Milwaukee ? Some Wisconsin brewers held their own version of the Boston Tea Party on Tuesday, spewing beer suds into the Milwaukee River to protest legislation they say hampers start-up breweries.

Their sticky statement is a protest to a proposed update to post-Prohibition laws related to the blooming business of craft beermaking.

The bill would divide small brewers into two licensed classes: those who want to serve food as brewpubs, and those who seek to bottle and distribute their product on a larger scale. The latter would face new restrictions on food service.

The brewers, who acknowledge they’re not savvy about the legislative process, say it’s not fair for new beermakers to have to decide their fate that early.

“Every business takes on a life of its own,” said Jim McCabe, proprietor of the Milwaukee Ale House.

After countdowns in English and German, the kegs were opened with mallets that sent a fountain of foam across the deck and into the Milwaukee River.