Wyden, Blumenauer Urge Federal Regulators to Help the State’s Craft Beverage Makers Post-Shutdown

For one new Portland distillery, the shutdown put 12 years of work and half a million dollars in investments in jeopardy.

(Justin Katigbak)
By Elise Herron

The federal government is temporarily reopened, but the marathon shutdown may have done serious damage on Oregon's craft beverage industry.

Without approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, new beverage labels and liquor formulas cannot be sold. That's why Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) wrote to TTB regulators today to urge them to fast-track applications from Oregon beverage makers.

In a statement, the legislators warn that delays in processing a backlog of TTB applications could stunt Oregon's prized beverage industry.

"This regulatory paralysis disproportionately disadvantages small, craft brewers, vintners, cider makers, and distillers, who depend on new product releases for their businesses' survival," Wyden and Blumenauer wrote in a letter to TTB administrator John Manfreda.

Wyden and Blumenauer say beverage producers around Oregon have been writing to them with concerns about the lasting impact of the shutdown.

"These include losing out on critical space on store shelves and in taprooms, and the potential inability to fulfill contracts, which may hurt their businesses for years to come," the two state in their letter.

For one new Portland distillery, the shutdown put 12 years of work and half a million dollars in investments in jeopardy. Last week, WW reported on the crisis facing its founders.

Blumenauer and Wyden, as members of the Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, respectively, are both responsible for overseeing the TTB.

Before the shutdown, they claim to have helped cut the timeline for TTB approval of beverage formulas to 10 days, and for labels to just two days.

"Modernizing TTB's regulatory infrastructure has transformed the craft beverage industry, and has helped to fuel the continued growth of the sector," the Congressmen write. "Rather than rotating beers seasonally, many brewers today release new beers weekly or monthly. If craft beverage producers are unable to meet consumers' expectations or fulfill contracts because of the TTB shutdown backlog, the consequences to these businesses may be disastrous."

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