[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]A Madison senator introduced a bill last month that would allow small Wisconsin breweries to sell their beer at up to six different locations.

Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said the bill aims to update the regulation of brewpubs in Wisconsin while allowing local businesses — like Madison’s Great Dane — to expand.

Under current law, brewpubs — establishments that brew and sell their own beer on premises — are only allowed to sell their beer at two locations.

"I am pleased to offer legislation to help a successful and popular local Madison business to grow," Risser said in a statement released in August.

Under current law, the Great Dane cannot sell its beer at the company's Hilldale location, and Eliot Butler, president of the Great Dane said this rule is costing the company money.

"Serving other people’s beer as opposed to our own … raises our costs 4-5 percent at Hilldale," Butler said. "Tons of patrons want to purchase our beer at Hilldale."

Risser spokesperson Terry Tuschen said the bill has received positive feedback from many constituents.

"Most people think it's ridiculous that [the] Great Dane can’t sell their own beer at their own location," Tuschen said.

The bill would have a significant impact on Madison businesses, Tuschen said, adding that it would allow brewpubs throughout the state to grow.

But opponents say despite allowing existing businesses to grow, it would hurt start-up brewers.
Russ Klisch, president of the Wisconsin Brewers Guild, said if passed, the bill would hurt anyone wanting to open a "combined packaging brewpub," an establishment that sells their beer and food on location in addition to packaging their brews for export.

"Any future brewer from now on must determine if it's going to be a brewpub or a brewery," Klisch said.

Microbreweries have sprung up around Wisconsin since the first in the state opened in 1985, and currently only three Wisconsin breweries do not serve food, Klisch said.

"Not selling food is a death sentence to any brewery," he added. "It is a silly idea to have a place where you sample beer [but] do not serve any food."

The top 50 breweries in the United States manage a combination brewpub and packaging operation — the type of business this bill would prevent, Klisch added.

“It’s sad … the bill was rushed through,” Klisch said. “We never had a chance to talk to any senators about the bill.”

However, Risser said he is working hard to make the bill help all Wisconsin brewers.

"I felt it was important that … issues be addressed and corrected so that the bill does not inadvertently hinder new microbrewers from starting and growing their businesses," Risser said in a letter to his constituents last week.

Both Klisch and Butler cited the growth of microbreweries and increased popularity of microbrewery beer as a reason for the bill.

The sales of craft beers have grown for the past few years, Butler said.

"People want to drink better beer, [and] they’re getting more educated on the tastes and flavors of beer," Klisch said.