"Know your legislator before you need to know your legislator." That was the sage advice given by Brett Joyce, president of Rogue Ales, who spoke on a panel moderated by Crown guv affairs vet Jim Ryan at the Beer Institute meeting this week. Brett spoke on how a coalition of small brewers, big brewers, distributors, and retailers defeated a potentially devastating 1,200% state excise tax increase in Oregon on beer. "We stuck together," said Brett, "and most importantly, nobody broke off to cut deals" with the state