Joey Redner of Cigar City Brewing posted of the company’s local-government-induced woes on their blog this morning. Last week they went to have their wet-zoning permit renewed – which should have been a cakewalk – and ran into several councillors who ran red flags up over unsubstantiated claims of neighborhood disturbances and increased crime rates. The vote ended tied 3-3. If their 2nd vote on December 2nd goes against them, the tasting room at the brewery will almost certainly close, and most of the 20 remaining staff will be out of luck.

As one half of a team that has dreams of opening a brewery in South Florida at some point, Joey and Wayne at Cigar City have been to me, a shining beacon of all that is possible in the brewery business. They have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the big guys don’t always win, and that creativity and ingenuity are rewarded. Frankly, they inspire me with their beer, and I’ve followed their “7000 missteps” every step of the way. The reality that local governments seem oblivious to the good this business is doing in the community, let alone the job creation in the worst recession since the Great Depression, is just demoralizing. Nor does it bode well for my personal hopes and dreams for opening a similar (smaller) operation here in Florida in the future.

Please write to the councillors that voted against Cigar City’s permit, and tell them why craft beer in Florida (or in general) is important to you. Heck, tell them specifically why Cigar City is important to the craft beer scene in America; give them that big-picture view that they so clearly lack! (Gwen Miller, Curtis Stokes & Thomas Scott ).

Also drop a line to the councillors that voted yes – give them a huge thumbs-up and tell them why what they did is of value and importance to craft beer in America (Mary Mulhern, Yvonne Yoli Capin & Joseph Caetano). Lastly and probably most importantly, send a lovely handwritten note to Charlie Miranda, the councillor who was absent from the vote, and will be the tie-breaker on December 2nd. Tell him why the first three councillors were wrong, and why the other three were right! Talk the talk craft beer nation! Please.