GA breweries and the laws that keep them down

Any idea if this would include brewpubs? It'd be great to be able to get growlers or if brewpubs could do limited bottle releases.

 

I have no idea since, in the law world, brewpubs are a bit of anomaly. The optimistic side of me thinks it would since recent law changes have favored brewpub distribution. Growlers and bottles hopefully!

However, again, this could all be hearsay. I haven't talked to anyone to know if this is concrete or not.

 

I hope so as well. Lawmakers need to see that onsite sales and a tasting room allow for a much smaller brewery to open due to a higher profit margin. It would also blur the lines between brewpub and brewery making expansion easier for both. More breweries and expansion = more tax revenue!

 

The Georgia Craft Brewers Guild is new on Twitter follow them @GaBrewersGuild

 

an update: hopefully this proposal gets assigned a bill number in the next week or two and then it'll be on to voting. obviously we'll have to spread the word once things get official and tell our representatives how we feel about this!

 

the bill has been assigned a number. Let's spread the word people!

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20132014/HB/314

 

Time to open a Brewpub!

 

it also allows on-premise sales for a brewery; up to 288oz per person per day. huge step for GA brewers

 

Very glad to see this! A step in the right direction. Maybe these two representatives will crank out some more of these.

 

Bad News.

Crawford brewer at 5 Seasons West & North sent this out today.

"Tough day under the dome yesterday. Looks like the wholesalers and ABImbev and SABMiller/Coors want to really screw us over and not allow our local, small brewers to be able to sell growlers. I would hope that there might be a few of the smaller distributors out there that might support this effort. I know there are a few of y’all out there on this list. I’d love to hear your opinion on the bill and to ask if there is anyway you would support it. "

This is a big setback but I'd hate to think the fight is over. No one at the dome had heard any support from the voters for this bill until a couple of days ago. Our voice can be bigger than the big guys fighting against what is best for GA's brewers.

 

What can we do, specifically? I think the majority of us have no idea what can help. Emails? If so, to whom? Signed petitions? I don't know how to show my support, and I doubt I'm the only one.

 

You're not the only one. All I did was post the link to other social medias. Who knows who we should talk to? And is this bill completely dead or just on the back burner?
The only people I know to talk to would be the GADA but they work for the distribution centers and retailers so they're not voting yes on this.

 

http://www.house.ga.gov/Streaming/en-US/Channel/gahln415

 

The HB 314 bill was brought before a house committee today but tabled until next session.

It was much more positive of a reaction then I expected and than the last time I was at the dome for the Sunday Sales vote. The biggest nay sayer was Carl Von Epp's his issues being the combination on-and-off-premise licenses ie convenience stores and the effect to the 3-tier System. As it turns out his 1st, 3rd and 4th biggest contributors are distributors.

 

Does this mean that this bill is likely going to sit until next year or would this come back up before then? Any more information about this bill and its status?

It is such a shame we are limited by laws like these

 

The bill does not sit over the summer. That's actually the time to raise awareness and let your voice be heard. A lot of the behind the scenes politicking happens before the next session starts. Hopefully the legislature is educated before it convenes and therefore ready to vote according to the wishes of the people.

Now if we could just get some volunteers organized to get a grass-roots effort going. Any writers or organizers out there?

 

I just read this thread. I would be willing to participate in the efforts to update these laws. I agree with what has been said here multiple times:
1. on-site sales
2. self distribution
Both are why there are so few breweries in the 9th most populous state in the USA. The good ol boy politics still run the state and pockets get padded every day. Sure the distributors have a lot of input in the laws here. But all 49 other states have distributors that distribute the BMC brands and I believe something like 34 of those states allow self distribution. Those include our neighbors TN and NC. At least we now have a governor who is open to these things. If Sonny were still under the dome, we would not even have Sunday sales.

I have a second home in the mountains and frequently visit one of the wineries where I can have food and a bottle of wine on site. I can also buy an entire case to take home with me. I've done it many times. Brewers need this in order to make a go of it.

I don't see how selling a few beers per customer on premises hurts a big distributor. The big distributors don't want to be bothered by the small brewers anyway. Basically, all they sell are the so called "crafty" beers made by BMC. As someone else already noted, once a brewer reaches a point he/she will go to a distributor anyway. Self distribution is just a way of fostering start-up business which this state needs badly.

 

Reading up on this thread because I'm probably moving to Atlanta this summer.

NY State has self-distribution for brewers under a certain barrelage and within their first 5 years of growth. They still have to sign up with a distributor, and that distributor works with them, but in addition they are permitted to self-distribute. In practice, most of the kegs and six pack stuff goes through the distributor, but if a loyal restaurant needs a keg replaced and the distributor isn't paying attention, the brewers can drive one over. If there's a special event at a bar, the brewers can drive in a sixtel. Stuff like that helps quite a bit.

Plus there's always the story of Sean Lawson getting national accliam in Vermont with beers driven around in the back of his Volvo.

As for on-premise, I think this absolutely is still the #1 priority. Glad to see there's a bill with a number on it, and a lot of momentum behind it on this board. Hopefully the larger distributors realize that small craft products represent their growth area right now.

 

Best of luck to you and your move to ATL as long as you're not a Yankee fan Most people who move here wind up staying for a long time. Relatively low cost of living and pretty decent climate don't hurt.

 

went to a brewery tour in atl yesterday for the first time in many years. what a joke. 1 hour wait in line, then 1 hour of boozin that was also a big pile of lines. that's gotta change. and no food there? redic. HB 314 sounds like a great move, I'm all for freeing things up for the breweries/brewpubs, but after it, we've gotta get the laws relaxed for kicking it at breweries. tom taylor is a pimp for sponsoring HB 314, I hope he keeps it going. i just emailed my state house and senate reps to get behind the cause. fight the power!