With the recent merger of MillerCoors and the announcement that InBev will buy Anheuser-Busch, power in the brewing industry over resources and access to market are becoming more consolidated than ever before. And that includes lobbying for favorable legislation. But at the same time, neo-prohibitionist groups and anti-alcohol politicians in California are joining forces to raise the tax on beer to help balance the budget. While it’s clear that something needs to be done to fix California’s financial woes, the beer industry did not cause these problems — more than likely politicians did — and it’s patently unfair that brewers and beer drinkers should have to foot the bill to pay for others’ mistakes. In this climate, and with a record number of issues already before the California legislature, the California Small Brewers Association and the political activist group, Support Your Local Brewery, are urging you to sign up to be a Beer Activist. When issues come up in which a letter, e-mail or phone call to your elected official can make a difference in keeping beer prices as low as possible, you’ll simply receive an e-mail with instructions on how you can help. Here’s a recent press release (which I’ve modified) about this from the CSBA:

Those who have sign up online become “Beer Activists.” The Beer Activists signed up in California can be contacted via email “Action Alerts” and asked to notify their legislative representatives when state regulatory initiatives threaten our craft brewing industry here in California. Beer Activists can be contacted in a specific legislative district or statewide. These Action Alerts are a very effective way to generate a letter writing or phone campaign to the legislators at the state Capitol.

Please Take ACTION! The CSBA needs your help to generate more Beer Activists to sign up. The more names we have in the database, the more effective these Action Alerts will be in protecting our industry. We ask you to simply sign up with SYLB. This is an easy yet very important way to help the CSBA help keep craft beer alive and well in California.

To become a member of the SYLB, please take just a few minutes right now and visit the sign-up page and fill in your e-mail, home state and zip code. That’s all there is to it. Thanks for doing your part for California craft beer.