scheme? According to the different needs of each customer, today we will talk about the additional configuration of beer equipment, so that we can use it better and more conveniently to brew higher quality beer.

More >>
Best brewhouse equipment-how to choose brewhouse
Best brewhouse equipment-how to choose brewhouse

As the core of the whole beer equipment, saccharification system is the key to brewing beer, so how to choose the saccharification system suitable for you? As we all know, the saccharification system is divided into four steps: saccharification - Filtration - boiling - spin sedimentation. In order to achieve the desired effect in each step and save cost, the combination of saccharification system is very key.

More >>