Constitutional issues stalled legislation that aims to update Arizona laws regulating microbreweries, and opponents of the bill are ramping up efforts to defeat it.

The Arizona Senate's Rules Committee has delayed action on a bill updating laws regulating microbreweries over constitutional issues.

Legislators may talk about finding a compromise between wholesalers and microbreweries in the ongoing craft beer battle, but for some involved in the legislative fight, negotiating seems like an impossible proposition.

Arizona craft breweries stormed the Capitol in force on Monday and watched a Senate panel advance a bill that allows microbreweries to expand their business in the state beyond current caps on production, without giving up existing parts of their business.

Frustrated by a fight between microbreweries and alcohol distributors and seeing no end in sight, three Arizona lawmakers signed on as cosponsors of two competing bills that accomplish conflicting goals.

There’s a battle brewing over microbreweries. For Arizona’s two largest craft beer brewing companies, business is booming. In fact, Four Peaks and San Tan brewing companies are producing so much beer that they’re pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a microbrewery. They’re brushing up against state-imposed caps on the amount of beer a microbrewery can brew.

There’s a battle brewing over microbreweries. For Arizona’s two largest craft beer brewing companies, business is booming. In fact, Four Peaks and San Tan brewing companies are producing so much beer that they’re pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a microbrewery.

TEMPE – Arizona Distilling Co. adds a little bit of Arizona to its products. Copper City Bourbon honors a Prohibition-era brewing company in Douglas. Desert Dry Gin incorporates a different set of Five Cs in its flavor profile: coriander, cumin, cinnamon, citrus and cardamom.

Jim Scussel and his partners started Four Peaks Brewing Co. 13 years ago as a brewery and tasting room, rolling out kegs of Scottish Ale, Four Peaks Ale and Arizona Peach to restaurants and bars. Four Peaks later opened a restaurant at its brewery in Tempe and another in north Scottsdale. And consumers now can purchase Kilt Lifter and its other brews at grocery and convenience stores around the state.