“SANDY SPRINGS, GA — Sandy Springs has officially opened the doors for micro-breweries, micro-distilleries and farm wineries to move into the city.
The City Council at its June 21 meeting approved text amendments to its zoning ordinance to allow for the changes.”
“(Asheville, NC) – Fast growing, Asheville based Hi-Wire Brewing has signed on with three Georgia wholesalers to expand its distribution beyond the North Carolina mountains and neighboring states, and will soon be available to craft beer fans in the Georgia markets of Northeast Georgia & Athens, Augusta, and Savannah. HiWire is partnering with Northeast Sales, AB Beverage, and Southern Eagle for these three markets.”
“Heather McClung, Washington Brewers Guild president and co-founder ofSchooner EXACT Brewing Company in Seattle, Wash., testified in front of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade about her brewery’s participation in the Brewers AssociationExport Development Program, and the program’s importance to craft brewers and their agricultural partners.
The hearing was held to discuss how Congress can help expand agricultural trade by eliminating barriers to American exporters. McClung was joined by witnesses from the Minnesota Farm Bureau, National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Producers Council and the Foreman Fruit Company. They covered topics that ranged from geographic indicators to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
In his opening testimony Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert of Washington State noted that, “Agricultural exports are not limited to what is grown, raised and harvested in America. Just as important are the products made from what farms produce.” Later in the hearing the chairman made note of the innovation he has seen when visting a few of Washington State’s 300 plus breweries.” – Katie Marisic, Brewers Association
“Brewpubs have begun to change the way they serve the public. While Georgia breweries can’t sell beer directly to consumers and need a distributor to do so, brewpub owners believe that restriction shouldn’t apply to them. They want to sell pints of beer on the premises and half-gallon jugs — known as “growlers” — to take home.”
“Perhaps Taylor Harper was destined to be an attorney. Born and raised in Atlanta, he fondly remembers when his mom went to Georgia State University College of Law when he was 7 years old. ‘Sometimes, when she couldn’t find a sitter, she would take me to class with her,’ he says. ‘And some of those same professors taught me when I returned to attend GSU Law 20 years later.’
Following school and some time abroad, Harper realized that law can be used for good, to facilitate community — and that he wanted to dedicate his life to that. He now works at a law firm (Taylor, Feil, Harper, Lumsden & Hess, P.C.), where he’s been focusing on regulatory compliance and litigation in the beverage-alcohol industry. Put more simply for people who drink beer in Georgia, he’s trying to help fix some archaic laws. And he was successful recently, when he was one of the forces behind getting growler sales for Georgia brewpubs. (So far, Savannah, Alpharetta, and Sandy Springs have given it the green light, with more municipalities on the way.)
‘I’ve always had an appreciation for good booze and a passion for law,’ Harper says. ‘The beverage-alcohol practice presented the opportunity to combine those two affinities. The itch I’ve had to build communities, to facilitate a sense of community, is fulfilled by trying to help the craft beer industry in Georgia.'” — Austin Ray, Creative Loafing
Read more here: http://clatl.com/atlanta/first-draft-with-taylor-harper/Content?oid=17264504
“Ancient pottery vessels, dating to 3400-2900 BC, contained a fermented mixture of barley, broomcorn millets, and other starchy plants. It is the earliest direct evidence of beer brewing in ancient China, the authors say.
‘Beer was probably an important part of ritual feasting in ancient China,’ says study author Jiajing Wang of Stanford University. ‘So it’s possible that this finding of beer is associated with increased social complexity and changing events of the time.’ — Megan Scudellari, Journal Club
Read more here: http://blog.pnas.org/2016/05/journal-club-ancient-pottery-harbors-5000-year-old-beer-recipe/
“Officials from the United States Department of Justice are investigating Anheuser-Busch InBev over a controversial incentive plan aimed at rewarding beer wholesalers who focus on selling products from the world’s largest beer maker, according to the Reuters news agency.
Citing two unnamed sources, Reuters said antitrust investigators are asking craft brewers and distributors about A-B InBev’s incentive plan as well as supposed attempts at ‘curbing craft promotion by distributors.’
…
‘Concerns have been raised that ABI is seeking to create competitive roadblocks by trying to impose exclusivity, either explicitly or coercively by discouraging its distributors from doing business with competing brands or raising their distribution costs,’ National Beer Wholesaler president Craig Purser said in his testimony.
Under that initiative, wholesalers are eligible for up to $1.5 million in reimbursements if 98 percent of the products they sell are A-B InBev brands, according to a Wall Street Journal article last December.At the crux of the DOJ probe are anticompetitive concerns over A-B InBev’s Voluntary Anheuser-Busch Incentive For Performance (VAIP) program.”
— Chris Furnari, Brewbound.
Read more here: http://www.brewbound.com/news/reuters-department-justice-investigating-b-distributor-incentives
“Per the Georgia Secretary of State, the updated regulations are in effect today for the state’s breweries. Under the new regulations brewers will once again be able to offer variable pricing on tours, as well as use social media to alert consumers where their products are available for sale, an act that amazingly was forbidden prior to the new regulations. The regulations also provide information on allowing third parties resale of tour tickets and the sale of food during tours. The full text of the regulations will post on the Secretary of State website overnight.” – Tim Dennis, Beer Guys Radio
Read more here: http://beerguysradio.com/2016/05/26/georgia-brewery-tour-rules-regualtions/
“Starting June 1, breweries and brewpubs throughout the state will be able to sell beer for customers to take home. The only stipulation is that each customer is limited to 288 ounces of beer per day.
The law permitting such sales, known as the “beer to-go bill,” has been long awaited by local breweries such as Back Forty Beer Company in Gadsden and Cheaha Brewing Company in Anniston.”
Georgia Craft Beer Lawyer 