Hallelujah, Hallelujah Georgia!!!! Finally!

http://atlantarestaurants.blog.ajc....lers-agree-on-direct-beer-sales-at-breweries/

I guess being the LAST state in the union to allow direct sales finally had an effect on legislators... this is apparently "guaranteed" to pass. I wonder if this finally means start-up breweries won't have to find a distributor until they actually need one.

From what I understand Sierra Nevada and New Belgium don't manage to sell 3,000 barrels a year from their taprooms so even the limit seems quite reasonable.

Congrats to the GCBG for getting this done!

 

Thanks for the update - I hadn't heard the bill was ready to be introduced. Sure hope it goes through ... and that we actually get a craft brewer or two down in our corner of the state.

 

I just saw this today as well! Hallelujah indeed! I'm just leery because the wholesalers won't do anything to hurt their profits, so the only reason they would agree to this is if it helps their businesses somehow. And that just makes me nervous that there's some kind of loophole in this bill that's going to tighten their control on the brewing market.

 

We are currently going through this same thing here in MS.

This is great news for GA, now I can get more Tropicalia and Automatic when I am in Athens.

 

It sounds like the Guild wanted a much higher cap and compromised at 3,000 barrels of combined on-premise/off-premise sales per year. Also, apparently a brewery still has to sign a distributor agreement even if they don't actually send anything to a distributor, so the upside for distributors there could be that they only have to worry about distributing small brewery's offerings if/when the brewery is big enough to make it worthwhile (I would have thought smaller/new breweries would use this rule to quickly generate large revenues in house until it's worthwhile to distribute as well). Finally, there was a feeling that the distributors could have been subject to a grassroots effort to force even bigger change especially given the cluster**** that the 2015 legislation caused.

EDIT... There's apparently nothing in the legislation or current regulations that would force a new brewer to sign an agreement with a distributor, so this bill may be even better for new guys wanting to test the waters with a nano.

 

I hope it passes!

 

The bill has been posted for those who are interested...

http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20172018/SB/85

 

Cautious optimism. The Guild does not have the money that those who reap benefits from 3 tier have. And they will pour money in from the Gov mansion to the gold dome in order to knock this down. Call. Write. Tell your rep and sen what this means to you.

 

Except this is actually the result of an agreement between the distributors and the Guild. So the likelihood of passing is quite high. That being said, it absolutely makes sense to call or write your reps to ensure its passage.

 

There's a little language in there that puts the breweries at a disadvantage and leaves them open to future meddling.

(c) Any brewer engaging in retail sales of malt beverages pursuant to this Code section
36 shall remit all state and local sales, use, and excise taxes to the proper tax collecting
37 authority.
38 (d) The commissioner shall promulgate and enforce such rules and regulations as he or she
39 may deem reasonable and necessary to effectuate the provisions of this Code section.
40 (e) Upon a violation by a brewer of any provision of this Code Section or this title or any
41 rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, the commissioner shall have the power to place
42 conditions or limitations on such brewer's license and to modify or amend such conditions
43 or limitations."

This basically gives the tax commissioner unlimited power to change the way the breweries sell their beer. All they have to do is find a "violation" in a brewery where the wholesalers notice their profits slipping, and boom... the brewery is completely restricted from on-premises sales and have to do 100% of business through the wholesalers.

This could actually put breweries in a worse spot than they are today if ANY "violation" is found.

 

True, but those 'violations' will have to be defined either in the statute (which is fairly clear) or by the DoR. Since everyone is on board with this legislation, it's highly likely to pass, but the proof will really be in how the DoR writes the rules. After witnessing what the DoR did with the wholesalers back in 2015, I'm pretty sure the microscope will be out on the DoR this time around to ensure there's no repeat of that cronyism.

 

Update... SB85 has passed committee and sent for floor deliberations... Committee sent as 'do pass'... i.e. didn't add any amendments.

https://twitter.com/GASenatePress/status/826132209878855684?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

HB1322 is headed to the floor here in MS.

HB1322 has passed the house 93-23, headed to senate

 

SB85 has passed the Georgia House with a vote of 147-14. Since the bill got amended in the House to include to-go sales for distillers, the bill now moves back to the Senate for an up-and-down vote. From folks in the know, it doesn't seem likely to encounter any issues there and then it'll be off to the Governor to sign (he's indicated he will sign it) and then the DoR to come up with the regulations... that final piece being the place where everyone will be watching!!!

 

About damn time...

 

Living so close to GA being in SC, I had no idea the challenges y'all were facing there. Good luck with this law and I hope your legislators are forward thinking to create a flexible plan.

 

Let's hope so!!

 

52-1 in the Senate... off to the governer's desk for it to be signed. September 1st can't come soon enough!