Here's the requirement: that you post about us on your blog. Heck, even if you start a blog today and post, we'll let you in.

We do ask that you RSVP just to give us a rough count of how many people to buy pizza for. We won't consider your RSVP to be set in stone, but it'll help us get a feel for how many people will show up. Email me (evan -at- saintarnold.com) or leave a comment to this post.

It’s time to change these decades-old laws to promote the small business atmosphere that our elected leaders are constantly spouting about. Give our microbrewers a fighting chance, and they will flourish.

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.

In the meantime, comment spammers have discovered this blog. It seems to be mostly one guy, who must've written an automated script, but he hasn't yet noticed that his comments aren't making it onto the blog. Instead, they're all getting weeded out by the spam filter. Which means that all I have to do is keep cleaning out my gmail spam box.

Today is our last full day here before flying out, we were planning on getting in a round of golf, but the weather does not seem to be giving us much of a shot at that, so we are going to go around Houston and take a tour of the Saint Arnold Brewery.

Several of the legislators I have spoken to have mentioned our press coverage. Just keeping the buzz going. Like the press, we try to use the beer puns as often as possible.

Cheers!
Brock

[Evan addition: Added a link in Brock's post. Also, I want to note that -- including lead-in -- we were 2 of the 30 minutes on tonight's newscast. Way to go Channel 11 News and Dan Lauck.]

"Honestly, we're probably talking about selling a couple hundred barrels-a-year direct to the public," Wagner says. "But that couple-hundred barrels, if we sell direct to customers ... our profit goes from about a buck to a buck-fifty [per case] to about $13. That's like selling another two or three thousand barrels ...

"Breweries will be able to take that money, reinvest it in the brewery, market their beer better, grow better, hire more people," Wagner says.

St. Arnold's has banded together with Texas's other three breweries to launch a grassroots lobbying movement centered around a blog at Starnoldgoestoaustin.com. If it's not too much for us to speculate, if one bill passes in the upcoming legislative session, it'll be this one.

That's because all the Texas blogosphere is buzzing about it, and they're not just talking about pints and foam. The bill's a matter of supporting small businesses, a buzzword in every politicians' lexicon. The breweries don't have a bill sponsor yet, but their catchphrase is "Beer is a bipartisan issue," with lefty blogger Charles Kuffner (Offthekuff.com) endorsing it and Republican blogger "Evan" (Perryvstheworld.com) helping draft the bill.

Excellent article by Maass, which also does some good reporting on brewpub licenses. I'll comment more later.

Cheers!
Brock

"For beer enthusiasts, making the connection between the beer and the place where the beer is brewed is very important," said Greg Koch, founder and CEO of Stone Brewing Co. in Southern California. "Could you imagine going to your local baker and not being able to buy the bread they made there?"

California breweries and brewers in several other states sell their beer to retailers through a distributor, but also sell at the breweries and brewery-owned restaurants that are much like brewpubs. The brewpub laws in Texas allow the beer to be sold only on premise and not in retail stores.

Koch said the beer culture in California and the Northwest has thrived in part because direct sales are allowed at microbreweries.

* The progressives over at Texas Kaos have a thread with about 15 comments on the effort.

* John Gallaway profiles what it's like to take the tour at Saint Arnold's. It's pretty true to life.

* Jim from Vital Accurate Thinking applauds what we're doing, saying, "I would love to go on a tour and be able to purchase the product right there."

* Out of Austin, self-proclaimed beer snob Lee is quite happy about it too.

* And, for those out of state, they sometimes seem incredulous that Texas has such anti-microbrew laws. To wit, Alan says that the Friends of Texas Microbrewers effort "seems so obviously reasonable that you wonder why it even has to be made."

Thanks to all for writing about us!

Cheers!
Brock

* John Whiteside at Blue Bayou writes:

Are you surprised that there are only five microbreweries in all of Texas? I am. A 2003 estimate by the Association of Brewers said there were 366 in the US - wouldn't you expect more of them to be here? It's not like Texans don't like their beer. In fact, it turns out 19 microbreweries have opened in Texas; only 5 survive. Why are they having a hard time in the Lone Star State?

Brock Wagner, founder of St. Arnold, thinks he knows why: the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code. Microbreweries in Texas have a real disadvantage compared to those in many other states: they can't sell anything directly to customers.

* Perry Dorrell offers that, "the left and the right can all agree on one thing: when it comes to pilsner, we're all in this together."

* We already know Austinist is with us. So is Houstonist! They even like the picture of St. Arnold in front of the Texas flag. That wasn't my idea: credit where credit is due, it was Joel's.

* Charles Kuffner writes up the practical effects of changing the law. He notes that "[i]t's a pretty good deal all around." He's entirely right. In the long run, no one will be hurt by this law change. But Texas beer lovers will be able to help contribute to Texas economic growth by drinking some fabulous Texas microbrews.

* Ted posts some guy's notes from our conference call.

* Beer writer Bryce Eddings calls our proposal a "modest request."

In short form: microbrewers (under 75K barrels a year) can sell up to 5K total barrels per year in on-premises or off-premises consumption.

To the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, Chapter 12. Brewer's Permit, add in Sec. 12.05 the following:

Such a brewer may also sell ale and malt liquor to ultimate consumers for consumption on the brewery premises or in unbroken packages for off-premises consumption in an amount not to exceed, together with the annual sales of beer to the ultimate consumer by the holder of a manufacturer's license acting under the authority of Section 62.12 of this code at the same premises, 5,000 barrels annually;

and

To the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, Chapter 62. Manufacturer's License add in Sec. 62.12 (a) the following:

Such a manufacturer may also sell beer to ultimate consumers for consumption on the manufacturer's premises or in unbroken packages for off-premises consumption in an amount not to exceed, together with the annual sales of ale and malt liquor to the ultimate consumer by the holder of a brewer's permit acting under the authority of Section 12.05 of this code at the same premises, 5,000 barrels annually.

Lastly just let me opine a bit more on Brock's quest and how important it is to Texas and beer drinkers in general. A few years back Texas passed a law that would allow Texas Wineries to sell small amounts of their own wine in their tasting rooms. The result was not lawlessness, or drunkenness, but higher profits for the wineries and an increase in tourism to Texas wine country (Hill country). To me this should be a slam dunk issue. Letting breweries sell some cases of their own would not only help small business profits, but as places like Colorado, and California can attest will increase tourism as people come from not only within Texas, but outside to taste some of the great beers that Texas has to offer. Texas should be about the small business, those people that are willing to take a chance, start something from nothing and being a bit of a maverick. Isn't that what Texas is all about?

If you have a blog and want to join us, send me an email (evan@saintarnold.com) and I'll send you the information.

* Quorum Report, an Austin insider publication, added us to today's executive summary.

* News8 Austin has a two minute report on the air about us. You can read the story or view the clip.

* Barry Schlacter of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram has an article entitled, "Texas brewers seek same selling right as wineries."

*The first blogger to write about our launch was probably Vince Leibowitz, who commented, "The long and short of it is that microbreweries only want laws similar to those that now govern wineries. And, that’s only fair." Matthew Barnhar echoed Vince.

* The most enthusiastic would probably be Cory at Lose an Eye, who called this blog, "the most important blog you will ever read." We love it!

* The most thorough was Charles Kuffner, who looked up the state code in explaining how the laws microbrewers seek are similar to what Texas wineries (all of whom are basically micro-wineries) already have.

* Tory Gattis of Houston Strategies says our goals "seem eminently reasonable to me."

* John Wagner likes our approach. Thanks John!

* ABC13 producer Mike McGuff spots us a mention on his personal blog.

* Some guy at Rick Perry vs the World wrote about us. He seems like he's putting a lot of time into it.

* If Austinist supports us, who can be against us?

* Tedo from Friendswood: "In the great big state of Texas there are only a handful of Craft breweries and even less brew pubs, to me this just isn't acceptable, Texans LOVE good beer."

* Finally, a couple out-of-state beer blogs mentioned us. At least, I think they're outside Texas.