New Year. New Post. Again.

Remember me? 

No apologies, no excuses. Here's why I'm here. I did a lot of writing on social media the past three days about the FDA trying to suddenly charge small distillers a fee for making hand sanitizer. And as I was putting up a final post this morning, I thought; this is kinda long-form. I'd have been blogging this ten years ago. Why not now? Because the problem with social media is that it reminds me of Keats's epitaph: "written in water." You can't find it, you can't go back and refer to it. I mean, you can, but it's not easy. 

I'll try this again. I hate wasting my writing. 

Here's what I wrote this morning on Facebook. 

So...just a final follow-up to the whole small distillery FDA fee fiasco over the past three days. To recap: FDA suddenly announced Tuesday evening that the distillers who stepped up and made hand sanitizer (at cost, or as a donation) were going to have to pay a $14,060 fee as OTC drug manufacturers. There was a huge outcry, and then the chief of staff of the HHS Secretary (FDA reports to them) got involved and squashed it, hard. We win! 

But...I've since seen people blaming Trump for this, and much as I'd love to hop on that bandwagon, because screw that guy, it's just not the case this time. Facts matter, we keep saying about the crazy things Trump and his merry followers say...which means they matter for us, too. 

Here's the deal, and I'm pretty sure about all of this. I know this for a fact: Congress decided years ago that FDA cost too much (WHAT? How much is safety worth?), and Big Pharma really needed the FDA, and Big Pharma had lots of money, so...they started making FDA a fee-funded agency, and cut their budget. I suspect that this led to a small bureaucracy within a bureaucracy at the FDA that was dedicated to finding new sources of revenues; i.e., creating new fees. Inevitable, really. 

So if you want to blame someone -- I know I do! -- blame Congress. Don't bother with a party -- they're almost always both complicit in under-the-radar stuff like this -- and oddly enough, don't blame Trump, for a change; it was actually the HHS Secretary (a Trump appointee) that had his chief of staff squash this so rapidly. As my mom says, even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.

Let's keep it honest. It's a new year, that's a good place to start.

Maybe I'm back, maybe I'm not. We'll see. It's a new year, that's a good place to start. 

A Lone Political Post, Having Nothing To Do With Beer Or Whiskey

He's got my vote.

I PLAN TO REGULATE THE PERCENTAGE OF CANTALOUPE ALLOWED IN THE VAGUELY NAMED "FRUIT SALAD"

— Bernie Thoughts (@berniethoughts) January 31, 2016

We now return to beer and whiskey.


Yes, I know it's a parody account. I'm just having some fun.

Is That Another Growler I See?

I spotted what I'm pretty sure is an old-style growler back in August here. It's in a John Sloan painting in the Philly Museum of Art.

Regular reader Steven Herberger spotted another, and I got permission to link to the picture: it's at Print Magazine's website. Take a look.

Note: STAG does not encourage Prohibition-era stereotyping

Check the large pail the slack-bellied fellow with the spade is holding. I don't believe he's bailing out a ditch he's dug; I'm pretty sure he's supposed to represent 'immigrant labor.' Let's leave the stereotyping out, though (the point being made is that while the scary Papa Doc-type black man, and the slob of a ditch digger, and the scary Italian extortionist, and even the dopey white guy get to vote, the beautiful, virginal woman does not), and focus on the growler.

Note that it's shiny! It's a steel growler, not a dull tin item. And it's a big one, too. You've got to agree: no one holds their lunchbucket that way; Ditch-digging Danny-boy (or Duncan, or Dietrich, or Dmitri) is definitely getting a noseful of suds, 1913-style. (UPDATED: I had '1919' here, Steve Herberger corrected me. Don't know how I got that wrong; thanks!)

Growlers. The history is out there. Keep your eyes open. (Thanks, Steven, and thanks to Steven Heller of Print for permission to make the link.)

Let's beat up Dick Yuengling again!

Saw this...blather on PhillyMag's blog today, and just lost it. Gene Marks, a business consultant who writes...a lot, decided that he was going to take Dick Yuengling to task for something The Dickster said in a recent interview. Here's what Dick said about why he may or may not open an expansion brewery in western Pennsylvania:

“Some states are very economically friendly,” Yuengling said. “We don’t necessarily base business decisions on incentives like that. But if they are going to give them to somebody, we would stand there and take them.”
“Pennsylvania is a great location. But it’s not very business-friendly. You look for fair tax breaks, fair taxation. And the bottom line is more jobs. That’s what it’s all about.”

And Marks jumped all over him for it, mainly making the point that Yuengling -- because he mentioned that he might locate a new brewery in another state -- is just another entitled grabber, sticking out his hand for something he doesn't deserve.

So can we all admit that we’re the same? The unions. The small-business owners. The down-and-out workers. The big business executives. The 99 percent. In the end, we’re all trying to negotiate the best deal we can, regardless of the effects elsewhere. We’re all going to take it if we can get it. Whether we’re entitled to it or not.

Marks clearly doesn't know Dick. This is the last person to think he's NOT 'all the same.' He drives a well-used Ford. He wears jeans and flannel shirts. He still has his office in the 1831 building that houses the brewery, in Pottsville. He chainsmokes, and uses a coffee cup for an ashtray. He's folks.

I'm so tired of this being beaten to death for political reasons, because this is about the election. Did you miss that "99 percent," didja know Dick's a Republican? Can we put that crap aside just once before November? Dick Yuengling kept jobs in Pennsylvania when other breweries in the state were closing. He added jobs in Pennsylvania when he built his new brewery here. And now he needs to expand, and he says that he may not build another brewery here...and now he's evil.

Give me a break. This man's business decisions saved America's oldest brewery, gave union workers in Florida back their jobs (when Yuengling re-opened the Stroh brewery in Tampa, which went under because of bad business decisions), and made this the biggest American-owned brewery in 2012. I'm sorry; if the man wants to open a brewery somewhere else -- New England, maybe, or the Midwest -- that's his prerogative. It's his business, it's not a corporation. He can do whatever he wants with it.

And you know what? Doing just that -- whatever he wants with it -- has worked out really, REALLY well for his employees, for the thousands of people in PA who sell Yuengling, and for the residents of Pottsville. I'd say let him keep doing what he's doing.

Booze Politics News and Thoughts

I've got a bunch of booze politics things that came in this week; rather than put up a bunch of posts, I'll just address all of it here. It kind of hangs together.

First, the Commonwealth Foundation study about how Pennsylvania's liquor "control" system does nothing to make the state safer from alcohol abuse, drunk driving, or underage drinking (like I didn't know that already?!) has been all over the state newspapers. I got my comments here, on the PLCB blog, go read. Meanwhile, Virginia's governor-elect, Bob McDonnell, made privatizing Virginia's ABC stores (the state sells liquor; wine and beer are in private stores) part of his campaign platform, stressing the windfall. Maybe he should have talked more about how stupid and backwards it makes the state look, and what a pain in the butt it is? And North Carolina's legislature is considering an internal report that found the state's ABC store system is outdated and needs to change. I tell you: it's time to push, and push hard.


Second, the real problem with the PLCB is The Almighty Liquor Code, which needs a total re-write. That's exactly what Frank Cagle is calling for in Tennessee in his latest "Frank Talk" column in the Knoxville weekly Metro Pulse. Tennessee's liquor code, says Cagle, is too broke to fix. "Sometimes a thing has been patched so many times it’s better to throw it out and start over." One look at The Almighty Liquor Code will convince you that it's time to throw it out. The twisted, tangled lawyerese that it is written in damns it to constant tinkering. The PA Liquor Code should be scrapped, and rewritten, in simple language, with consumer oversight, as a model of simple common sense in alcohol policy. First thing to go? All such Repeal-era language as this, the opening justification for the Code:

for the protection of the public welfare, health, peace and morals of the people of the Commonwealth and to prohibit forever the open saloon, and all of the provisions of this act shall be liberally construed for the accomplishment of this purpose.

Are you kidding me? In the trash with it, and we need never soil our minds with it again. An alcohol code should establish taxes -- of a reasonable level, based on pure alcohol content, not whether its wine, beer, or spirits -- a licensing facility for producers, importers, wholesalers, and retailers that benefits the state, not lawyers or speculators; provide rules for operation that are not based on moral or religious grounds, punishments for breaking those rules, and an enforcement procedure for dealing with this in a prompt manner; and puts the Commonwealth out of the booze business completely. Sheesh. How hard can it be?


In the New Dry section, there's this revamped informational site. It shows just the kind of inertial, pie-in-the-sky policy-driven stuff drinkers are up against; specifically, the continuing march of keg registration laws, after even the New Drys have admitted that they don't actually work. I'll say it again, for Google: Keg registration laws don't work, and PIRE confirms it. Why do 31 states have them? The same reason we got national Prohibition: someone thought it was a good idea, and would work, if only we had the whole county/state/country under control. Sorry. Turns out this one's wrong, too.


Finally, when 0.08 BAC laws were slammed through during the Clinton Administration, we were told that MADD -- the major supporter of the laws -- didn't want to go further than that, that they were not a prohibitionist group. True colors, folks: MADD Canada is recommending 0.05 BAC in Quebec. When do they stop?

So. Good, bad, interesting. That's the booze policy news this week.

"DUH!" of the Week...

Check out this headline from the BBC:

Heavy drinkers seek out bargains

This study found that people who drink heavily bought cheap booze: vodka, mostly but "White cider is the beverage to which our patients appear to have particularly cheap access, along with whisky." (Really? Whisky? Why the hell is whisky cheap? It's because distillers dump it to 'own brand' schemes in stores for quick cash; incredibly short-sighted, because it keeps the price of better whisky down as well).

Did anyone really think most drunks -- all the people surveyed were being treated for alcohol problems -- bought high-end booze-o? Heck no! These are the folks who skew the numbers, the 20% that consumer 80%, and they buy the cheapest buzz they can get, something the UK government has made even easier by mandating "units" of alcohol per bottle/serving being shown. Makes it easier for the drunk to spot the bargain, y'know?

So the study is supporting the government's latest plan, which goes beyond raising the UK's already stiff drink taxes: minimum booze pricing. Raise the price per unit to a higher minimum price. Wonder who pockets the difference? Bet it's not the booze producers...

Church Brew Works celebrates globalism with B-20 beer

Just got an interesting e-mail from Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh. They've brewed a beer for the G-20 conference being held in Pittsburgh, B-20, made with an ingredient from each of the 14 participating countries (guess the other six couldn't get off from work...).

In a global first – The Church Brew Works has brewed an exciting international spiced ale for the G-20, aptly named the “B-20” with ingredients imported from 14 participating countries! Swing by for the inaugural tapping at 5pm to kick off happy hour this Wednesday (9/23). See how these special ingredients create such a unique beer:
Argentina - Cascade Hops
Australia - Crystalized Ginger (candied ginger)
Canada - Pale Malt
China - Cracked Ginger #1
France - Strisselspalt Hops
Germany - Perle Hops and Specialty Malt from Weyerman Malt
India - Charnushka (black seeds used in garam masala and on Jewish rye bread)
Indonesia - Jackfruit
Japan - Ginger Infused Tea Leaves
Mexico - Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks
Russia – Buckwheat
Turkey - Mahalab (pit of the sour cherry)
United Kingdom - East Kent Golding Hops
USA - Chinook Hops & Pumpkin

The B-20 beer was brewed in the style of an English brown ale. The ABV is 7%, and the IBU's are 25. The B-20 ale was fermented at 68 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 days and has aged at 40 degrees Fahrenheit for over a month. The hop bill was kept low in order for the spices to come into play and not be overpowered by the hop bitterness.
The B-20 beer will also be on tap and can be celebrated at our friends at Kaya in the Strip and Six Penn Kitchen downtown.

Neat idea, no matter what your politics on globalization; I hope participants and protesters alike can sit down and have a beer!

Yuengling boycott? What?

My Google Alert on Yuengling has suddenly started spitting out pieces about Yuengling "illegally" busting the Teamsters out of their plant, and a bunch of folks saying "Man, I gotta stop drinking Yuengling!" Huh?

So I read the stuff, mostly coming out of a Mike Elk post on Huffington, and wow, that Dick Yuengling, he's huffing and puffing and blowing the union down! Elk claims Dick "said that if they didn't vote to kick the union out, he would close the plant, and ship the work to a non-union facility in the South." Which sounds like total bullshit to me right there: if he closes the Pottsville plant, they're no longer America's Oldest Brewery, and the facility they have in the "South" is the old Stroh brewery in Tampa, which is where Yuengling got unionized in the first place. There is no "ship it south" option for Yuengling; which is when I got my first inkling that Elk might be rabble-rousing.

I'm getting a lot more skeptical these days, so I looked deeper into this. The first thing I see is that according the AP story on the issue, the National Labor Relations Board "could find no evidence that management pressured employees to leave Philadelphia-based Local 830 of the Teamsters." The NLRB ruled for the brewery. So where's Elk get his "Yuengling had illegally busted their union" line? If the NLRB rules for the brewery, and the last appeal by the union is denied -- which it was -- then it's not illegal. And it's not like the workers are being oppressed. Yuengling pays 100% of their employees' health care, and brewery workers make $20 an hour. Not so bad.

Then I took another look at the story: it's from May of 2007. What da hell? This is a two year old story! Why is it suddenly coming up now?

Keep looking in Elk's piece...and you find that what Elk is really doing is trying to put pressure on Arlen Specter to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act. Boycotting Yuengling, the all-too-obvious hope is, will cause Dick Yuengling to cry uncle to Arlen. Wow. To paraphrase Bugs Bunny, if this guy thinks he's going to get Dick Yuengling to cry uncle, he don't know him very well, do he?

Look, I'm not a big fan of the EFCA because of the no-secret-ballot provision. I am not anti-union -- used to be, but no longer -- but I think the EFCA, as written, needs work. What I'm really not a fan of is using, manipulating union workers for political reasons. And suddenly stirring the shit two years after the fact (particularly when the "fact" ain't even in your favor) for political gain all too clearly shows that you never gave a rat's ass about the union workers in the first place.

This is stupidly transparent. Think for yourself -- don't just blindly follow what I'm saying, go look at this stuff yourself -- but my advice? Keep drinking Lager if you feel like it.

No, no comments on this one. Just because.

Balance the Budget? End the War on Drugs

Talking to a beer industry person yesterday -- I'm going to skip their name for obvious reasons -- who dropped this bomb: instead of raising taxes on booze -- which historically results in lower tax revenues, not higher -- why not balance the budget by legalizing recreational drugs? Here's his thinking:

• Tax them and sell them in 'drug stores': source of revenue, safer purchase, safer drugs (meaning more money and less costs and no financial reward for drug dealers)
• Release all non-violent drug offense prisoners immediately; stop arresting new ones (huge savings in prisons, and more attention paid to violent and property crime...which decriminalizing drugs will also lower)
• Eliminate the DEA and drug enforcement arms of police forces, end Coast Guard search and seizure (huge savings, greater personal liberty, return focus to protecting the nation from terrorism)
• End the huge flow of money to criminal producers and suppliers (ends huge flow of money to destabilizing groups and terrorists and the Taliban...)

Talk about your win-win. Before you start to scream...think about how much the War on Drugs looks exactly like Prohibition enforcement, and how futile, expensive, and corrupt that was, and what a great thing it was for organized crime, and how that eventually wound up. And then think about how relatively harmless smoking weed is: the most dangerous part is growing it, selling it, or buying it! And think about the main reason we got Repeal: jobs.

Food for thought. At least for discussion. As Rahm Emanuel said, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." Let's talk seriously about legalizing drugs. And while we're at it, let's abolish the PLCB.

MADD and ignition interlocks: follow the money

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on drunk driving today, part of what appears to be a series on the topic. In it, they question the position of distillers' business group The Century Council on drunk driving; TCC feels that the next step in stopping drunk driving deaths should be stiffer penalties for drivers who are caught at 0.15 BAC and over. The article has some very interesting looks at the numbers behind that, which made me question my position on this, which has been similar to TCC's. Good job, and thoughtful.

However, they talk about MADD's support for ignition interlocks (MADD wants interlocks in the cars of everyone arrested for DUI), evaluate it, and give it tacit approval...without pointing out MADD's financial links to the company that makes ignition interlocks; a major MADD donor. Actually, the WSJ is not particularly lax: no one ever mentions it. Check it out, folks: follow the money.

One Year of Rage Against the PLCB

I started my other blog, "Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished" a year ago today. I took a look back over that year (three-month hiatus and all...), and found that we actually accomplished quite a bit. Have a look at that, and on what I hope to do in the second year. The struggle continues...

Abolish that PLCB, I Said!

Two new posts up over at Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished.

First one is a new Reason, #14. It's simple: we put up with all this crap in the name of controlling the horrible damage of alcohol...and it doesn't work!

The second is a great local issue: the PLCB is closing the State Store in downtown Phoenixville -- without any regard to how that's going to affect the revitalization attempt, and without the consultation they effectively promised the borough government. PLCB to Phoenixville: Drop Dead.

Rise up, Pennsylvanians: throw off the -- no, just tell your state reps that the PLCB is an ineffective dinosaur that should be taken out back of the State Capitol and beaten to death with an empty whiskey bottle, at which point they could sell off everything it owns, and auction off shiny new liquor store licenses for lots and lots of cash -- er, I mean, state revenues, and put a serious plug in their budget hole.

Latest Obama Effect: makes wine people pee themselves

Expectations for the new President were so high during the election that he made fun of them himself: "Contrary to the rumours you have heard, I was not born in a manger," Obama said at a NY fund-raiser. "I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth." Dunno about you, but I laughed my head off at that.

I'd like to laugh at things like this, but I can only shake my head. It's a Bill Daley story in the Chicago Tribune, "Wine suggestions for President Obama." It's full of wine folks uttering spine-tingly stuff like this:

"Mr. Obama will be a champion of wine and bring new insight to the White House," predicted Mark L. Esterman, wine buyer for Meijer, the supermarket/department store chain. He thinks Obama will present a "wine-centric image" that will go over well with foreign guests coming from areas where wine is a major part of their culture and industry.

and this:

"They're going to be a much more wine-friendly first couple than, obviously, the Bushes," said Todd Hess of H2Vino, a Chicago distributor. Just the fact the Obamas drink wine with meals gives wine a positive boost, he said.

and, God help me, this:

"For the red, I hope Mr. Obama serves a zinfandel from either Lodi or Paso Robles. Nothing in the world screams 100 percent American-made like a heady-alcohol zinfandel, complete with spice, fruit and bold flavors which are indicative of the American spirit. In regard to wine, the message should be: 'We have arrived.' "

People, people, people. Have we all forgotten this?

(Philadelphia Inquirer, taken by Sarah J. Glover)

That's the New President, campaigning at Bethlehem Brew Works, a brewpub, and drinking a Fegley's ESB. And do you want to know what's really sad about this delusion? If you do a Google Images search on "Obama Wine", this is the first picture of the man that comes up! There are no pictures of Obama drinking wine that I've seen, and the man tried to get beer to the Inauguration and was denied by security. Like to see that happen to wine. (Is it our fault that draft beer comes in things that look like really big pipe bombs?)

Look, I know Daley had a column to write, I do too sometimes. But this kind of willing suspension of disbelief stuff really makes me wonder about the people in the wine biz. Do I think Obama is going to be "a champion of" beer, or present a beer"-centric image that will go over well with foreign guests coming from areas where" beer "is a major part of their culture and industry"? Hell, no. I don't think he's going to be drinking a lot of bourbon or rye, either. I don't think the man's going to have any impact at all on the booze biz.

To expect him to suddenly embrace wine, though, when he's given no real evidence of it at all before... that's kinda psychotic. ( I notice that Tom Wark didn't partake of the Obama WineGod Kool-Aid.) Thank God for the Binny's guy at the end of the piece who mused that Obama might start state dinners with Old Style. Nice.

Interested and Available, Governor Paterson!

An open letter to New York Governor David Paterson --

Dear Governor Paterson,

I understand you have a job opening for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. In light of some of the relatively unqualified people who have publicly expressed interest in the job, I'd like you to know that I am interested and I am available. I'm doing this booze-writing thing, but with the number of days off Senators get, and the number of aides you get to do the heavy lifting, I don't think it should interfere. It would certainly make it easier to write a new edition of New York Breweries, and require every library in the state to buy a copy.

I'm not just looking at petty perks, either, although unlimited access to that Senate Navy Bean Soup is a draw. I'd like to serve New York and the nation as The Senator From Beer. There are some excellent breweries in New York, and although you've given them the back of your hand lately with talk of putting the beer tax back up (after your sainted predecessor Gov. Pataki lowered it; you should inquire why), I'm sure once you appreciate the employment benefits from increased brewery business you'll be whistling another tune.

I realize it's not a new idea, what with Scoop Jackson having been the "Senator From Boeing," and I think Dick Gephardt was essentially the Representative from Anheuser-Busch, but I'd be more even-handed, and represent the interests of the entire industry. Even that Belgian outfit, you know, the big place up in Baldwinsville. Oh, and those Belgian guys in Cooperstown, too.

Before you dismiss my idea as not having enough to do with representing the people of New York, I'd remind you that Senator Clinton seemed pretty focused on the presidency from the start of her first campaign; the national media certainly seemed to think so, and she didn't disappoint them. She didn't even live in New York until she decided to run for the Senate. My wife's family goes way back in New York, and if Hillary claimed Pennsylvania solidarity based on a vacation cabin in Lake Wallenpaupack, I figure Uncle Johnny's place on Amity Lake, outside of Wellsville should count.

I have no interest in the presidency, either. I'd go so far as to say that if drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve. Sorry, but that's how it goes. I have my scruples. I refuse to run for office, because all that fund-raising you have to do compromises your ethics. I'll only accept an appointment.

But part of my appeal is that I'm not part of the paste-up new aristocracy that seems to think it has some kind of right to office. I'm not a Clinton, I'm not a Kennedy, and I'm not Ham Fish XVIII. I'm a Bryson, dammit, and we've never held any office, or expected anything handed to us because of something our father or mother or uncle did. Really, I think I have every bit as much right to serious consideration as the other "candidates."

And, lookie here, I have a blog. Which I understand you were asking about when you talked to Andy-boy Cuomo this weekend. I've been blogging for two years, and a lot of it's about taxes and policy. There's some serious thought for you.

Think about it, Governor. I could be your man in Washington. I mean, what the hell? Why not?

Sincerely,

Lew Bryson
Future Senator from New York

Evan Williams to the Rescue

Just got a press release from Heaven Hill: in the interests of making sure there are no repeats of Hillary's "whiskey faux pas" (the Senator knocked back a shot of Crown Royal while campaigning in Indiana, going for the 'regular guy' effect... Senator: an American presidential candidate drinking Canadian whiskey to bond with blue collar workers? How tone-deaf can you be?), Heaven Hill sent bottles of Evan Williams to each presidential candidate. With Kentucky's primary coming up on May 20th (and actually meaning something, unless a miracle happens and one of the two candidates wins both North Carolina and Indiana really big today), you better hope they both pay attention and take some bourbon-drinking lessons.

Dump the Pittsburgh Drink Tax!

Do you remember when I urged Pennsylvanians to contact your state legislators to stop the "poured drink tax" in Pittsburgh? Do you remember how some of the liars on the Allegheny County Council said it was "just an enabling bill," and there might not even be a drink tax, so why be against it?

Yeah. Well, they got their 10% "poured drink tax," which was immediately interpreted to include take-out six-packs bought at taverns (I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you). But surprise, surprise, the tax has turned out to be pretty damned unpopular, and opposition is not only increasing, but it looks like there might be a serious shot at repealing the tax.

The group that is coordinating the efforts, FACT (Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation), needs money to keep pushing the fight. They're having a fund-raiser at the Church Brew Works on February 11th, 5:30 to 9:30. Tickets are $40 (available at the FACT website and the Penn Brewery website), which gets you fresh craft beers from the Church, Penn, East End, and the Rivertown Pour House, and -- big guys hate taxes, too -- Blue Moon; you'll also get savory food provided by the city’s best chefs, and local entertainment playing original music, including the "NoDrinkTax Jig" by Terry Griffith. There's also a silent auction of gift baskets planned. Wow...sounds just like the fundraisers at my church, except the beer's better!

I do not know the people in FACT, but if the people at those four breweries are supporting it, that's good enough for me. Besides...$40 for a mini-fest with food and music at the Church, and a chance to shake your fist and thumb your nose at County Council? How can you lose?!