The Government Shutdown Could Be a Disaster for Breweries
- 5 years ago
It has been 21 days since the White House shut the government down because President Trump could not and cannot wrangle $5.7 billion for a border wall from House Democrats. The effects of the shutdown are being felt from sea to shining sea. Many government workers without paychecks are still expected to clock in, like at the IRS. The Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park are being ransacked because rangers aren't there to protect them. Coast Guard families are encouraged to hold garage sales to make up for lost income.
Perhaps less urgent, but no less shitty, is the walloping small alcohol companies are taking as the shutdown continues.
One of the government agencies currently closed is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB. When it's operating, the TTB is in charge of approving new beverage labels for breweries and distilleries, among other responsibilities. Breweries and distilleries need new labels before they can market and sell new products. Now, those applications are piling up at the TTB with no one handling them, according to the Brewers Association. Even after the government reopens, the TTB will have to play catch-up on the backlog.
Manatawny Still Works in Pennsylvania was planning to release three new spirits in time for Valentine's Day. "One of the reasons we have the following we do is because people love the special stuff we do, so we rely on this as a business to give people new, exciting whiskeys that they're not used to that they don't know exist," the distillery's director of operations Max Pfeffer told the Reading Eagle. He said the shutdown could stall those plans.
In Virginia, Filibuster Distillery's product manager Jesse Puckett said labels for new products had been submitted to the TTB, but were not yet approved or denied. "It's kind of holding us up as far as our product line goes," he told the local news outlet WHSV.
Perhaps less urgent, but no less shitty, is the walloping small alcohol companies are taking as the shutdown continues.
One of the government agencies currently closed is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB. When it's operating, the TTB is in charge of approving new beverage labels for breweries and distilleries, among other responsibilities. Breweries and distilleries need new labels before they can market and sell new products. Now, those applications are piling up at the TTB with no one handling them, according to the Brewers Association. Even after the government reopens, the TTB will have to play catch-up on the backlog.
Manatawny Still Works in Pennsylvania was planning to release three new spirits in time for Valentine's Day. "One of the reasons we have the following we do is because people love the special stuff we do, so we rely on this as a business to give people new, exciting whiskeys that they're not used to that they don't know exist," the distillery's director of operations Max Pfeffer told the Reading Eagle. He said the shutdown could stall those plans.
In Virginia, Filibuster Distillery's product manager Jesse Puckett said labels for new products had been submitted to the TTB, but were not yet approved or denied. "It's kind of holding us up as far as our product line goes," he told the local news outlet WHSV.