Oregon home brewers, winemakers can compete again: House gives final OK

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/03/oregon_house_gives_...

SALEM -- Cheers. Home brewers and amateur winemakers should be able to partake once again in friendly tastings and contests under a bill that cleared its final legislative hurdle Wednesday.

The Oregon House unanimously endorsed Senate Bill 444, which rewrites state law to clearly allow homemade beer and wine to be made, transported and consumed.

The wording became an issue last summer after the Oregon Liquor Control Commission received an advisory from the Department of Justice saying the law did not allow non-licensed amateurs to share their carefully crafted stout or pinot anywhere except at home.

That ruling forced even the Oregon State Fair to cancel last year's homemade wine and beer competition.

With brewers and winemakers across the state in a froth, legislators went to work on the problem as soon as they returned to Salem. The brewer's bill is among the first group to clear both the House and the Senate this session.

Wednesday's debate in the House featured a poem celebrating hobby brewers. A couple of legislators noted that, in Oregon, small brewers sometimes grow big. And one member, Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland, smuggled a bottle of his own homebrew onto the floor, violating the current law as well as a host of Capitol rules.

"I have to confess -- it's not all that good," Bailey said, lifting the unopened amber bottle.

Following the vote, Gov. John Kitzhaber's office confirmed that he will sign the legislation when it hits his desk.

"He's happy that it passed," said Christine Miles, Kitzhaber's spokeswoman. "He thinks this showcases our rich agriculture history, but also Oregonians who are innovative."

Brett Begani, a board member of the PDX Brewers Club, says he hopes the governor wastes no time. March 30 is the deadline for National Homebrew Competition, Begani says. "We need to have that signed into law before we can legally enter."

There's also a party to plan. Begani says brewers have agreed to celebrate the first weekend after their bill becomes law.