The Fight to Save Georgia Breweries
Georgia's restrictive history and the problems of today
Beer news can be pretty sad these days. But even though things seem dire, I know that there are people in the industry doing cool things that desire recognition. So, I’m introducing a new section of this newsletter called Reasons for Hoptimism! Each week, I’ll feature an endorphin-inducing story from the beer community. But I need your help! Send me your feel good stories at stephaniegrantonline@gmail.com or simply hit reply.
Today, I’m highlighting Montclair Brewery’s Black History Month beer series, which has been an ongoing campaign of theirs since opening in 2018. Each year, the brewery releases one or more new beers connected to a symbolic figure from the African diaspora. This year, they’re honoring The Voice—Whitney Houston—with the Whitney Hefeweizen, a crisp, hazy, unfiltered, white wheat ale with sweet and fruity notes of banana bread and clove. I have so much love and respect for Montclair’s continuous commitment to celebrating Black history and culture.
Who should I feature next?
After months of tinkering, the brewhouse is finally coming together.
You've been so in the zone, so you haven't really paid attention to what’s happening around you.
The space is actually starting to look like something—an office, a taproom, a brewery.
It's really happening!
Soft opening? Check! Grand opening? Check!
The taps started flowing and thankfully haven't stopped yet.
Getting here was tough, but you got through it though. Nothing can stop you now.
Right?
If you’ve spent any time in the craft beer industry, then you know it can be tough. Tough to turn a dream into a reality. Tough to turn that reality into something profitable.
And these last few years have been even tougher. The pandemic shutdown taprooms across the world. Then, once they opened back up, CO2 shortages, aluminum can shortages, and rising costs on materials and ingredients made the job that much harder. And we surely can’t leave out the fight for shelf space in a crowded market.
It’s hard out here in these craft beer streets.
Here in Georgia, craft breweries have an additional strain. Historically, Georgia isn’t an alcohol-friendly state. It wasn’t until 2011 that we could buy alcohol on Sunday, which infuriated my mom who didn’t understand why the state deemed it OK to go to a bar on Sunday to drink, but not buy a six-pack to enjoy at home. And even though you can now purchase your six pack on Sunday, you have to wait until around noon to do so.
In 1907, Georgia became the first state in the south to ban alcohol, 13 years before the nation’s prohibition laws went into effect. And while prohibition ended in 1933, Georgia said, “nah, we’re gonna keep this thing going for another two years.”
Even in our colony days, Georgia had a strong intolerance for alcohol, with people calling for alcohol restrictions as early as 1735.
At least we’re consistent.
When I started drinking craft beer more than a decade ago, brewers weren’t allowed to sell their beer directly to consumers. Instead, we used a loophole, paying for a tour that included sample pours. Then, finally, in 2017, Senate Bill 85 (SB 85), allowed breweries to sell their beer directly to consumers. Since then, we have seen the number of breweries in Georgia increase from 75 (48 production breweries and 27 brewpubs operating in Georgia) to 177 as of 2022.
But SB 85 wasn’t enough. Breweries in Georgia still have to contend with very restrictive laws in an industry that can already be tough to navigate.
On Tuesday, I attended Georgia Brewers Day at the Capital along with many others from the craft beer industry to gain support for Georgia Senate Bill 163 (SB 163), which was introduced in February 2023. The bill has changed since, but the latest updates are focused on:
Allowing for limited self-distribution for small brewers
Raising the daily to-go limit to 1,400 ounces
Reforming beer franchise laws in Georgia
The goal is to give small breweries more flexibility with running their business. A good example of what a difference this could make is the story I heard during the hearing from Skint Chestnut Brewing Company. Located in Powder Springs, a suburb about 20 minutes outside of Atlanta, Skint Chestnut’s owner shared that the brewery has been hesitant about partnering with a wholesaler because in many cases it’s a lifetime contract. (Check out this video from LaTreace Harris about the three-tier system.)
Currently, there are three ways breweries can exit wholesaler relationships:
The wholesaler can choose to release the brewery from their contract voluntarily.
The brewery can go before the Department of Revenue to ask to be released from their contract, which can strand the relationship between the wholesaler and brewery and be very expensive to litigate
The brewery can dissolve their business in the state of Georgia for four years and then return to the industry.
It’s incredibly restrictive and gives wholesalers more leverage than breweries.
So Skint Chestnut has focused solely on selling their beer through their taproom. But that means, they aren’t able to participate in local festivals and events because you need a distributor to do so. This limits their ability to connect with their community outside of their brewery space.
SB 163 would allow Skint Chestnut to distribute beer within their county without signing a lifetime contract with a wholesaler. It would also make entering a relationship with wholesalers more attractive since the bill would allow breweries to end the relationship and find another wholesaler without incurring a lot of expenses.
Sadly, the committee didn’t get a chance to vote on our bill on Tuesday. Our original hearing time of 3:30pm got pushed back an hour, and because the Capital was closed for funeral services Monday, our hearing schedule filled up quickly.
After hearing two other requests, we had very little time left to hear from the brewery owners, the wholesaler lobbyist, and other people who were against the bill. The tension in my chest grew as the time sped towards 6pm, our hard stop for the hearing.
They did start discussing a potential amendment to the bill that would require breweries to repay any money the wholesalers invested in the business plus 10%. From what I understand, this would be really difficult for a variety of reasons, namely because it's hard to account for how much money wholesalers have spent on the brewery, and it still would require a large amount of cash.
Up until the very end, I still thought we could get a vote on SB 163, but our time ran out, and we lost a few members who were in favor of our bill. I walked out of the Capital exhausted and disappointed with the outcome, but still hopeful that in a few weeks, we could reconvene and finally move SB 163 forward. We have until the end of the month to push the bill through. Until then, I'm remaining optimistic and patient.
Also, shout out to the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild and our lobbyist for getting SB 163 this far.
What’s Good
“The Troop” by Nick Cutter is a wild book! It’s giving “Lord of the Flies” meets a bioengineered weapon. Even Stephen King, the king of horror, said this book scared the hell out of him. I’m pretty sure this book will haunt me for a while. So you should definitely read it…but only if you’re a horror fan. Also, I will not be responsible for any nightmares as a result of reading this book.
Thank you for reading!
Until next time,
Stephanie
About me: I'm Stephanie Grant, a born-and-bred ATLien and the writer behind this newsletter. I’m also a content creator for the food and beverage industry and one of the hosts of the award-winning Good Beer Hunting podcast. In 2023, I launched The Share Community, a digital space for women and non-binary people of color who want to advance their career in the beer industry. You can also find more of my work on YouTube and Instagram.