We gave you an update a month or so back about the progress of beer-related legislation in Albany, and one bill stood out: A789, a bill in the Assembly that would allow small breweries to terminate their relationship with a distributor without cause.

Presently, the arcane ABC laws in New York state that a brewery must show “good cause” that a distributor is neglecting their product, a process that now is prohibitively costly because of the legal implications. Crains New York covers the progress on this bill, including this gem from Matt Brewing Company’s Nick Matt, in reaction to a lobbyist representing one distributor:

But Robert Bishop, a lobbyist who represents Union Beer Distributors, said the bill will damage his client, which has spent the past decade building a craft beer portfolio of more than 150 brands. Brooklyn-based Union is also the distributor for Anheuser-Busch in the New York metropolitan area.

“They have always had, first and foremost, a commitment to small brewers,” Mr. Bishop said.

Mr. Matt, the brewer, simply doesn’t buy it.

“I’m sorry; that doesn’t pass the hee-haw test,” he said. “I mean, they distribute Budweiser.”

The bill passed the Assembly in March (coincidentally, on the day we posted our last legislative update) by a vote of 130-16, and now heads to the Senate, where Sen. Joe Griffo (R-Rome, and not-so-coincidentally, Matt’s State Senator) has sponsored an identical bill.

A few more updates on existing beer legislation we’ve been tracking are after the jump…

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Welcome to Cinco de Mayo, the one day a year where scores of embarassed craft beer drinkers find themselves with a bottle of cheap, imported beer in their hand simply because someone gave it to them. Here are tonight’s after-work beer events, without the Mexican beer:

• It’s Stone Brewing night at Standings (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) starting at 6pm. I guess they’re kind of close geographically to Mexico, so that works, no? They’ll have Double Bastard, Ruination, and Sublimely Self-Righteous on tap, along with free pizza at 8pm.
• Hop Devil Grill (129 St. Marks Pl., at Ave. A, East Village) will get its Cinco on with $1 tostadas today starting at 4pm, and they’ll serve up the Rogue Chipotle Ale, which seems about as close to a Mexican beer as we could possibly recommend.
• The Diamond (43 Franklin St., at Calyer St., Greenpoint) is grilling up Mexican-style hot dogs and fried pickles tonight from 6-8:30pm. Plus, they’ve got a tasty cask of Brooklyn Brown tapped tonight.
  
• The Half Pint (76 W. 3rd St., at Thompson St., Greenwich Village) salutes Smuttynose tonight at 6pm, with several beers on tap from New Hampshire’s finest microbrewery.
• Enjoy the best Long Island has to offer at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) tonight starting at 5pm, with oysters shucked by one of the best shuckers in New York City, and beer from Greenport Harbor.

We were ecstatic in 2009 when the draconian New York State beer laws were loosened a little more, allowing small brewers to sell their beer at farmers’ markets.

Finally, someone is taking the state up on that offer, and selling their beer at Union Square’s Greenmarket every Friday beginning tomorrow. The brewery - Tundra Brewery in Stamford, NY (nested on the north side of the Catskills) - will offer a pale ale called Ma-Pale. The brewer, Mark VanGlad, is the son of farmers at Wood Homestead who already sell maple syrup at the Greenmarket, including what’s used in his first beer offering to give a mild maple flavor on the finish.

What’s even better about this beer, though, is that it’s a true farm-to-market beer: because of the Greenmarket’s strict guidelines, all of the grain and hops are grown at his family farm upstate, making it a true New York State beer in every way.

Mark will be selling the beer in six-packs for $13 and twelve-packs for $25. According to the Times, he expects to have additional brews available - including a gluten-free beer brewed with sorghum - later this year. We’ll keep you updated (and we’ll be grabbing a six-pack ourselves, too).

Things have been a bit hectic here in Beerville, so sorry our daily feature is late today. Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:

• Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) salutes their style of the month today - and all night long - starting at 4pm: Saisons! Try some imported ones like Saison Dupont and Urthel Saisonairre, and American saisons from Hill Farmstead, Stillwater, Greenport Harbor, and more!
• Things are a little more laid-back than usual tonight at The Double Windsor (210 Prospect Park West, at 16th St., Windsor Terrace) as they host their “California Dreaming” event from 7-11pm. Enjoy tons of west coast beers, including Bear Republic Pete Brown Tribute Ale, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, The Bruery Orchard White, and a cask of Sierra Nevada Torpedo.
• Things get a little hazy tonight at Manchester Pub (920 2nd Ave., at 49th St., Midtown East) starting at 6pm as Boulder Beer will be on tap with tastings and reps on hand to tell you all you need to know about their Colorado specialties.

In case you needed any other reason to love Spring: if you love beer, you’re going to be very busy this month. May is peppered with literally dozens of beer events (most of which we cover every day in our Happy Hour feature), from festivals to outdoor drinking to exhausting tap takeovers. Here are some highlights from the month ahead, after the jump…

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Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:

• Pretty Things releases the next beer in their Once Upon a Time Series tonight at 6pm at Rye House (11 W. 17th St., at 5th Ave., Union Square). The series is inspired by a historic beer recipe brewed in a particular era. This time, they’re celebrating with December 6, 1855 - an East India Porter inspired by beers brewed for British soldiers in Bengal by The East India Company. Look for it to pop up in other places across the city soon, too.
• Meanwhile, the same brewery will also be represented at Ulysses’ Folk House (58 Stone St., at Pearl St., Financial District) tonight starting at 5pm as they kick off May as Pretty Things Month. They’ll have St. Botolph’s Town, Baby Tree, the Fluffy White Rabbits tripel, and more on tap for the downtown crowd.
• Harpoon heads to Good Beer NYC (422 E. 9th St., btw. 1st Ave. and Ave. A) tonight from 6:30-9:30pm with some goodies for the East Village, like Summer Beer, the Leviathan Quad, and the new Leviathan Uberbock. You’ll also get discounts on pints and growlers on Harpoon’s beers.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. Drink it at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) for tonight’s $10 Tasting. The theme is small breweries, and will include samples from White Birch, Nebraska Brewing Company, Hill Farmstead, and more. The tasting starts at 7:30pm.