How do you know an election is around the corner? When a politician promises a break on the price of beer.
In this case, the NDP says it will scrap a tax hike on beer growlers – the 1.8-litre refillable bottles that are all the rage among ale aficionados.
A $10 per refill growler that now costs $11.20 after tax at a microbrewery or taproom is expected to be 64 cents more per refill from April 1 under the BC Liberal government’s tax changes. The government argues the product is meant for off-site consumption, like a factory-packaged six-pack, so it should be taxed accordingly.
NDP liquor critic Maurine Karagianis said Wednesday that B.C.’s independent brewers are small businesspeople whose efforts should be supported.
“To see a government that in any way wants to impede that is really counterproductive and counterintuitive to the message we've heard from the BC Liberals,” Karagianis said at R&B Brewing Co. in Vancouver.
“This is a renewable, sustainable way of delivering beer to a market that is now asking for that and is prepared to support that. We need to do everything we can to encourage that.”
Vancouver’s BrassNeck Brewery, co-founded by ex-Steamworks brewmaster Conrad Gmoser and Alibi Room co-owner Nigel Springthorpe, is a growler specialist.
“When you’re talking about a business based on growler sales, 30 cents a litre is a massive thing for us to now be considering when we're talking in the hundreds of units for survival,” Springthorpe said.
The B.C. chapter of the Campaign for Real Ale Society attracted nearly 2,000 supporters via social media against the tax increase.
