Hosts Rob Fullmer and Andrew Bauman dive into the current state of the Arizona beer world. They start with personal updates on travel, touching on the high costs of add-ons like carry-on bags and Airbnb cleaning fees .

The conversation shifts to industry regulations, discussing a situation in Kansas where long-unenforced minimum production requirements might force breweries to close . This contrasts with a major legislative win in Arizona: the passage of Bill 2905, which significantly lowers the minimum production requirement for breweries from 5,000 gallons to 1,000 gallons . This change is seen as crucial for smaller and newer breweries, potentially enabling more diverse business models like those of the newly opened Fort Mojave Brewing and Retrograde Brew and Barbecue .

However, it wasn't all good news from the legislature. The hosts express significant frustration over the failure of the Hemp Adult Beverage Bill (1556) . Compounded by a recent edict from the Arizona Attorney General demanding the removal of hemp-derived THC beverages from shelves by late April under threat of severe penalties , they discuss the potential negative impact on businesses, the challenges for license holders dealing with patrons consuming unregulated products, and the missed opportunities for regulation and revenue .

The episode also covers recent brewery news, including the sad closures of Beer Research Institute (BRI) and Taproom 120 . They reflect on the general challenges facing breweries, such as rising rents, slim margins, and intense shelf competition .

Looking ahead, Rob and Andrew preview the upcoming Baja Beer Festival in Tucson, highlighting the wide array of breweries attending, interactive elements, and associated events like the Meet the Brewers night at Dragoon Brewing. They also briefly touch on the upcoming Craft Brewers Conference in Indianapolis .

BAJABEERFEST.COM APRIL 5th, TUCSON

Want to ask a question on the show? Record a question or comment for the show here: https://www.speakpipe.com/azbeerfrontier We asked the fun duo, wetigersukesongs if we could use their version of Minas de Cobres and they graciously agreed. We hope you like it as much as the original. wetigersukesongs can be found here! https://www.youtube.com/user/wetigersukesongs

No goods or services were exchanged for this podcast as always. Disclaimer: This podcast episode of Arizona Beer Frontier has been transcribed and captioned using AI native to Premier Pro. The podcast summary has also been generated using Gemini AI. Additionally, some podcast artwork has been created with the assistance of MidJourney. The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild is committed to providing accurate and accessible content for all listeners. If you have any questions or concerns about the use of AI in our podcast production, please contact us.