CRAFT beer lovers wishing to sample the wares of the Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta must go to strange lengths to do so when visiting. After purchasing a memento glass for $10, the thirsty are awarded ten tickets to swap for samples of Sweetwater ales. More alcoholic choices require more tickets, and visitors can sip their blueberry wheat beer in the sun while listening to live music. Tours of the facilities reveal the impressive size of the fermentation tanks. Apparently if someone drank a gallon of beer a day from the largest of them, they’d still be guzzling 85 years from now.
But unlike patrons of wine-tastings at vineyards, who then may spring for a bottle or two of a choice vintage, visitors to Georgia's breweries have long had to return home tipsy but empty-handed. A law has banned Georgians from buying beer directly from breweries to sip it at home. But this changed on May 5th: patrons can now enjoy up to 36 ounces of beer at a craft brewery, and take another 72 ounces to go as a “free” souvenir (the equivalent of a six-pack), as long as they have paid enough for a tour.
The new law has earned toasts from microbreweries, though it is a watered-down version of what they had been lobbying for, says Nancy Palmer of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild. Alabama and Georgia are the only two states in the nation where craft breweries cannot sell their beer directly to visitors, which irks ale appreciators in both states. Supporters say allowing sales would help these small businesses build their brands, particularly at a time when consumers are developing a taste for craft beer. While overall beer sales grew by just 0.5% last year, to $100 billion, craft-beer sales jumped by 17.6%. “The craft beer explosion has brought excitement back to the beer business,” says Bart Watson, chief economist at the Brewers Association, a national advocacy group.
At issue are laws related to America’s three-tier system for distributing alcohol. Implemented 80 years ago after the repeal of prohibition, the system ensures that producers can only get their wares to retailers through the services of a wholesaler. It was thought that this would stop large breweries from running profit-centred dens of sin to the ruin of honest Americans. Since then individual states have tinkered with these rules, but Southern states have been slower to adopt more liberal liquor laws, largely owing to the region's disproportionate number of evangelical voters. But lawmakers in the region increasingly see the value in removing excessive regulations. In Tennessee, for example, Governor Bill Haslam recently signed into law a measure that makes it easier for more breweries to sell their booze directly to consumers. But in Georgia and Alabama wholesalers have effectively lobbied to maintain their control over distribution.
Small breweries complain that this hurts them, as they have access to fewer channels for sales. In Alabama lawmakers are starting to listen. A new state commission will consider the state’s laws, with a plan to have new legislation by the end of the year. “The alcohol laws in Alabama should be fair to all in the alcohol industry,” says Alan Harper, who is heading the commission.
Dan Roberts from the Alabama Brewers Guild argues that direct sales might also encourage safer drinking. The way the system is set up now, there is an incentive for people to “drink gallons” while they are touring the brewery because they can’t “take a single drop with them,” he explains. By granting visitors the chance to buy a bottle or two for later, fewer consumers may choose to overdo it before driving away.
