How SB 63 Affects Consumers

After much publicity, lobbying, backroom deals, and rewriting, SB 63 has passed and was signed by Governor Deal on May 5.  It's not the bill that consumers or breweries wanted, but it is a small amount of progress.  Here's what you need to know.

The biggest change that consumers will see with SB 63 is that distilleries can now open to the public for tours and tastings.  That means the new craft distilleries in Georgia can now operate very similarly to how breweries operate.  Consumers can pay a small fee to tour the distillery and try up to 3 half ounce samples of their products.  Just like breweries, distilleries can sell you merchandise and other promotional items that aren't alcohol.

The other big change is to the revenue model of tours.  Previously brewery tours and tastings had to be free.  Breweries were able to recoup some of these expenses by selling you an expensive pint glass, usually for $10-12.  Consumers not interested in helping breweries stay open could opt not to buy the pint glass and drink out of a plastic cup for free, but I trust no readers of this blog ever did that.  With the passing of SB 63, breweries can now charge for their tours.  Once you pay for the tour, all tastings and food are to be provided for free.  The amount of beer you can sample during the tour has been increased from 32oz to 36oz, though I really doubt you'll notice the difference.

SB 63 also introduces the concept of a "souvenir."  For both distilleries and breweries, the price of a tour may include a free souvenir to take home.  At a distillery, a souvenir is up to a 750 mL bottle of distilled spirits.  For breweries, souvenirs are up to 72oz of malt beverages brewed on site.  That's roughly a growler, 6-pack or 3 bombers.  Souvenirs must always be sealed and only one can be provided to a customer per day.

On the business end for brewpubs, the beer they sell to distributors is no longer included in their profit ratio.  At a brewpub, food has to make up at least 50% of sales.  In the past, beer that was sold to a distributor would count toward the "less than 50%" of profit that could be generated by beer.  This is no longer the case, which might mean that brewpubs will be sending out more of their beer to growler shops and bars.  Brewpubs can now bottle their beer as well, though it still is not available for retail sale at the brewpub.

You can read the bill in its entirety here.  Let me know if I missed anything.

Assuming SB63 is like most legislation in Georgia, it will go into effect on July 1.