“The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) recently handed down a violation notice to Anheuser-Busch that promises to set the beer behemoth back $150,000. The LCB issued the administrative violation in response to an elaborate investigation that revealed that Anheuser-Busch had entered into an illegal agreement of exclusivity with two concert venues in Seattle, the Showbox and the Showbox SoDo.” — Washington Beer Blog, Kendall Jones.
Read more here: http://blog.seattlepi.com/washingtonbeerblog/2016/05/17/anheuser-busch-gets-150000-fine-for-liquor-law-violations-in-seattle/
Chump change to AB.
Can’t wait for these guys to open.
Austin Ray talks shop with Arches Brewing:
http://clatl.com/atlanta/first-draft-with-ryan-fogelgren/Content?oid=17184798
This should be interesting. Check out the info and links that Reid Ramsay provides here: http://beerstreetjournal.com/man-files-class-action-lawsuit-over-leffe/
“North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper spoke at a Teamsters rally outside of the MillerCoors brewery in Eden, N.C., and indicated that the state is investigating the Big Beer company’s decision to close the brewery.
MillerCoors announced plans to close the Eden brewery in September 2015, just two days before merger talks between AB InBev (ABI) and SABMiller (SAB) became public. SAB and Molson Coors are co-owners of MillerCoors.
The Eden brewery is a large and efficient facility that accounts for approximately 12.5 percent of MillerCoors’ beer production and nearly 4 percent of the entire U.S. beer market. The Teamsters believe that the timing of the closure announcement was not accidental, and the closure, if it takes place, may lead to higher beer prices.” — Chris Crowell, Craft Brewing Business
Read more here: http://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/news/n-c-attorney-general-says-state-is-investigating-millercoors-for-anti-trust-violations/
“A recent vote by Kennesaw City Council will lessen alcohol restrictions. Now growler shops will be allowed to sell package sales and limited consumption of malt beverages and craft beers on premises.” — Carolyn Cunningham, AJC
Read more here: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/kennesaw-beer-wine-restrictions-eased/nq4zS/
“The Sandy Springs City Council has unanimously approved an ordinance allowing properly licensed brewpubs to sell beer in growler containers. The Georgia Department of Revenue recently interpreted state law as allowing for sale of the growlers and said it would defer to local communities on how they wanted to deal with the issue.” — Mark Woolsey, AJC
Read more here: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/sandy-springs-approves-brewpub-growler-sales/nq2Lm/
In a recent AJC article, Martin Smith – the Executive Director of the Georgia Beer Wholesalers Association (“GBWA”) – commented that, “[t]here is plenty of reason for craft brewers to be optimistic….Since 1995, the number of breweries in Georgia has increased 800 percent, while the national average is just 524 percent.”
The stats used by the GBWA don’t compare apples to apples. It used 1995 as the starting point and 2014 as the end point. According to data from the Alcohol Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (“TTB”), in 1995, there were 6 breweries in Georgia and no brewpubs. In 2014, there was a total of 48 breweries and brewpubs. An increase from 6 to 48 equals 800% growth. Right? Not exactly.
Why were there no brewpubs in Georgia in 1995 (the GBWA’s starting point)? Because at that time brewpubs were not allowed in Georgia. It wasn’t until the following year, 1996, that the Georgia law that allows for brewpubs went into effect. In 1996, the addition of brewpubs lead to a reported 18 businesses with a Federal Brewer’s Notice in Georgia – most of which were brewpubs, as opposed to production breweries.
The GBWA is comparing a year (1995) when brewpubs weren’t allowed in GA to a year (2014) in which several brewpubs existed in GA. If the GBWA were comparing apples to apples (using 1996 as the starting point), 800% growth would mean that in 2014 there would have been 144 breweries and brewpubs in GA – but as we know, there were only 48 Georgia businesses with a Federal Brewer’s Notice. If we look at industry growth beginning in 1996, instead of 1995, Georgia has seen brewery and brewpub growth at a rate of only 260% -approximately a mere half of the national average of 524%.
But even that’s not the whole story. The GBWA’s comments don’t reveal that all the craft breweries that existed in GA in 1995 went out of business, except one – that is, Atlanta Brewing Company now doing business as Red Brick Brewing Co.
Worse yet, assuming TTB data is correct, it’s quite possible that since 1995 more breweries have closed in Georgia than are currently open – a reflection of how difficult it is to profitability operate a brewery in GA.
As you can see, the picture ain’t as pretty as the GBWA’s statements make it out to be.
That said, there is, indeed, actual growth in Georgia’s craft beer industry – just not nearly to the degree asserted by the GBWA. And, growth is a great thing! What’s really interesting (or ironic perhaps) is that much of that growth that the GBWA is so excited about is actually attributable to the only major change Georgia has seen for malt-beverage manufacturers in the last 20 years – that is, the brewpub exception to the three-tier system – an exception which modernized the system, continues to help small businesses, and continues to create growth (!), but which is in opposition to the rigidity the GBWA wishes to maintain.
As such, just think of the growth were the state to allow breweries to make retail sales.
Tweaks of the three-tier system have proven over and over again to help the entire industry – just look at the 48 states that allow some form of retail sales. Actually, in an effort spearheaded by Rep. Michael Caldwell, we tried to get the Georgia House of Representatives to study this issue, to analyze other states, to put the legislature in the position of making an educated decision on these matters. What happened? They wouldn’t even allow a vote on the study proposal…not even a friggin’ vote…ugh.
I’m reminded of the oft quoted Mae West quip, “I never said it would be easy; I only said it would be worth it.”
Keep the pressure on, folks.
Cheers.
Interesting tidbit about how we went from “micro-brewery” to “craft brewery.”
Here’s the proposed regulations: DOR proposed regs
Analyzing them now.
Georgia Craft Beer Lawyer 