This is why we can't have nice things (ATC related)

I'm sharing this because I feel the need to let as many people know what is going on right now

This shite is utterly ridiculous

Most of the beer nerds have probably already seen this, but not everyone is in the FB beer groups

Posted by Andrew Godley, owner of Parish, regarding the recent controversy surrounding the ATC and our local breweries

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Some additional information to help clarify what Scott Wood posted yesterday. My fellow brewers may not agree with me in that posting this information is a good idea right now, but I am not afraid. Honesty is always the best policy. Honesty is great. If any other local brewer thinks some or all of the information contained herein should be amended or removed, please let me know. I also think it would be great to have the brewers who have had citations or armed ATC agents at the brewery share the truth and facts about what is happening from their view. Without further adieu, here is the truth for anyone in the local beer community to be informed of:

Several brewers from around the state have received citations from the ATC for a slew of "violations" all within the past month or so. Most of these actions that are being deemed illegal by the current ATC administration were ok and allowed under the prior administration. The actual law doesn't cover every single situation, so the agency, the ATC, has the tough job of interpreting the intent of the law in general to fill in the gaps. So before everyone takes up pitchforks and storms BR, just understand that these are people trying to do their jobs and the ATC isn't trying to kill breweries. Now that doesn't mean that there aren't threats to the brewers in our state and doesn't mean that the ATC isn't part of what is going to hurt our industry and stifle growth. And yes, there is a particular brewery that is going to be irreparably damaged by recent ATC interpretations in that a giant portion of their business (that has existed for over 10 years) may very well be viewed as illegal and not allowed now. More on that below, without naming anyone specifically to protect their privacy.

Currently, the ATC has sent a cease and desist letter to every brewer in the state. It basically tells us that we are not allowed to have any outside alcohol (that wasn't produced at the brewery) on the premises. That means no home-brews for a fundraising festival at the brewery (a la Iron Brewer), that means no renting the brewery for a wedding reception and having champagne for the private party, and so on. We are generally ok with that and believe the ATC is interpreting the law correctly here. The other major part of the cease and desist letter has to do with "special events". The law states clearly that brewers cannot have a special event permit. That is not in question. The bigger issue is that the law does not define very well what a special event is, rather what kind of activity requires a special event. It currently states something like anything where the sale or serving of alcohol is incidental to the price of entry or general admission to the event. We all believe that is meant to apply to festivals or events at a location that isn't already permited to serve and sell alcohol. Or some kind of event that is operated in a manner that is very different from the normal operation of an already permited alcohol retailer. Like Festival International or New Orleans on Tap or even the local church fair where they have a beer booth. So the ATC has interpreted that to mean that if a brewery is doing anything other than plain selling beer to you in the brewery, it is making the beer "incidental" therefore it is a special event and not allowed since brewers cannot have a special event permit. So we are "operating without a permit" if a person is at our brewery to do something other than just drink beer. Obviously to everyone in the brewing industry this is an inaccurate stretch of interpretation. To take the definition of the "special event permit" and say that a brewery having a band inside the brewery and advertising the band is considered something that should have an ATC special event permit and therefore illegal is incorrect in our opinion, for example. The issue here is where the line is drawn between legal and illegal. Is a brewery tour legal now? What if we charge for it? What about having the Saints game on the tv in the taproom? What about trivia night? Are these making the beer incidental and therefor illegal since brewers will be having "special events" and operating without a permit?
So as a guild, we have been engaging, respectfully, the ATC to try and really first understand what is legal and illegal in their view. So at least we can operate and not break any laws. We have sent a list of questions to the ATC to cover many different situations that brewers encounter and hopefully we at least see a stop to these unexpected citations and/or fines. Every brewer who received a citation and/or fine or penalty was not intentionally breaking the law, but the ATC has defined them as engaging in illegal activity. This is very troubling. Armed agents show up at the brewery to issue the citations. It is a very confrontational and adversarial way to do things. The brewers are small businesses, with normal Louisiana citizens trying to make a living and contributing positively to the community. The very idea that an armed agent in swat gear will barge into our taproom, full of law-abiding patrons, to issue us a citation for advertising a food truck or band, is frightening to me. This is pretty much what happened at Tin Roof this past weekend, but I can't speak to details, I will let those who witnessed the event chime in. It is especially frightening because I cannot find anywhere in the law where it states that a brewery cannot advertise what food truck is serving food on site or what band is playing. Essentially I, and any other brewery, have no idea what is legal or illegal anymore. We have been told that "brewers are acting too much like retailers" and that isn't the intent of the law. The law allows us to sell a limited amount of beer directly to consumers at the brewery. The manner in which we do that is not written clearly in law, but I don't believe "acting like a retailer" is illegal. The root of a lot of these current issues starts with some retailers or trade groups of retailers complaining to the ATC that brewers are "acting too much like retailers" and essentially taking their business.

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