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Craft beer production stalls with government shutdown

Posted at 6:11 PM, Oct 10, 2013
and last updated 2013-10-10 18:11:02-04

The partial federal government shutdown, now in its 10th day Thursday, impacts many aspects of daily life, including some less obvious ways.

It could soon affect business for America’s Craft Brewers.

Places like the Blackstone Restaurant and brewery in Nashville will still offer beer, but the agency that approves new breweries, recipes and labels has shut down.

That could cause huge delays in the rapidly growing craft brewing industry, whose customers look forward to new seasonal beers. If there is any silver hops to be found in the pint glass, it would be that the shutdown at least came after the pumpkin and Oktoberfest beer season.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is a little-known arm of the treasury department.

Brewers say the TTB normally takes about 75 days to act on applications, now they expect that wait to be much longer.

Click here to read more, on EATER.com.