St. Arnold Goes to Austin

Lee Nichols writes about us over on the Austin Chronicle's news blog, and promises to track our progress for the Chronicle's readers.

His lede:

Discrimination is an ugly thing, and Texas microbrewers have decided they won't put up with it.

In 2003, the Texas voters passed Proposition 11, which changed the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code to allow wineries to sell their product on the premises directly to consumers and not just wholesalers. But this provision only applies to vintners, and not to beer makers. Texas' five microbreweries have bonded to form Friends of Texas Microbreweries to lobby for a similar provision for their industry. A microbrewery is a company that produces less than 75,000 barrels per year, but not to be confused with brewpubs, which are bar/restaurants that brew their own.