BOSTON n Six small craft beer brewing companies went to Beacon Hill last week to protest legislation they say would make it difficult for them to switch wholesalers and to bring their product to market.Massachusetts, the craft beer brewers say, is known for having some of the strictest franchise laws in the country, making the ability to find the best wholesaler to distribute and promote their beers in retail stores expensive and daunting.Michelle Sullivan from Boston Beer Co. and Rob Martin from Ipswich Brewing are among the those who met with lawmakers.?Not every wholesaler is created equal or has the same vision, year to year, decade to decade,” Martin said. “As their priorities change, we as small brewers should have the opportunity to change to a wholesaler who will better fit the bill and get our product to the market place. If the owner of the brand doesn?t have opportunity to change wholesalers it ends up hurting the consumer because the product doesn?t end up on the shelf.”House Bill 4743, brewers say, would impose even stricter laws making it nearly impossible for them to switch wholesalers if they thought their beer was not seen as a priority for distribution. Sullivan said even Boston Beer Co. is considered a small brewer, with Sam Adams making up less than 1 percent of the beer business.?The way the business is made up it is sort of David and Goliath. There are the two huge brewers, Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, and those two companies sell over 70 percent of the beer across the U.S. and in Massachusetts,” she said. “Those big companies do have a huge impact on wholesalers? business and have a lot of clout with the wholesalers. There are small brewers in Massachusetts that don?t have the same clout, but we do have to work through wholesalers to get the beer to retail. Our feeling is that they don?t need protection from small brewers; we are not big part of their business.”Sullivan also said small brewers hardly ever change wholesalers and the only time this would occur is if there is good cause to do so. Legislation already calls for the small brewer to pay fair market value to a wholesaler if they do move, putting them in expensive arbitration and litigation for years. Martin said he is currently dealing with a wholesaler who is not keeping up their end of the contract.?I have a wholesaler in a state that has very similar franchise laws and that wholesaler is doing a very poor job for me,” Martin said. “It is in a territory that should be very good for me and they are selling exactly 54 cases of beer every year. I should be selling tens of thousands of cases and I have no mechanism for getting out.”Sullivan said the small brewers have been able to get the support of 50 representatives in the House, attributing this to the help of House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Revere, and Rep. Alice Peisch, D-Wellesley, who wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking it look into possible violations of restraint of trade that the Massachusetts legislation may trigger if enacted.?Wholesalers made the case that the amendment is illegal, but it is absolutely not the case,” Sullivan said. “Most other states don?t have franchise laws but some of the ones that do already have carve out laws. We are willing to live with the current restrictions. It is the new restrictions in which we have asked for a small brewer carve out.”Other participating brewers include Mayflower Brewing Co. in Plymouth, Harpoon Brewing Company in Boston, Just Beer Brewery in Westport and Berkshire Brewing in South Deerfield.