2019 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

All Content > Government Coverage > Heartland

Awarded to

Keith Gribbins, Editor

Entry details

Beer and Government

Issue date (if applicable): 
Publication name: Craft Brewing Business
Publishing company: CBB Media Inc.
Website home page: https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/

Please describe the publication's mission and readership:

To us, beer is more than a vocation. It’s a community and culture. Craft Brewing Business is a trade website dedicated to the professionals working in what we’ll categorize as the high-end, local-focused, small business sector of the beer market. We as a company also embrace the independent spirit and small business values that are integral to the craft alcohol industry. The result is an Azbee-award-winning website and newsletter helping craft breweries succeed in today’s ultra-competitive marketplace that now has 7,000+ breweries operating in America.

Craft Brewing Business covers the business of beer from four distinct angles: 1) equipment and systems; 2) marketing and distribution; 3) supplies and ingredients; and 4) business and management services. From fermenters and philanthropy to hops and overhead costs, our editorial is a mix of breaking news, tech articles, brewery spotlights, community outreach, equipment analysis, legislative updates and trade show coverage that you can’t find anywhere else (for free, at least). Our readers are beer pros — brewers, packaging managers, chemists, bartenders, distributors, merchandise clerks and anyone vital to the success of a commercial craft brewery.

We as writers are beer enthusiasts, but this is not an enthusiasts’ site. Craft Brewing Business is committed to the big business of running a small brewery. We post four times a day, our weekly newsletter goes out to about 6,000 and we generate more than 80,000 pageviews each month.

Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

Alcohol regulation in America is a legislative Gong Show. Laws vary from state to state. Statutes date back to 1933, shortly after the repeal of Prohibition. Bills are suspiciously crafted to protect and support alcohol’s outdated three-tier distribution system. Government programs are set up to create protectionist enclaves for regional businesses. Craft Brewing Business has been shining a floodlight on the chaos of beer law since it was founded in 2013. Last year, government beat writer Keith Gribbins took that coverage to award-winning levels. Here are three examples:

Shady government polices: Canada’s protectionist provincial policies are nothing new, but Alberta’s Small Brewers Development Program hit impressive levels of deceptiveness, creating a shell game to get Alberta craft brewers around taxes. We expose the masquerade.

Misunderstood legislation: Pennsylvania brewers will be required to pay a new state retail tax on on-premise beer sales. Brewers are outraged. The problem is it’s not new, it’s in line with sales tax around the state and everyone’s got the wrong info. We deep dive with the state to show why it makes sense.

Ugly amendment: At the last second, Anheuser-Busch lobbyists tried to create a legal pay-to-play scheme with beer merch in Ohio. We reached out to the Ohio Craft Brewers Association and Anheuser-Busch to understand why, spreading the message to get the amendment removed.

There’s so much more. We highly suggest you peruse www.craftbrewingbusiness.com to find random but equally awesome examples.

Links to entry URLs

Please note: These URLs are only required for entries in the Online division categories, entries in the Design division categories that are specific to websites, entries in the Website of the Year category, and entries in the Cross-Platform Package of the Year category.

Entry URL(s), if applicable:
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/canada-craft-beer-taxes-and-protectionist-policies-explained/
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/explaining-pennsylvanias-brewery-retail-beer-sales-tax-why-its-a-murky-subject-and-why-bars-and-restaurants-are-exempt/
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/ohio-craft-brewers-association-calls-anheuser-busch-backed-glassware-amendment-pay-to-play/

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