Lock Seven Brewery

03/24/2014

Update on the Beer Cap in Tennessee:

WE HAVE A GREAT CHANCE OF GETTING THIS DONE! However, we're going to need the urgent and immediate help of everyone we can to ensure we move forward with this and we get this thing accomplished THIS YEAR.

We're more optimistic about our chances than ever before! This week will be critical. A lot has happened in the past few days.

We are excited to say that the TN Craft Brewers Guild has worked out a compromise with the TN Wine and Spirits Retailers Association (the liquor stores), the TN Malt Beverage Association (the beer wholesalers), and the Convenience Store Association (represents TN convenience stores). While no group got everything it wanted, we have all agreed to a bill that will allow us to move forward.

They can't go into all the specifics right now, because some details and timing are still being hammered out. The amendment that will contain all the details of the deal was just submitted, and the new bills will be heard in committee tomorrow on Tuesday, March 25th.

The new deal would get high-gravity beer out into grocery stores once wine in grocery stores is legal. It would raise the cap on "beer" in TN after that (details of which will be worked out tomorrow), expanding the selection of beer that could be sold in channels that can't sell wine. And it would let brewers brew high-gravity beer under a standard brewers license.

This deal is supported by all the parties involved. Our job now is to convince legislators to act on the bills in the short time they have left before the end of session.

The amendment that represents this new compromise deal will be taken up by bills HB 47 by Rep Ryan Haynes and SB 289 by Sen Bill Ketron. These bills as currently written will be changed by the amendment and will be re-heard in committee. HB 47 will be heard in the House State committee on Tues March 25th at 9 AM. SB 289 will be heard in the Senate State and Local committee on the same day at 10:30.

Please take just a few minutes right now--yes RIGHT now--to send a very important message to the committee members in BOTH the House and Senate committees who will be hearing these bills. You can send the suggested messages below, or send one of your own.

Please email the following members of the House State Committee (just cut and paste these email addresses into your email)

To the House State Government Committee:

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

with the Subject Line:

"Please support your local TN Brewers with a YES on HB 47"

and this message, or something else you want to say:

On Tuesday, March 25th, the House State committee will hear HB 47, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Haynes. This bill, as amended, represents a compromise reached between Tennessee's liquor stores, who currently are the only retail outlet for beer above 5%, and Tennessee's breweries and beer wholesalers, who would like to expand "high-gravity beer" sales to wherever wine is allowed for sale.

This compromise bill is supported by the TN Wine and Spirits Retailers Association, the TN Craft Brewers Guild, the TN Malt Beverage Association, and the Convenience Store Association. It would allow high-gravity beers to be sold in grocery stores in every county that approves wine in grocery stores. It would allow TN brewers to brew both beer and high-gravity beer under one standard brewers license.

This bill also has the strong support of the Blount County Partnership, which is trying to attract new investment and jobs in East Tennessee from brewers such as Stone Brewing in California.

Passage of this bill would open up a new market for Tennessee brewers in a segment of the craft beer market that is rapidly growing, creating new investment and jobs here in Tennessee. Passage of this bill would greatly increase the selection of craft beers in Tennessee, keeping sales taxes here in our state, from consumers who normally would travel to neighboring states with better beer selection.

I urge you to please support Tennessee's brewers with a YES vote on HB 47! Thank you for your time, and your service to our state.

To the Senate State and Local Committee:

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

with the Subject Line:

"Please support your local TN Brewers with a YES on SB 289"

and this message, or something else you want to say:

On Tuesday, March 25th, the Senate State and Local Committee will hear SB 289, sponsored by Sen. Bill Ketron. This bill, as amended, represents a compromise reached between Tennessee's liquor stores, who currently are the only retail outlet for beer above 5%, and Tennessee's breweries and beer wholesalers, who would like to expand "high-gravity beer" sales to wherever wine is allowed for sale.

This compromise bill is supported by the TN Wine and Spirits Retailers Association, the TN Craft Brewers Guild, the TN Malt Beverage Association, and the Convenience Store Association. It would allow high-gravity beers to be sold in grocery stores in every county that approves wine in grocery stores. It would allow TN brewers to brew both beer and high-gravity beer under one standard brewers license.

This bill also has the strong support of the Blount County Partnership, which is trying to attract new investment and jobs in East Tennessee from brewers such as Stone Brewing in California.

Passage of this bill would open up a new market for Tennessee brewers in a segment of the craft beer market that is rapidly growing, creating new investment and jobs here in Tennessee. Passage of this bill would greatly increase the selection of craft beers in Tennessee, keeping sales taxes here in our state, from consumers who normally would travel to neighboring states with better beer selection.

I urge you to please support Tennessee's brewers with a YES vote on SB 289! Thank you for your time, and your service to our state.

It is VERY important that we get as many people as we can to contact these legislators and urge them to vote YES on these bills. Share this on Facebook and Twitter...tell your friends outside of this group and get them to participate as well. Our support can and will make the difference between this bill moving forward and eventually passing or dying in committee. We can NOT let this thing die!

03/18/2014

Everyone, please read and take some time to help out. This is where WE ALL can make a difference regarding our beer in Tennessee. This is from the Music City Beer Society...

Greetings All,

Please stop whatever you're doing now--as in RIGHT now--and take just five minutes to send out a VERY important message to your legislators that could change the shape of craft beer in Tennessee.

As most of you know by now, the current laws in Tennessee limit the alcohol content of what is considered "beer" to a mere 5% ABW, or around 6.25% ABV. Anything stronger than this is considered "high-gravity beer" and must be purchased at a liquor store. In addition, brewers must obtain a distillery license to be able to brew high-grav beer, and must obtain a liquor license to be able to serve it in their taprooms. In the modern-day craft brewing boom, this law is severely oudated and it limits the availability of craft beer in Tennessee and the kinds of beers that our great breweries can produce. It's way past time to change this.

There is currently a "Fix The Beer Cap" bill in the TN legislature that seeks to raise the alcohol cap on beer from 5% to 12% ABW, which will finally allow higher alcohol beer to be brewed and served in our breweries' taprooms and to be sold in grocery stores, greatly expanding the market for high gravity beer in Tennessee. These bills will be heard in committees THIS WEEK--SB 2095 will be heard today by the Senate State and Local Committee, and HB 1983 will be heard tomorrow by the House State Government Subcommittee. We need to contact each and every one of these legislators and tell them they need to vote YES on these bills and keep them moving forward. Most have been supportive of raising the cap on beer (something our neighboring states of NC, AL and MS have done in recent years, all with amazing results in their craft beer scenes), but don't feel they should take up the issue so soon after the wine-in-grocery-stores debates.

There is no need to wait another year. The debate over allowing wine (up to 18% alcohol!) is over. Why not allow high-gravity beers as well? If you agree (I'm assuming most of us do since that's why you're part of the MCBS), please help us by contacting the following committee members, with something along the lines of the following messages:


To the Senate State and Local Committee:

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Subject Line: Please vote to Fix the Beer Cap!

I am writing you to request your support of Tennessee's breweries, by voting YES on SB 2095. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Green, would raise the alcohol cap on what is considered "beer" in Tennessee. Most of the states surrounding Tennessee either have no alcohol cap, or have recently voted to raise their caps to the 12-15% range. The resulting boom in new breweries, in places like North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and even Mississippi, has created thousands of new jobs and increased tax revenues to these states.

With debate over allowing wine into grocery stores over, why not address allowing beers of the same alcohol content as well? Please support your local brewers by voting YES on SB 2095.

We also need to send a message to the House reps as well, with something along the lines of this:

To the House State subcommittee:

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Subject line: Please vote to Fix the Beer Cap!

I am writing you to request your support of Tennessee's breweries, by voting YES on HB 1983. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Sexton, would raise the alcohol cap on what is considered "beer" in Tennessee. Most of the states surrounding Tennessee either have no alcohol cap, or have recently voted to raise their caps to the 12-15% range. The resulting boom in new breweries, in places like North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and even Mississippi, has created thousands of new jobs and increased tax revenues to these states.

With debate over allowing wine into grocery stores over, why not address allowing beers of the same alcohol content as well? Please support your local brewers by voting YES on HB 1983.

So please, take just five minutes and let's flood all of their inboxes and phone lines with messages of support for why they need to vote YES on these bills and why that's important to you as a craft beer drinker. Be sure to clarify to them that it will lead to increased tax revenues--something they LOVE hearing--by allowing for an expanded selection of craft beers here and allowing our local breweries to add to their current lineup of beers (I for one would love to not have to drive to Kentucky to get beers we can't get here in TN). We have a very real chance of helping to change the craft beer scene across the entire state for the better--something we can all drink to!

More info on this issue can be found here:

www.fixthebeercap.com

www.facebook.com/fixthebeercap

Find your local legislators here: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/legislators/

Thanks all and let's all support better craft beer in Tennessee!!

Anthony C**n

Volunteer Coordinator

Music City Beer Society

Tennessee has the lowest beer cap in the South. Find out more: http://www.FixTheBeerCap.com/

02/15/2014

Happy Valentine's day everyone! For this day we brewed a specialty beer and nailed it on the first try. As of now this is just a personal brew for ourselves and our families to celebrate all the hard work we've put into the brewery.

However, in the future this Chocolate Strawberry ale will be very accessible. Maybe next valentines day you'll be able to put in an order for it yourselves.

Once again, Happy Lover's Day!

01/09/2014

This weeks brew: St. Lucia Red Ale
A Red Ale, Originally crafted in a traditional Irish style, but later perfected with a unique blend of herbs. St. Lucia Red Ale holds a dark red color and robust mouth feel. The front end will lure you and the linger will keep you. From nose to tail, St. Lucia balances heavy grain with light unique herbs to hit all sorts of flavor points.

01/01/2014

Happy New Year!

Our New Years resolution? Have our nano-brewery up and operating and setting up our distribution LLC. We hope by this time next year, you will be drinking Lock Seven Beer on New Year's Day!

12/26/2013

Merry Christmas from Lock Seven Brewery!

12/16/2013

What style of beer did you enjoy this weekend and what did you like about it?

12/14/2013

Get your order in for these awesome bottle openers! Each sale gets us closer to sharing the great beer with you!

12/13/2013

Hello fellow beer drinkers! It's been awhile, we've been extremely busy making great beer for Lock Seven Brewery!

This weeks beer is called Evangeline. This blonde ale is one of our more unique recipes. It is rich, creamy, and has a strong mouthfeel. She's well balanced and anyone from a beer snob to a beginner can enjoy this brew. Don't let your guard down though, Evie is a potent one. Bottoms up!

11/24/2013

We have been selling quite a few bottle openers, but we still have a ways to go in order to get to our nano brewery stage. Message us to order one of these custom made handcrafted bottle openers made exclusively for Lock Seven Brewery.

11/19/2013

Here at Lock Seven Brewery, we are hanging out near the fire, popping open a freshly brewed ale with our handcrafted Lock Seven bottle openers. They are $20 and every opener you purchase gets us closer to our goal of opening our nano-brewery. Message us for more information and thank you for your support!

11/16/2013

This weeks brew- The Cumberland Ale: This is a lighter beer, intended for folks who like beer but haven't ventured into craft beer. With gentle notes of honey, caramel, and lighter grains, this beer is great for all occasions. A wonderful beer that focuses on smoothness, The Cumberland Ale is a please all type of brew.