S4E160 - Federal and State - DC/GCOT

Arizona Beer Frontier

This week on the Arizona Beer Frontier podcast, hosts Andrew Bauman and Rob Fullmer are back, recording on a Monday for a Thursday release. Rob has just returned from a trip that took him from San Diego to Washington D.C.

The hosts discuss Rob's D.C. travels, including navigating meetings at the Capitol, visiting landmarks like the Ukrainian Embassy and Exorcist stairs in Georgetown, and exploring neighborhoods with diverse cultural murals. He also recounts encountering industry figures like Bart Watson and Scott Graham. Rob shares a humorous mishap with a beer spilling while installing blinds in Flagstaff.

Andrew details his packed week, including attending an ASH (Arizona Society of Homebrewers) event where he learned about a homebrewer's strategy for winning medals at the National Homebrew Competition. He also attended the Governor's Conference on Tourism, noting discussions about international tourism and its correlation with government policies. Andrew highlights a unique "Tap Room Bookstore" pop-up event at Desert Monk Brewing.

The podcast covers key legislative issues impacting the craft beer industry, including federal budget implications for breweries (like R&D credits and CO2 recapture incentives), the U.S. Equity Act allowing the Postal Service to ship beer, and support for the Credit Card Competition Act. They touch on the ongoing debate about tariffs and their negative impact on manufacturers.

Andrew shares details about the newly seated Arizona Craft Brewers Guild board and the postponement of the Arizona Craft Beer Awards due to HVAC work at the venue. The hosts also comment on the general state of the industry, debating whether current headwinds are structural or cyclical, with economists suggesting they are more cyclical and related to consumer sentiment and inflation, rather than purely generational shifts.

Want to ask a question on the show? Record a question or comment for the show here: https://www.speakpipe.com/azbeerfrontier

We asked the fun duo, wetigersukesongs if we could use their version of Minas de Cobres and they graciously agreed. We hope you like it as much as the original. wetigersukesongs can be found here! https://www.youtube.com/user/wetigersukesongs

No goods or services were exchanged for this podcast as always.

Disclaimer: This podcast episode of Arizona Beer Frontier has been transcribed and captioned using AI native to Premier Pro. The podcast summary has also been generated using Gemini AI. Additionally, some podcast artwork has been created with the assistance of MidJourney. The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild is committed to providing accurate and accessible content for all listeners. If you have any questions or concerns about the use of AI in our podcast production, please contact us.