In this week’s edition of Last Call: A New York bill would double the state’s excise tax; the Indiana cold beer sales effort will resume; U.S. cider trade group changes name; Silver Eagle distributes 1 million cases of Karbach beer in Houston; C Squared moves; and Backlash exits taproom.

Federal excise tax (FET) relief for makers of beer, wine and spirits is locked in place through the end of 2020. President Donald Trump today signed into law a tax extender package that includes the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA), which passed both chambers of Congress this week.

Beer, wine and spirits companies are a signature away from another year of federal excise tax relief. The U.S. Senate today passed a tax extender package that includes a one-year extension of the tax relief in the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CMBTRA) that was slated to expire at the end of 2019.

Nancy Palmer has left her post as the executive director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild to become the director of government affairs at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Palmer, the first woman to receive the Brewers Association’s F.X. Matt Defense of the Industry Award, started at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in November. She had served as executive director of the guild since being promoted to the post in July 2014.

A survey commissioned by the Beer Institute (BI), a national trade group advocating for the U.S. brewing industry, found that 68% of respondents were in favor of extending the federal excise tax relief that was put in place in 2017, but slated to expire at the end of the year. Quadrant Strategies conducted the survey of 1,000 legal drinking age adults for the BI earlier this month.

BrewDog launches a third funding round in the U.S. HUB offers mug club memberships to drinkers of closed Portland breweries. Santa Rosa’s Shady Oak Barrel House faces backlash for beer name.

A bill to extend federal excise tax (FET) relief has garnered a record number of co-sponsors following a day of action coordinated by the Beer Institute (BI), Brewers Association (BA) and other alcoholic beverage trade groups.

Eighteen days after Texas’ new beer-to-go law went into effect, manufacturing brewers are reporting high levels of consumer enthusiasm for the opportunity to buy and take home packaged beers from taprooms.

The nearly decade-long debate over Massachusetts’ controversial franchise laws resumed Monday, as the state’s craft brewers and beer wholesalers packed a meeting of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. Brewers and wholesalers remain divided on how to reform strict franchise laws, which brewers claim lock their businesses into nearly unbreakable relationships with wholesalers. Each side presented revised proposals, which they argued would benefit each other.

In this week’s Last Call: Budweiser becomes the ‘official beer’ of the National Women’s Soccer League; California revises the definition of ‘beer’; A-B back away from its Asia Pacific IPO; Founders Announces the end of CBS; and more news.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Smuttynose and Hop Valley shuffle executives; Boston Beer and Dogfish Head’s merger closes; Deschutes Brewery adds distribution in Indiana, New Jersey; Reyes Holdings sells Reinhart Foodservice for $2 billion; and more news.

In the latest Legislative Update: Maine lawmakers vote to reform self-distribution and franchise laws; Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signs a law increasing the amount of beer craft breweries can sell directly to consumers; North Carolina passes legislation to sell beer and wine at college sporting events; and Pennsylvania legislators consider a lower sales tax on at-the-brewery sales.

In the latest Last Call: Michigan’s Axle Brewing is searching for a buyer, as the company prepares to close its Ferndale-based taproom at the end of June. Also, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to sign beer-to-go measure into law on June 15, and more industry news.

The the latest Legislative Update: Pennsylvania brewers are on the verge of a sales tax compromise; Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signs an alcohol reform bill; Maine brewers and wholesalers seek franchise reform; Illinois’ governor seek beer tax hike; and more notes from the states.