Bill would let state's brewers craft stronger beers

By WILL MELTON
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

Chimay Grand Reserve, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Avery’s Hog Heaven barley wine and any other beers that contain more than 8.75 percent alcohol by volume are currently considered liquor by the state of Montana.

As such, they may only be sold in state liquor stores or served by bars with beer and wine licenses. It also means that Montana’s 25 breweries can’t properly brew nearly a fifth of recognized beer styles and sell them in-state, according to Tony Herbert, the executive director of the Montana Brewers Association.

If Rep. Deb Kottel, D-Great Falls, has her way, that could change.

Kottel’s House Bill 400 would change the definition of beer to include beers up to 14 percent ABV. Due to the quality of the barley, wheat and grains grown throughout the state, “Montana is situated to be one of the best brewers of micro-brewed beer in the country,” she said.

HB 400 passed the House by a vote of 80-20, with the main opponents being members of the Legislature's Native American Caucus, who were concerned about alcoholism on the reservations.

Kottel said she supports an amendment to keep the rules for beer under 8.75 percent the same, but require that beers between 8.75 and 14 percent be composed of 75 percent fermentable ingredients. This, she said, would resolve the issue of most high-alcohol malt liquors and malted fruit beverages, such as Sparks, that are the greatest concern of the Native American Caucus.

Due to the large amounts of malts and grains used in crafting the so-called big beers, the higher alcohol brews cost much more than similarly alcoholic wine, and the amendment should weed out most of the cheaper malted beverages, Kottel said.

It is in part because of that expense and the difficulty of making these higher alcohol beers that Kottel sponsored the bill. The current law, she said, was written 50 years ago when there were only a few breweries in the state, run by the big beer brands. Now, local breweries are major consumers of Montana-grown produce, and big beers will utilize a greater percentage of those malts and grains.

Herbert stresses, however, that most Montana breweries likely won’t brew many of these big beers. Nevertheless, he feels that the current law is much too limiting to the craft brewers of Montana. As Herbert says, “it’s like telling a painter that he can only use a few colors, even though he has the skills to paint whatever he likes.”

Herbert argues that the bill will help Montana breweries make a name for themselves in competitions with more established breweries in the region that haven’t been hampered by low-alcohol restrictions.

As Kottel says, if the bill passes, with the quality of the breweries and malted barleys in the state, “Montana could become the Napa Valley of beer.”

- Photo by Alison Smith