Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Friday, June 03, 2011

Hail to Michigan


Michigan was my home for over 16 years. I have many fond memories of the "mitten" state and its great people. And its many excellent microbreweries were treat to remember.

Texas Microbreweries Lose Another Round

In the end no one, least of all the brewers of craft beer in Texas, should have been surprised.

House Bill 602, allowing these small brewers to sell token amounts of their product to visitors after brewery tours, died when the deadline for its consideration in the Senate passed this week, according to a story by the Houston Chronicle.

Similar bills have suffered identical fates in at least three previous sessions, most recently in 2009. After the House tantalized the brewers by passing the bill unanimously on to the Senate in April, Texas Watchdog speculated that it was only a matter of time before someone stepped in to stop the insanity.

The conventional narrative has Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewing conglomerate, killing the bill merely by having an Austin spokesman, Mark Bordas, voice objections before a senate committee. A howitzer employed to obliterate a mite. (Mark Lisheron, Texas Watchdog)

While Bud is a fine mass produced beer, local microbreweries are producing excellent beers and ales with regional flavors. Bud is Wonder Bread to your local microbrewery's artisan baguette. How I miss the fine craft beers of Michigan's many microbreweries! Oh how I long for a pint of Arbor Brewing Company's Sacred Cow IPA or Michigan Brewing Company's High Seas IPA!