Thanks to the many of you that have kept the “Beers to You” blog buzzing with your commentary during the last several days. I haven’t been able to chime in as I would like as I have been on an extended vacation. I find myself in an interesting place; California wine country.

I have had many opportunities to learn, reflect and even dare I say compare the wine and beer cultures, especially in America. This is not hostile territory for beer; far from it. This place and the people who live here, growing grapes and producing very fine wines regard beer as a necessary ingredient in wine production. The locals say “It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine”.

This trip has provided me with story ideas and inspiration to write them. Here are a few…

Sonoma county’s history as a hop growing region turned to wine.

The almost innate understanding of the wine folks out here that beer and wine both deserve a spot at the dinner table.

The great “beer tourism” opportunities that exist here among the vines.

Festivall is nearly upon all of us in the fair city of Charleston. This year though, along with the visual and performing arts, “liquid art” will be part of the festivities. I am talking “liquid art” in the form of craft-beer.

“Beers to You” has been able to work with the many beer wholesalers and the participating bars to place and offer various craft brews at special “FestivAle prices”. Participating bars will display the FestivALE banner.

This is the debut year for this Festivall add on, but I sure hope it won’t be the last. West Virginia is getting ready (In July) to step up with forty-nine other states that now allow higher alcohol beers to be legally sold. It’s a small disappointment that we are still under the old laws for this year’s event and hopefully next year it will be a whole new ballgame, with a world class beer selection.

I will admit up-front, that the beer line-up for this year’s FestivALE isn’t what I would call “Stellar” and in many cases is status-quo, but we have to take “Baby Steps” to convince the beer wholesalers to put in that extra effort to get some real gems placed in the bars for this event. That did not really happen this year due to how new this whole craft beer thing is with the distributors. Maybe they will jump in with both feet next year!

Click the link to download a PDF listing current venues and beers —> festivale-beer-list-6-17.pdf

The Democratically controlled Senate Finance committee is looking for ways to offset the enormous costs of what could become the “Obama-care” national health care plan. Whatever your political stance is on the core issue of health care nationalization, someone is going to have to pay the piper. Printing money and taxing your employer-provided health care benefits are a few ideas being kicked around (but I thought Mr. “O” dogged Mr. McCain for suggesting those ideas in the debates? Oh well, I am sure our trained skeptics in the Press will follow-up on that. Maybe after they are done drooling over Mr. “O”…). One particularly punitive plan will squarely target the alcoholic beverage industry with the largest increases falling on the backs of craft brewers. This new excise tax will be levied on the brewers (and paid for by beer drinkers) as a “Case tax” or “Barrel Tax” which will triple the current tax on beers of 4.5%abv and go higher on stronger brews.

The Brewers Association based in Boulder Colorado has come out swinging against this proposed tax. The BA represents the many small craft brewers in this country and they are joined by many other alcohol industry trade organizations in opposition to this form of punitive taxation. In a recent letter to BA and American Home Brewing Association members, President Charlie Papazian states that “If such a proposal becomes reality, there is no question that many small brewery businesses will suffer, some will close and consumers will face higher prices and diminished choice in the marketplace”. The letter goes on to say that brewers already pay a disproportionately higher share of taxes compared to other products; with the total tax burden (Federal, State and Local) being 40% of the retail cost of beer whereas the tax burden for wine and other alcoholic beverages average about 24%.

There is no doubt that such taxation (which is always passed on to the consumer), will have a negative effect of craft beers, which already command a hefty premium in the marketplace when compared to mass produced yellow-fizzy beers. It would be a shame to see this wonderful beer culture which is quickly becoming the envy of the world, falling victim to the overreaching hand of the federal government once again meddling in the private sector and ruining an otherwise healthy market (anyone remember the mortgage crisis?) But hey, “Yes they can”!

To read the complete story, Click Here…

This very well may be the easiest blog article that I have ever written because YOU are actually going to write it for me…

Let’s share our beer wish lists with each other and the local beer wholesalers! I will start by adding 2 or 3 beers that I would like to see at WV beer retailers by the end of the year. I will share this list with all of the distributors that I know.

“I dreamed a dream of beer worth drinking”…