Does DeSantis want to tackle Bud Light, regulation, help little guy, make Florida free?

Some of Gov. Ron DeSantis' recent comments and $1 beer event in New Hampshire move me to offer some ideas that would not only help Floridians, but his flagging presidential campaign. They're connected to his claims of a “Free Florida” and some of my recent craft beer escapades.

Like the one at a small beer bar in Houston, where owner Cathy Krznar told me how she found the unusual Pecan Triple Bock beer, with a whopping 14% alcohol, at Stetsi, a nano brewery. Stetsi is in Lovelady, a town of 587 off the beaten path and 90 minutes north of Houston.

"We always like to put stuff on the wall people can't get anywhere else," said Krznar, who owns Benny Thunders, which the other day had four beers on tap from Stetsi, which, by nano standards, makes only three barrels or less at a time. "It's all about trying to support the local community."

Stetsi delivers to Benny Thunders in its own van. Such deliveries, including brewers selling direct to retailers, have been illegal in "Free Florida" for decades.

Florida restricts brewers' freedom

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But if DeSantis wants to maintain his tough guy stance regarding big, bad companies that oppose his anti-woke agenda and show he’s a capitalist looking out for the little guy, he’ll take up an issue he should’ve tackled after he shuttered small brewers during the COVID pandemic.

In July 2020, I urged the governor and Legislature to let beer makers sell their wares to retailers and direct to consumers off breweries' premises just like 99% of other manufacturers in our state. At the time, experts warned some craft brewers, many living on small financial margins, would be crippled by COVID and eventually go out of business.

That September, as DeSantis and others laughed at how states such as New York handled the pandemic, I pointed out how that state’s craft beer business was booming — in part because brewers there, like in Texas, are allowed to sell their beer to retailers. I also cited the sad tale of how Indian River County’s first craft brewery, Orchid Island, would close its tap room across from Humiston Park in Vero Beach, but continue to produce a limited amount of beer elsewhere.

Alden Bing, its owner, was one of the first to tell me about the insanity of Florida’s archaic three-tier law, which prohibited him from selling a keg to a restaurant across the street. Instead, state law required him to sign a contract with a distributor, who would ship his beer to a warehouse, likely in Fort Pierce, then truck it back to Vero Beach at a 30% premium. Brewers say the contracts are impossible to get out of.

More on that later.

Florida Brewers Guild priorities

In the 2023 Florida legislative session, more than 400 Florida craft brewers finally caught a break. House Bill 1459, sponsored by Reps. Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey and Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg became law. It limits branding fees brewers pay the state — $35 for each named beer, including slight tweaks (such as barrel-aged or flavored) — to only those sold to distributors.

Three other proposals did not pass.

An effort to simplify licensing fees and taxes, which could save brewers time and money, is on the Florida Brewers Guild legislative priority list for 2024, according to its president, Brooke Malone of Walking Tree Brewery in Vero Beach.

The two big ones to me — self-distribution and franchise, or contract reform, are critical for the guild to get passed next year. Florida is one of only 13 states that prohibit brewers from distributing their own products, according to Untappd, a beer resource.

In 2021, Kentucky’s Legislature repealed its old distribution laws and allowed brewers producing fewer than 50,000 barrels of beer annually — virtually all of them — to deliver up to 2,500 barrels a year, according to Brewbound.com.

Small breweries like Pareidolia in Sebastian impacted

Reforming such a law — created decades ago to protect distributors when there were relatively few breweries, according to Malone — would especially help smaller brewers such as Stesti and many in Florida.

“We love the logistics our distributors offer us,” said Malone, citing the efforts her brewery and its distribution partners have made to get into Publix supermarkets and restaurants around Florida. Distributors save breweries lots of work and make it easy for restaurants, too, she said.

She and her husband, Mike, said it would be a huge investment for them to deliver 150 to 200 kegs a week.

But, Mike Malone, said, such larger distribution is not for everyone.

Like Pete Anderson of Pareidolia in Sebastian, a small brewery that ships 25 to 30 kegs a week in season. Malone noted brewers like Pareidolia should have the right to, if nothing else, deliver kegs to restaurants in the neighborhood. But they don’t.

DeSantis should stand up for capitalism

“It’s anti-capitalism,” said Brooke Malone, who plans to lead a delegation to Tallahassee in November to speak with legislators. “We are small business owners, not mega-conglomerates.”

How does this relate to DeSantis? He has lots of sway with legislators and his campaign for president is in trouble. It’s understandable when you brag about all the people moving to your state, but employers can’t find people to hire and the environment is suffering.

All the demand, coupled with runaway homeowners and auto insurance rates, has led to media reports saying Florida, and in particular its major south and west corridors, has the highest inflation of any state in the nation.

Meantime, DeSantis has been criticized for going after Disney and wanting to investigate Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of Bud Light.

“AB InBev's performance has plummeted since its decision to associate its Bud Light brand with radical social ideologies," DeSantis wrote in a letter to the state's Board of Administration, which manages the Florida pension fund and its small holdings in the company.

"That fateful decision (to have a marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney) has transformed America's formerly best-selling beer ― and one of InBev's best-performing assets ― into a commercial pariah," DeSantis continued, suggesting “AB InBev may have breached legal duties owed to its shareholders.”

Because of its volume, this international conglomerate has a large influence over distributors and has massive shelf space in Florida supermarkets and restaurants ― space that’s tough for craft brewers to penetrate.

By going to bat for small businesses, DeSantis can help them (and consumers) cut out the middle man, potentially helping to lower costs (and inflation).

More importantly, the governor can show he is a capitalist, not just some strongman engaging in culture wars.

What’s more, it would prove he’s more than just a governor who takes away local citizens’ rights to set their own community rules. Pushing self-distribution and franchise reform would  back up claims he made in New Hampshire Monday that he will cut business regulations.

Such deregulation has helped Texas brewers and Stetsi, which has done so well marketing and selling its product it will open a second tap room in midtown Houston.

In Florida, the inability of brewers to market their own creations outside of their places of business is a travesty. It’s the antithesis of self-determination, a critical American value.

Perhaps this one niche change can make a world of difference for DeSantis, hundreds of brewers, their employees and the untold numbers of Americans who drink Florida craft beer.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Here's how DeSantis can help us craft beer lovers, brewers and himself