We are saddened to report the death of retired Beer Program Manager Charlie Bacon. Charlie passed away on October 8, 2022. 

Charlie began his career as a field inspector with the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the Internal Revenue Service. Charlie eventually transferred to the Special Programs Branch in Washington, DC. By the mid-'70s, Charlie began work in rulemaking, starting with regulations to recognize a metric standard of fill.

With the reorganization of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in the Treasury Department, he returned to Boston as an area supervisor, focusing mainly on firearms and explosives. Then, in the '90s, Charlie began concentrating his efforts on issues relating to beer, which included rulemaking on flavored malt beverages in the early 2000s.

Charlie retired from TTB in 2006 after 35 years of service.  (TTB was created in 2003, with the reorganization of ATF under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.) At the time of his retirement, he was a highly respected beer program manager in our Regulations and Procedures Division, but was also widely recognized throughout the agency as an expert in a range of areas.