Photo Courtesy Lisa Fenderson
“Ask and you shall receive,” my dad used to say. I have to laugh now thinking about that phrase and what a great sense of humor my father had. My dad worked for the government most of his adult life in one capacity or another. Because of his keen intellect and grasp of irony, working in a large bureaucracy afforded him many opportunities to see the ridiculousness in a lot of situations. A recent interpretation of ORS 471.403 by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission comes into play now for homebrewers whose hands have been tied simply because a brewery asked a simple question that should have returned a simple (and logical) answer. Ask and you shall receive-but probably not what you wanted or were anticipating.
The question was simple enough. Deschutes Brewery asked if homebrewers could bring their beers to an event at their brewery. (Source: Keep handcrafter beer and wine at home, Oregon state officials say by Jessical Van Berkel, The Oregonian) Now, being a restaurant owner, I understand why they asked the question-the LAST thing any bar, restaurant, or brewery wants to do is get on the wrong side of any liquor regulatory agency. When we ask questions of these agencies, it’s because we are all acutely aware of the need to follow the letter of the law or risk our license and our livelihood. We do, however, expect a level of intelligence in interpretation of the intent of the laws in place. Unfortunately for the agents interpreting these laws and the people affected by them, the laws in place are not always intelligent. Many laws were put into place so long ago that their intent no longer represents the intent of the state. For homebrewers and winemakers in the state of Oregon, this was the case. The answer they got was that no, they couldn’t by law take their craft creations anywhere outside of their own homes. This puts a terrible crimp on many summer competitions where homebrewing and winemaking afficionados go show off their abilities. In Portland particularly, a city known worldwide as the birthplace of many world-class brews, that’s a BIG deal. The law, obviously, needs to be changed. But we all know that getting a law changed is easier said than done.
We have similarly silly liquor laws here in Washington, but I won’t bore you with the details here. Let it suffice to say that all states have silly laws in place that the legislature, with budget shortages and problems spilling out of their ears, aren’t about to deal with anytime soon. However, the Oregon legislature should deal with this one, as their very lucrative beer and wine industry was built by the very people whose hands they have now bound. I can hear my father laughing his ass off at this from wherever he is up in the great beyond.