Battle brews among theme parks, craft breweries in light of new bill

A beer battle is brewing at Central Florida's theme parks.

A bill passed in the Florida Senate would allow beer companies to sponsor rides and advertise at theme parks, and some local craft brewery owners think it means that they could soon be pushed out of the parks.

With millions of tourists coming through Central Florida every year, small local craft brewers have a chance to appeal to customers a world away.

Even with close to dozen beers on tap a day, Broken Cauldron Brewery in Orlando is still a little fish in a big beer pond.

"There is a huge beer tourism scene. People like to travel and taste locally crafted beers,” said owner Charles Frizzell.

Senate Bill 388 moved quickly through the state Senate and was passed last week.

The bill breaks down the barrier between theme parks and the beer makers.

The bill gets rid of a Prohibition-era law that bans beer companies from giving deals to beer sellers, like theme parks.

In the past, parks like Disney World or Universal Studios couldn't have rides or events sponsored by a beer company.

The bill, which has support from Universal Studios, would change that.

Local craft brewers said that means that rides could be sponsored by a company like Anheuser-Busch.

"I see something more along the lines of sponsoring Halloween horror nights, being that's an adult-oriented driven event,” said Frizzell.

Local craft breweries already supply theme parks, like Duff Beer at Universal, made by the Florida Brewing Co. in Cape Canaveral, which also brews Hog's Head Ale at the Harry Potter attraction.

But local brewers said that if bigger beer companies with far deeper pockets can sponsor events or rides, the small brewers might be pushed out.

"The customer loses because if they're traveling from Wisconsin or up north, and they want to try locally crafted beer while they're here, they won't be able to do that,” said Frizzell.

Universal, Disney and Anheuser-Busch would not comment.

The House version of the bill is scheduled to be discussed Thursday.

Cox Media Group