Big-guy industrial lager producers saw beer production decline by approximately 5 million barrels in 2009. Clearly, in these tough economic times, people are drinking less — but they are drinking better beer.

Another statistic that bodes well for the future is the total number of craft (small) breweries in the U.S. That stat grew from 1,485 in 2008 to 1,542 in 2009, and together craft brewers produced 9,115,635 barrels of craft beer, up from 8,501,713 barrels in 2008.

Our craft brewers are the small, mostly family-owned breweries and brewpubs that we have become accustomed to in our neighborhoods in cities and towns across the country. Such breweries not only provide fresh, unique beer for our local enjoyment; they also provide jobs for thousands, and many pay into health insurance as well. Naturally, this positive growth segment is a target for governmental agencies looking for new revenue sources to offset their bad judgment or legendary lack of fiscal planning. This is known as the ritual killing of the goose that laid the golden egg.

Our small brewers are not vast profit centers, unlike the major U.S. banks that our government was so quick to rescue with our rapidly diminishing Treasury. Increased taxes and fees for the craft brewing industry will surely stifle growth and lead to even more unemployment. In addition, your access to fresh, flavorful beer will be diminished if these new taxes and fees, being discussed at the local, state and federal levels in our country, come to fruition.

Let your governmental agencies know that you are concerned about the viability of your local brewers. Continue to support them by buying their products, but also be willing to step up when unfair and inequitable taxes and fees are discussed as a way for governmental bodies to pad their coffers and right imagined social evils. Tea Party Movement? Hell, how about the Beer Party Movement! As the great newsman Scoop Nisker often says, “If you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own.”

Keystone Cops in Keystone State

A phalanx of Philly fuzz descended on some neighborhood bars and taverns a few weeks ago. The police weren’t after illicit drugs or illegal aliens or online perverts. No, friend, they were after beer. Not illegal homemade hooch, mind you, but well-known imported and domestic beer. Stolen beer? Nope. They were after beer that wasn’t on the state liquor authorities’ (PLCB) list of beer that could be sold in Pennsylvania. Some of the beer actually WAS on the list, but the coppers, clearly out of their element, just didn’t recognize the difference between, say, “Duvel Beer” and “Duvel Belgian Golden Ale.” We are not making this up.

As ace reporter Don “Joe Sixpack” Russell wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News, “Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board — a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.”

Naturally, the cops seized hundreds of bottles of very expensive beer for its unregisteredness. The beer is now in State Police custody at an undisclosed location. (We’ll bet it’s warm there.) Nice work, Philly police. And this was all based on an alleged complaint from someone the State Police refused to identify. Only in America. Well, maybe Joe McCarthy’s America. The terrorists are probably laughing.

Industry sources complain that brand registration is typical of the onerous regulations that make selling beer in Pennsylvania difficult. For example, while it is the responsibility of the brewer or importer to submit the necessary paperwork and registration fee, it is the tavern or restaurant licensee who may be liable for selling unregistered brands, according to the news report.

“Registration is further complicated by the growth of under-the-radar one-offs: unique, limited-production, highly sought-after draft beers that appear briefly — perhaps as quickly as an hour — on tavern taps. While they pay the necessary state and federal taxes, breweries sometimes do not bother to register the brands because they are produced in extremely small amounts,” according to Russell.

Guess what one of the brands was that the Pennsylvania State Police reportedly sought during its raid: Pliny the Younger, made only once a year by the Russian River Brewing Company in California. Wow, maybe the state cops have good taste after all.

Without eternal vigilance…

Beginning with a stupendous effort by our beer-loving brothers in Philadelphia over two years ago, the Beer Week concept is taking off across America celebrating local and regional brewing and good beer places as well as world-class imports in fine dining establishments. Beer loving professionals in San Francisco took their inspiration from the Philly effort and formed SF Beer Week now about to launch its second run in Northern California February 5–14. San Diego just completed its debut effort in late fall of 2009 with spectacular results. Los Angeles also hosted its first effort in the nation’s largest metropolitan expanse.

Portland, Ore., rated the number one beer city in America by this magazine two years ago, has expanded its Beer Week to Beer Month to include all the many events taking place across Oregon! Add to that efforts from Baltimore, Cleveland and Syracuse, and you can see that the concept is no longer an isolated beery blast of enthusiasm from a few locals but is truly a nation-wide evolution of regional good beer celebrations. And more are planned.

So, what’s YOUR beer community doing? Where are the Beer Weeks in the rest of our great beer-loving country? This is truly a grass roots revolution comprised of beer industry professionals, beer lovers and homebrewers alike. Reach out to other beer geeks in your area and make some noise for the good beer movement. You could be a founding member of your own Beer Week with a little dedication and persistence. Pick a time when brewers and on-premise venues are not that busy. Get your local media on board promoting the good beer message. Let the wine guys who get the majority of media exposure with their simple fruit-based beverage know that beer has earned its place at the table.

Year two for San Francisco Beer Week looks to be huge and the promotion and participation for it are amazing. In just a few years we could be celebrating Beer Weeks all over this great beer-loving land of ours. And you could be a major part in its origins. Make it happen!