Hobby Distiller’s Association Will Meet With TTB September 23

WASHINGTON - Sept. 17, 2014 - PRLog -- Volunteers with the Hobby Distiller’s Association (HDA) are scheduled to meet with the administrator of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on Tuesday, September 23. Members of the HDA Membership Committee Tom Cowdry, Scott McNutt, and Rick Morris will be accompanied by lobbyist Keith Nelson at Tuesday’s meeting in Washington DC. The TTB meeting will occur only one week after Morris and Nelson’s meetings yesterday with Congressman Michael C. Burgess and Senator Ted Cruz.

Morris, founder of Brewhaus (America) Inc. and volunteer behind the HDA, said that yesterday’s meetings were an overall positive experience, and he looks forward to sharing information with the TTB next week. The discussions with Representative Burgess, Senator Cruz, and the TTB are all in regards to a bill that could afford hobby distillers the same legal rights as hobby brewers and winemakers.

“Obviously, they won’t commit until they see the language of the bill, but I think we’re on the right track,” Morris expressed after his discussions with Representative Burgess and Senator Cruz. “We’ll follow up with Burgess to help them with any information they may need for when they conduct their additional research on safety.”

The goal of next Tuesday’s meeting with the TTB is to address enough of their concerns so that they won’t want to see the bill blocked. Morris hopes to discuss with them where the HDA would like to see the bill go.

“We realize that they aren’t exactly going to get behind our efforts,” states Morris, “but we’d like to hopefully walk away with them at least agreeing in principal that it’s not going to be a problem for them.”

The HDA has been around for 6 months and has already swelled to about 1300 members and counting. Their website includes a page where members can download proposals and presentations to send to local Representatives and Senators, as well as flyers to distribute at local homebrew supply stores. Morris believes that this member activity has helped advance the association’s initiative in such a short amount of time.

“We have such passionate members,” Morris notes. “Our Membership Committee is covering their own travel expenses to DC without reimbursement from anywhere. That shows dedication to our cause right there.”

Morris remains optimistic about Tuesday’s meeting with the TTB. He finds the fact that they are meeting with the administrator of the TTB instead of an aide encouraging and plans to make the most of their meeting time.

“It would be great to have them off-the-record supporting it,” Morris adds. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”