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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014
PAGE 7A
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STATE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
When Lawrence's Free State Brewing Co. opened in 1989, it became the first legal brewery to open in Kansas since Prohibition. It quickly became a downtown mainstay.
Lawrence breweries to benefit from Senate bill
TOM DEHART entertain@kansan.com
Local breweries may soon be looking at looser restrictions on the amount of beer they are allowed to produce.
Senate Bill 346, which passed with a unanimous vote, aims to double the number of barrels that microbreweries are able to produce in Kansas from 15,000 to 30,000.
One of Lawrence's local microbreweries, Free State Brewing Co., might be one of the potential businesses to benefit from this increase in production.
Though the brewery currently does not reach the production cap, currently producing about 10,000 barrels a year, the raise in production limits could potentially give an incentive for the company to produce more barrels of beer and provide the ability for the
company to expand.
"It definitely gets us some room to grow," said Steve Bradt, Free State Brewing Co's master brewer and current president of Kansas Craft Brewers Guild. "We actually have quite a bit of capacity in the plant that we have now. It will require some additional equipment for us, but we have the ability to grow this plant easily to 30,000 barrels large."
With the increase in production, there also comes an increase in sales and distribution in the market.
it gets us two things: the ability to grow where we already are, and the ability to spread our footprint a little bit," Bradt said.
Bradt stated that he does not see any potential downsides to this legislation, and states that it is really intended to allow the greater growth of businesses in the state, as well as generate revenue within
the state, and bring in revenue from out of state. Despite the minimal impact that the legislation may have directly on brewpubs, local brewpubs have also stated that the legislation is beneficial.
"Anything that increases the opportunity for more businesses to come in or for current businesses to expand is certainly never a bad thing. We're definitely in favor of that," said Mike Wilk, 23rd Street Brewery manager.
Bradt said that other breweries in the state, like the Tallgrass Brewery in Manhattan, have also been concerned about the limitations on current production.
"It's one less restriction that we have to work against as we grow our businesses," Bradt said. "And that is going to be true for all of us."
Edited by Katie Gilbaugh
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