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Government shutdown is a buzzkill for Boise craft beer

As long as the government is closed, no new craft beer will be for sale - and any new brewery planning to open will have to wait.

BOISE, Idaho — The government shutdown is affecting some aspects of everyday life - and now, even beer.

"So here we are at Bear Island, we got our brand-new taproom, it's six weeks open," said Beth Bechtel, the CEO of Bear Island Brewing.

Bechtel is also the chief brewmaster.

While the taproom is open, Bechtel is still brewing the beer out of her garage.

She's hoping to move her home-brew operation to the big, empty, another side of the building.

"I really want to move my brewery out of my garage and upgrade my tanks because we need to produce more beer now, different kinds, it definitely hurts," said Bechtel.

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Bechtel can't make the move because the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is closed because of the government shutdown. The agency is in charge of approving and regulating licenses - something that is needed to open a brewery.

"They are already backed up," Bechtel said. "I already planned that it would take about a year to move our brewery into that space, and now it could be much longer."

The shutdown is also affecting operations at Payette Brewing Company.

As long as the TTB is closed, Payette can't release any new craft beers.

"As we're getting into the new year and we're trying to release our new beer, that's where we are seeing the effect is not being able to release new products," said Payette Brewing founder Mike Francis.

MORE: Oregon breweries can't release new beers nationally due to government shutdown

The TTB is also in charge of approving new beer recipes and must give the OK on all labels printed on beer cans.

"We have a few new beers coming out in the next few months that we have submitted for label approval, and now it’s just in the purgatory of nothing," Francis said.

And in a market where people are always wanting to try something new, beer drinkers will have less to choose from.

"Consumers these days really want to try new different stuff, so you are seeing this big growth in the market toward new beer," Francis said. "So, the next few months, depending on how long the shutdown lasts, you might see a big slowdown in the amount of new beers you see coming out."

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