Craft Beer Stalled Thanks To Government Shutdown

America is finally starting to see some side effects of the government shutdown in its second week, in an area near and dear to Americans' hearts: beer.

Turns out, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has been crippled, meaning the approval of new breweries, recipes, and labels have all been stalled.

Big businesses like Anheuser-Busch might not be affected, AP reports, as they can continue processing their old products. Craft brewers, however, are now on hold when it comes to new recipe and labels, and since smaller companies tend to have limited quantities of batches, it's pushing everything back.

Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee is waiting on packaging for a new IBA in November, and another in December. "If we lose that first month, we lose out on a good chunk of money," Lakefront Brewery spokesman Matt Karjnak said. "Right now, it's only been a week so it's not too bad. Two weeks, three weeks is when we're really going to start sweating here."

In the meantime, New Belgium Brewing is waiting on three recipes and five labels, potentially pushing back its spring release. Brenner Brewery, which was slated to open in two months, might have to push everything back, now that an application for a tasting room is on hold, and four label applications have yet to be put into the system. The cost for him? Some $8,000 every month the opening is pushed back. Watch the AP report below.