MUNSTER | If craft beer drinkers don't feel like picketing outside the Indiana Statehouse, they can just head to Three Floyds to buy a beer ... you know, for a good cause.
Munster-based Three Floyds and Sun King in Indianapolis are leading a "Support Indiana Brewers" lobbying effort to persuade state lawmakers to lift a production cap and let craft breweries sell more beer in their home state. They say there's no reason to artificially limit the growth of a red-hot industry that already contributes $610 million a year to the Indiana economy.
Three Floyds and Sun King also teamed up to brew a beer to support the cause: Slacktivist, a Doppelkolsch that's now available in a 22-oz. bomber for $7 and on tap at the Three Floyds brewpub, 9750 Indiana Parkway, Munster. Three Floyds brewed about 120 barrels of it, which will also be available at local retailers until it runs out.
The beer's name is a portmanteau word coined in the 1990s to describe slacker activism, or the support of a cause provided it's easy to do so.
"What's easier than drinking a beer to show your support of Indiana's craft breweries?" Sun King co-owner Clay Robinson said.
The Indiana House voted 87-7 last week to raise the amount craft breweries can brew for sale in Indiana to 90,000 barrels. The legislation also allows breweries to sell beer by the glass at fairs and festivals without being subjected to the more stringent regulations food vendors face, to be able to participate in trade shows or expos for up to 45 days a year, and to store or condition beer in buildings outside of their breweries, which is key as barrel-aged beers have grown more popular.
The bill moved to the Indiana State Senate.
Indiana had fewer than 40 craft breweries less than five years ago, but craft brewers say new laws are needed now that there are nearly 100 in the state today. Hoosier craft breweries produce more than 120,000 barrels a year and have become large employers — Three Floyds for instance now has more than 80 employees.
More than 2,700 residents have emailed state lawmakers about lifting the production cap, according to the Support Indiana Brewers campaign.
Craft breweries in the Hoosier state can exceed the 30,000 barrels per year limit on what can be sold in Indiana, but that would force them to eliminate tasting rooms and limit their ability to distribute their own beer in-state.