Normally it takes the government a week to approve a new beer. Now, it could be backed up to two months

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WEBVTT MADTREE BREWING IS TAPPED OUT OF RELEASING NEW BEERS. MIKE STUART WORKS AT MADTREE BREWING, AND KNOWS FIRST HAND JUST HOW BIG BEER RELEASES ARE TO OUR CITY AND CULTUR MADTREE FAVORITES, LIKE HAPPY AMBER, LUNA LUX, AND THE LOCAL BLEND MADE THE CUT OFF, BUT NEW TOP-SECRET BREWS WEREN’T AS LUCKY. >> WE HAVE TWO BEERS THAT WE HAVE PLANNED TO COME OUT IN THE SPRING THAT HAVE BEEN HELD UP RIGHT NOW SO WE’RE HOPEFUL THEY’RE BACK UP SOON. MEGAN: HE’S TALKING ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT THE PARTIAL SHUTDOWN HAS CLOSED THE ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU OR THE TTB. IT’S THE AGENCY IN CHARGE OF APPROVING NEW BEER RECIPES, LABELING AND CROSS-STATE SALE. >> THERE ARE A LOT OF TIGHT TIME FRAMES THAT YOU HAVE TO HIT TO RELEASE A BEER ON TIME AND THEN TRYING TO PLAN A PARTY AROUND IT AND DIFFERENT EVENTS SO WHEN THERE’S A HICCUP AT THE TTP IT CAN REALLY SLOW DOWN THE PROCES MEGAN: A NEW BEER GOES THROUGH TESTING PROCESS, TESTING OUT DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS AND FOAM CONSISTANCY IN THEIR LAB. NORMALLY, IT TAKES ABOUT A WEEK TO APPROVE A NEW BEER. MIKE SAYS, IT COULD BE BACKED UP TO TWO MONTHS. >> THE SHUTDOWN DEFINITELY IMPACTS OUR WORKLOAD SO WE DON’T KNOW SOMETIMES WHEN WE CAN ACTUALLY BREW THAT BEER SO WE HAVE TO JUGGLE SOME THINGS IN OUR PRODUCTION SCHEDULE SO UNTIL WE HAVE A CLEAR PICTURE OF WHEN THINGS ARE GOING TO MOVE THROUGH THAT PROCESS KIND OF JUST IN THE HOLDING PATTERN. MEGAN: IN ADDITION TO NEW BEERS BEING PRODUCED, THEY ALSO NEED APPROVAL TO SEND THE BEER ACROSS STATE LINES SO MADTREE AND OTHER BREWERIES ARE HOPING THE GOVERNMENT CAN COME TO AN AGREEM

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On Sunday, the federal government shutdown becomes the longest in American history and it is having some huge impacts.More than 800,000 workers are either furloughed without pay or forced to work without pay due to government agencies being closed. The shutdown's reach also extends into our brewery community.There are some lesser known impacts of the government shutdown that show just how far-reaching it is. The longer the shutdown is in effect, the longer there will be no new brews in Cincinnati. There are more than 60 breweries in Greater Cincinnati.Madtree Brewing in Oakley is tapped out of releasing new beers. Mike Stuart works at Madtree Brewing and knows firsthand just how big beer releases are to our city and culture.Madtree favorites like Happy Amber, Luna Lux and the Local Blend made the cutoff but new top-secret brews weren't as fortunate."We have two beers that we have planned to come out in the spring that have been held up right now so we're hopeful they're back up soon," said Mike Stuart, director of people and social strategy for Madtree.He's talking about the partial government shutdown, which has closed the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau or TTB. It's the government agency in charge of approving new beer recipes, labeling and cross-state sales."There are a lot of tight time frames that you have to hit to release a beer on time, and then trying to plan a party around it and different events, so when there's a hiccup at the TTP it can really slow down the process," said Stuart.A new beer goes through a testing process, trying out different ingredients and foam consistency in Madtree's lab.Normally, it takes about a week to approve a new beer. Stuart said it could now be backed up by up to two months."The shutdown definitely impacts our workload so we don't know sometimes when we can actually brew that beer so we have to juggle some things in our production schedule so until we have a clear picture of when things are going to move through that process we're kind of just in the holding pattern," said Stuart.In addition to new beers being produced, they also need approval to send the beer across state lines so Madtree and other breweries are hoping Congress and the president can come to an agreement to end the shutdown.