(WKOW) — Parts of the craft beer industry are playing the waiting game as the government shutdown continues.
Breweries trying to get federal label approval can’t because the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau office is closed.
“Breweries that are located in areas of the state that are close to neighboring states or for breweries that sell beer out of state, they’re required to get label approvals for any beer that is sold across state lines,” Mark Garthwaite, the executive director of the Wisconsin Brewers Guild told WBAY-TV.
“Every time that we make a brand of beer, design a label, name it, all of that has to be approved by the government,” Michael Stodola with Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee told WITI-TV.
That approval process can take months as is, which means summer and fall local brews could be affected.
“Once they approve it, then we have to get it printed, and that`s a two month process. It`s probably going to be too late for a few of them to be sold out of state,” Stodola said.
The government shutdown is also an issue for new breweries trying to get on their feet. “There are a lot of small just any kind of business, but that’s the case for some small brewery start-ups, that if they’re relying on small business loan applications to fund their operations, that’s a big problem because all that is shut down too” said Garthwaite.
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