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.

Taste of the South Beer Festival

Just Tap'd in downtown Macon will be hosting Taste of the South, their very first beer festival this coming Friday, April 10, from 3-9PM.  Over 20 breweries from across Georgia and beyond will be in attendance.  The breweries and live music will be set up in Rosa Parks Square across First Street.  This festival will scale to however much time you have available to dedicate to trying new craft beers, with ticket levels starting as low as $15.  Here's what's available:

Taste-Tester - $15
For $15 you'll get 8 4oz pours from any combination of breweries you're interested in.

Beer Sampler - $25
For just $10 more than the Taste Tester, you'll get 15 4oz pours plus a $5 discount on a festival t-shirt.

Beer Lover - $35
At the $35 mark you'll have 25 4oz pours, which should allow you to try something from every brewery, and you'll still get a $5 discount on a festival shirt.

Craft Beer Connoisseur - $50
The best deal comes at $50, which allows you unlimited 4oz pours plus access to a Founders VIP beer which I'm pretty sure is KBS.  Not only do you get unlimited beer, you also get a festival t-shirt and 25% off any growler purchases you make on Friday.

Or you can even show up for free and just hang out.  Corner Concerts will be providing live music throughout the afternoon and Peach State Ale Trail is sponsoring a cornhole tournament.  I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday.  And since it's on a Friday, you can still enjoy the Magnolia Soap Box Derby, Bearstock and/or Beards, Bourbon and Bacon on Saturday!

Last Chance to Support GA Beer

The following is a repost of the latest communication from the Georgia Craft Brewer's Guild:

Here's what happened in the Senate -
and what we need TODAY and Monday!

As many of you already know, the Beer Jobs Bill has been decimated by the Senate. Despite our attempts at a reasonable compromise working with various members of the industry, our original bill was deemed too controversial for the tastes of the Senate leadership. The Regulated Industries Committee Chairman pulled the version of SB 63 originally proposed by our advocate Senator Hunter Hill and replaced it with a version written by the Senate leadership. The new version is riddled with mistakes, bad public policy, and has stripped the bill of anything that might tempt a brewery to open in the state of Georgia. We hoped to offer amendments to this new bill inside of the Regulated Industries Committee, but no amendments were allowed. So we planned that on the Senate floor we would finally get the chance to modify the new bill and offer amendments - but unfortunately again, the Senate leadership exercised it's power and some of the most important amendments were withdrawn. As one of our supporters put it, "The new bill will do nothing for jobs and has become a protectionist piece of legislation that bear hugs the status quo and smacks free enterprise in the face."

So now we're on to the House and we have to ask them to fix the Beer Jobs Bill. With some common sense amendments this bill can underpin some of Georgia's craft breweries and give us a small amount of flexibility to show what kind of tourism our industry can provide. This bill has to be modified, at the very least, into something that doesn't actively hurt Georgia breweries.  But we should go further and ask that the Republican majority in the House to stick true to it's roots - we need a bill that drives economic growth, makes Georgia's beer industry competitive, and gets our craft breweries hiring! Georgia's politicians say that we're the number one place to do business - it's time to make them prove it. 

Help us take the bill the Senate leadership gave us and let's turn it back into the
Beer Jobs Bill.

Here's what we need now:

Reach out to the members of the House Regulated Industries Committee and let them know that you support common sense amendments to SB 63, the Beer Jobs Bill. You can find a list of committee members here.  As before, phone calls can be better than emails, but both are well-recieved and appreciated. We believe that we'll have a hearing in front of the Alcohol Sub Committee (consisting of members of the Regulated Industries Committee) on Monday - it's important that they hear from supporters going into that meeting!

 If you'd like to reach out to your local representative, you can find them here.

   As always you can also help by sharing gabeerjobs.com on Facebook.  Ask your friends to sign the petition.  We need all of Georgia behind this.  Use the button below to share now:


Finally, thank you for all of your hard work and support over the last few weeks - it's meant a lot to our cause.

Cheers,
Nancy Palmer
 Executive Director, Georgia Craft Brewers Guild

What's On Tap?

Rookery and Margarita's in Mercer Village are both posting their draft lists online.  I've updated the links on the sidebar, but you can find out what's currently available at the links below.

Margarita's - https://www.beermenus.com/places/6744-margaritas-mercer-village

Rookery - https://www.beermenus.com/places/19376-the-rookery

As usual, all of our local growler shops keep up to date lists online.

Growler Spot - https://www.facebook.com/growlerspots/app_350090741787212

Just Tap'd Macon - http://www.justtapd.com/now-pouring-3/now-pouring-macon/

Just Tap'd Warner Robins - http://www.justtapd.com/now-pouring-3/now-pouring-2/

Top Dawg Growler - http://www.topdawggrowler.com/tap-menu/

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.

'Tis the Season

Middle Georgia is a great place to be right now if you enjoy craft beer.  This year has introduced craft beer friendly laws to allow both growler stores and on-site consumption in those stores.  More Georgia breweries are available in the area than ever before.  The success of craft beer focused businesses is evidence that we have a craving for local brews.  If you're one of the many people checking out all Georgia's beer landscape has to offer, I have an excellent gift idea for you.

A Peach State Ale Trail Passport.

What is it?  Most importantly, it's a discount program that applies to almost every brewery in the state.  Since Peach State Ale Trail is also a Macon Made business, you'll also receive discounts at local growler shops.  Each passport comes with a variety of swag and access to events, which increases with the level of passport purchased.  Passports start at $30 which make them a perfect gift, and you'll be using it all year long!

Peach State Ale Trail has partnered with the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild to bring you this discount program, so you know it's the real deal.  I know what I'm asking for for Christmas.