PARTY FOUL: The partial government shutdown has closed an obscure agency that approves new breweries, recipes and labels, which could create huge delays throughout the rapidly growing craft beer industry.

UNHAPPY HOUR: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is a little-known arm of the Treasury Department. The agency will continue to process taxes from existing permit holders, but applications for anything new are in limbo. A woman who answered the phone at TTB's headquarters in Washington abruptly hung up after explaining that the government was shut down.

DIRE CHOICES: The closing isn't expected to have much effect on industry giants such as MillerCoors or Anheuser-Busch. They can continue to produce existing products as usual.