Going on 20 days, the government shutdown is on track to be the longest in US history.
The partial shutdown is affecting areas you may not have thought of, including the craft beer industry.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is closed during the shutdown.
The agency is responsible for approving labels on beer, before it can go across state lines.
Craft beer connoisseurs outside the state, will have to wait a bit longer for beers from Louisiana breweries, like Parish Brewing Company.
“It’s going to take our labels longer to approve where usually the TTB only takes 9-15 days, which is a pretty good turnaround time. And the last time I checked, which was right after the government shutdown started, they were already looking at a 43-day window for approval,” said Parish’s business manager, Carli Graf.
Parish started distributing outside of Louisiana last year. It now sells beer in four other states.
“We currently have 3 labels that are under review at the TTB. Obviously if we can’t ship the beer out of state, then we can’t sell it so it effects our sales. And also with our recent Houston launch, it effects demand for our beers out of state,” she said.
Labels for new beers such as ‘Pure Tropics’ and for the kegs for their new ‘Sip Series’ are currently waiting to be reviewed by the TTB. And with the shutdown halting their work, Parish may have to push back their launch which was expected this summer and spring, respectively.
“It’s kind of a wait-and-see right now because we don’t know how long it will be shut down and if we’ll be able to successfully pull off these launches,” she warned.
As the shut down continues, label reviews from breweries across the country are piling up, meaning beer drinkers in Louisiana are missing out on out-of-state brews.
“When we make a new beer, we want to distribute it to all of our markets. So until we get those label approvals, we can’t get it, can’t get the beer there,” she said.
