...or at least they used to be able to self-distribute. Now, lawmakers have gone and done something really insidious, introducing legislation that would require craft brewers to sell all of their product to distributors and then BUY IT BACK from those distributors before selling to customers in their brewery taprooms. They went and attached this legislation to a bill that decriminalizes the 64 oz. growlers, just to make things as confusing as they could possibly be.

All of this is being done in the name of the antiquated three-tier system, that Prohibition-era ruling that separates brewers from retailers. Never mind the fact that the craft beer industry has brought hundreds or thousands of jobs to the state as one of the only rapidly expanding parts of the food and beverage industry. Who needs jobs for average citizens when you can have assured campaign contributions from liquor distributors? Small business and free marketplaces are probably overrated anyway.

If the new legislation passes, all brewers in the state will sell their product to distributors and then buy it back without the beer ever physically leaving the building. That's right — the distributors won't even need to physically show up and handle the product in order to get their cut of each craft brewery's revenues. They'll simply receive a check for doing absolutely nothing. It's a pretty sweet deal for them, I must say.