S. 807, the Fair Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act (BEER Act), was introduced on March 19, joining its House companion H.R. 767. The legislation seeks to impose a graduated federal excise tax on all brewers (no qualifying production threshold and including multi-national companies) and beer importers with the following structure: no excise tax on the first 7,143 barrels; $3.50/barrel on barrels 7,144-60,000; $16/barrel on barrels 60,001-2 million; and $18/barrel on every barrel above 2 million. The Brewers Association issued a statement concerning this legislation at the time of the House bill introduction.