I asked on Friday, "Does Congress hate small breweries?" The answer, it seems, is no. Members of the Senate Finance Committee, who are considering changing the way alcohol is taxed to raise money for health care reform, sent out a press release this morning that indicates they haven't forgotten about microbrewers and other small businesses. [...]

Another wrinkle in the beer tax saga over at the Senate Finance Committee: the proposed new tax structure would eliminate microbreweries' protections from excise taxes.

Currently, the standard excise tax is $18 per barrel (31 gallons). But breweries producing less than 2 million barrels a year — everyone except Anheuser Busch-InBev, MillerCoors, and Pabst — pays a reduced rate of $7 a barrel for their first 60,000 barrels each year. For the vast majority of craft brewers, this protection covers their entire output.

Congress saw it fit to protect small craft brewers in 1991 when this law was enacted. So why does the new proposal lack the nuance, the understanding of the product, of the current one?

The Senate Finance Committee is currently considering a proposal to increase the excise tax for alcoholic beverages — beer, wine, and liquor — as part of a health-care reform strategy. Craft beer producers are up in arms, and while I sympathize with their cause, the hubbub is in danger of becoming misconstrued. The Brewers Association, [...]