David Thayer, owner of Rooster Fish Brewing, recently hosted U.S. Senator Charles Schumer at his New York brewery. As a member of the Small Brewers Caucus and a co-sponsor of the Small BREW Act, Senator Schumer is a dedicated supporter of small brewers in New York.

During his visit the Senator discussed the benefits of a federal excise tax reduction for small brewers, as proposed in the bill S 917 (the Small BREW Act). Rooster Fish Brewing, a small brewery that currently employees 50 people, is one of the nearly 100 New York breweries that would benefit from this legislation. It would not only allow them to expand production but also create additional local jobs.

Currently, a small brewer that produces less than 2 million barrels of beer per year is eligible to pay $7.00 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels produced each year. The proposed legislation would adjust this rate to $3.50 per barrel and would provide eligible breweries with approximately $28 million in savings per year (based on 2012 data).