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.

Support SB63!

Senate Bill 63 was introduced into the Georgia State Senate yesterday.  You can read the bill in its entirety here.  Creative Loafing has put together a nice summary of the bill's current status and what it contains.  Here's what Senate Bill 63 proposes:

• Breweries and brewpubs would be able to sell up to 144oz of beer for off-site consumption.  That's roughly 2 6-packs or 2 growlers.  By keeping this number low, the brewer's guild has demonstrated that they do not wish to directly compete with growler stores or distributors.

• Breweries would be able to sell up to 72oz of beer for on-site consumption.  Currently they can give away 32oz and are not allowed to charge for it.

• Brewpubs would still be limited to the product of 10,000 barrels of beer per year, 5,000 of which could be sold to a wholesaler.  Off-site sales, such as growlers, would be included in the 5,000 barrel cap.

• Breweries and brewpubs would be required to sell beer at the current market rate, preventing them from undercutting other bars, beer stores or growler stores.

This is a bill that we should all be able to get behind.  The limits on sales prevent breweries from becoming a major competitor with existing businesses.  Jobs will be created at every brewery and the state will generate additional excise tax revenue.  Georgia will also benefit from increase beer tourism.

Although this bill was introduced, it is a long way from being passed, but you can help!  David Lucas, our state senate representative in Macon, is on the Regulated Industries committee and his support is crucial.  Send Mr. Lucas an email and let him know that SB63 is important to you.  Let him know how much you enjoy the Macon Beer Company and how much you want to see them grow as a local business and that you believe SB63 is necessary to enable their success.

David Lucas - david.lucas@senate.ga.gov

If you have a few more minutes, consider emailing the other members of the Regulated Industries committee and let them know that you believe SB63 will create jobs, increase tourism and make Georgia a better place to live.

Rick Jeffares - rick.jeffares@senate.ga.gov (Chairman)
Frank Ginn - frank.ginn@senate.ga.gov (Vice-Chairman)

Josh McKoon - jrm2016@yahoo.com (Secretary)
Ed Harbison - ed.harbison@senate.ga.gov

Bill Cowsert - bill.cowsert@senate.ga.gov

Steve Henson - stevehenson@mindspring.com

Jack Hill - jack.hill@senate.ga.gov

Butch Miller - butch.miller@senate.ga.gov

Jeff Mullis - jeff.mullis@senate.ga.gov

David Shafer - david.shafer@senate.ga.gov

Renee Unterman - renee.unterman@senate.ga.gov
Brandon Beach - brandon.beach@senate.ga.gov
Steve Gooch - steve.gooch@senate.ga.gov

Support Your Local Breweries

Georgia is an interesting state when it comes to breweries.  We rank 28th in the country when it comes to the number of breweries operating on our land.  Now consider that Georgia is the 8th largest state by population.  This piece of information, drops us all the way down to 47th in the country for breweries per capita.  47th!  How is this possible?  Simple, Georgia has some of the most prohibitive laws around the brewing industry in the country.  It is difficult to open a brewery in Georgia, and it's even more difficult to make it financially successful.

Did you know...

• You can't purchase beer from a brewery.  If you visit a brewery in Georgia, you can buy t-shirts, glasses and koozies, but you can't buy the one thing they actually produce - beer.  Georgia is one of only four states where you can't buy beer from a brewery.  The others are Mississippi, West Virginia and North Dakota.
• Breweries can give away up to 32oz of beer for free, but only if you participate in the free 2 hour tour.
• Georgia has some of the highest excise taxes on beer produced by breweries.
• It is illegal for a brewery to tell you where you can purchase their beer.

Here's where the problem lies.  The craft beer industry is booming, bringing tourists and jobs to states around the country - but not Georgia.  We're missing out.  If a brewery can sell beer to the public, they need to hire the staff to do so.  If a brewery can promote their product, they can help encourage people to purchase Georgia beer over out-of-state beer.  All of these activities create additional tax revenue for the state of Georgia.  Everyone wins.  

Distributors are a necessary part of the system, and will continue to make money hand over fist, distributing out-of-state beer and local beer to bars and liquor stores.  No one is going out of business because breweries make a little extra money improving their customer experience.  If they were, distributors would be going out of business in 46 other states, but they're not.  In fact, it's a little sad that distributors view breweries as the enemy.  They have gone so far as to contribute $85,000 to prevent breweries from being able to sell beer on their premises.  All of that money, used to prevent the creation of small businesses and jobs.

What can you do?  You can sign the petition at GABeerJobs.com.  If you have the financial means to contribute to the Brewer's Guild's legislative efforts, you can contribute at their Indiegogo page.

Improved legislation that treats breweries in a similar manner to wineries will create jobs and provide additional tax revenue for the state.  Help make Georgia better for everyone and support the GABeerJobs.com campaign.