Create more jobs. Drink more beer. No brainer!



Most of us know how important craft beer is to GA. We are one of the largest consumers of craft beer in the country. It is evident in the number of world renowned breweries looking to sell their beer on shelves across our great state. What many don't know is how antiquated our laws are in the state of GA, making us one of the worst states for brewing beer in the U.S. While GA is one of the top 5 consuming markets in the country, we rank 47th out of 50 states in breweries per capita. Just 3 years ago there were but a handful of production breweries in the state and today we are hovering around 25, and growing, mainly in spite of the challenges GA's laws present. We are only one of 4 remaining states that doesn't allow breweries to sell directly to consumers. In most every state in this great country you can walk into a brewery, have a pint and take home a 6pk. This allows breweries to grow exponentially, keeping their cost low in the early years that are critical for said growth. Large breweries such as Sierra Nevada, Stone Brewing Co., Lagunitas and Oskar Blues have all bypassed GA when looking to expand their operations to the East Coast because of our laws. These are not stats to be proud of.

You may ask why would we support brewery direct sales as it would seem the retailers have the most to lose. And it would be a valid question but there is an easy answer. Yes, it's true we would probably sell less Three Taverns, Blue Tarp, Wild Heaven and soon Burnt Hickory beers, but our customers wouldn't buy directly from Terrapin, Reformation, Second Self, Orpheus, Red Brick, Red Hare, Jailhouse, etc... simply because these breweries aren't close to our shops. But, that's not the main reason. The fact is that with better laws to attract more breweries the state's brewery footprint would increase dramatically, providing more jobs and frankly more beer to sell on our shelves.

You ask "What can I do?" Simple, click on the above image or here to sign the petition to urge lawmakers in the 2015 session to support the GA craft beer scene. There is a 60 page bill addressing this very issue that will be debated and your voice will help make it loud and clear that we support growing the GA beer community. If you have a little spare change in your pocket head over to the IndieGoGo campaign. Become a member of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild. Tell your friends via Facebook, Twitter and other outlets. Rent a plane and spell it out in the sky! Okay, that may be going a little too far, but you get the idea. Our voices do matter. Thanks for the time and hopefully soon we'll see you at your favorite brewpub looking to get a growler fill of Criminal Sin or Border Patrol Hot Pursuit.