Dear Craft Beer Enthusiast:

The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild needs your help. As you may know, the Virginia General Assembly is currently in session. What you may not know is that there is a bill, SB604, before the Senate that would greatly benefit many of the craft breweries in Virginia. This bill will be heard in the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services committee this Friday, February 10th at 8:30am.

SB604 allows a brewery licensee to sell beer at retail at premises described in the brewery license for on-premises consumption and in closed containers for off-premises consumption. In layman’s terms, production breweries would be allowed to sell pints to customers. If passed, you could tour a Virginia brewery and enjoy a pint afterwards, much like how you can enjoy a glass of wine at a Virginia winery. More importantly, this would put us on even footing with some of our neighboring states.

Craft breweries are an emerging manufacturing base in the Commonwealth of Virginia that generate good paying jobs. A tap room at a production brewery would create more jobs and badly needed revenue for the Commonwealth and local municipalities through existing sales and excise taxes. It would also help promote beer tourism.

I would urge you to contact your state Senator TODAY and ask them to support SB604. You can find you legislator by clicking on the following link – http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Thank you.

Cheers,
Mike Killelea
Chairman – Virginia Craft Brewers Guild