Illinois proposes potential damaging rules on brew pubs

On May 14, one day before the official start of Chicago Craft Beer Week, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, or ILCC, proposed a harsh new cap on the amount of beer Illinois’ brew pubs would be allowed to sell. Under the proposed rules, a brew pub would not be allowed to sell more than 50,000...

On May 14, one day before the official start of Chicago Craft Beer Week, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, or ILCC, proposed a harsh new cap on the amount of beer Illinois’ brew pubs would be allowed to sell.

Under the proposed rules, a brew pub would not be allowed to sell more than 50,000 gallons or 1,500 barrels of beer to distributors for off-site consumption. This is an incredibly small amount of beer and could stifle the growth of craft brewers across the state.

To give some perspective on how much beer 1,500 barrels is, Chicago’s Revolution Brewing produces more than 20 times this amount annually. Brew pubs across the state would be drastically hurt by such a rule change.

Brew pubs with plans to grow, such as Destihl out of Bloomington or Chicago’s Haymarket Pub and Brewery, would essentially be halted.

Illinois already has extremely restrictive regulations on its craft beer entrepreneurs.

Currently, those with a craft brewer license are not allowed to produce more than 30,000 barrels of beer a year. Also, they are not allowed to self-distribute more than 7,500 barrels of that beer.

To the north in Wisconsin no real limits exist; and in the state of Washington, a craft brewery can produce 60,000 barrels annually.

If Illinois wants to continue to be a leader in the $14.3 billion craft beer industry, rules and regulations should be loosened – not tightened. Craft beer business owners need straightforward, commonsense rules – not arbitrary regulation and production caps that threaten their industry.

Regarding these most recently proposed rules on brew pubs, supporters and the public are allowed to voice their opinion. Those who support the free market, entrepreneurs or simply the craft brewery scene in Illinois should voice their opinion in the following ways:

• Email ILCC Chief Legal Counsel Richard Haymaker at richard.haymaker@illinois.gov before May 30.
• Attend a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4, at the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St., Suite 9-040.