Indiana Craft Brewers, Retailers Stewing Over Beer Distribution Caps

INDIANAPOLIS — Todd Antz is growing sales at his family-owned liquor stores in Clarksville and New Albany by specializing in craft beers, but stocking an Indiana brew considered among the best on the planet has become a problem.

Demand for Dark Lord Russian Imperial stout — or any beer with a Three Floyds Brewing Co. label — is so intense that Antz limits customers to a six-bottle ration.

Some of Three Floyds’ cult-like followers accuse the brewery of artificially limiting production, but Antz, owner of The Keg, says the Munster-based company isn’t to blame. 


The scarcity, he said, is due to laws that cap craft beer production in Indiana. Three Floyds sends about 40 percent of its beer to neighboring states as a result.

Antz thinks raising the cap would be a good thing for him and the state’s fast-growing craft beer industry, but a proposal to more than double the limits is meeting resistance from others in the distribution chain.

Indiana now has more than 100 microbreweries on tap, with more in development. At Three Floyds, head brewer Chris Boggess said production caps, which he calls “stupid” and “arbitrary,” are hindering the brewery’s growth.… CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT NEWS AND TRIBUNE