Battle brewing over direct beer sales

From the recent acquisition of Seattle’s Elysian Brewing by Belgian-based beverage giant AB-InBev to Budweiser’s craft beer-mocking Super Bowl ad (which Elysian founder Dick Cantwell called “tone-deaf ” and “painful”), things have gotten a bit chippy between big and small beer, again.

Here in Georgia, the battle lines are being drawn around what its lead sponsor, state Sen. Hunter Hill, R-Smyrna, calls the “Beer Jobs Bill.”

In essence, Senate Bill 63 would allow consumers to buy a few pints to drink “on premise” at breweries or buy packaged beer to-go from breweries and brewpubs.

Explaining why the state needs the legislation, Hill said, “Georgia is only one of five states left where a brewery cannot sell beer to directly to consumers, making our state one of the lowest in the country in terms of economic impact and jobs from the craft beer industry. These small changes will help drive jobs, tourism and economic growth.”

That all sounds pretty good to me.

And to the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, which defines its mission as promoting and protecting small, independent and traditional breweries. The guild has hired a lobbyist to help push for passage of SB 63.

But on the other side, the Georgia Beer Wholesalers Association generally sees the bill as an attack on the state’s “threetier system” for regulating alcohol sales — even though Georgia wineries are already doing what Georgia breweries want to do.

Recently, I asked Nancy Palmer, the executive director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, to talk about her organization’s position on SB 63. Here’s some of what she had to say:

Q: Just the title alone, the “Beer Jobs Bill,” is pretty hard to argue with, isn’t it?

A: We looked at other states around us, and when we looked at the numbers, we felt like it really is a bill about jobs and marketing and tourism. Direct sales to the public would allow breweries to contribute a lot more to Georgia’s economy and job market.

Q: What the brewers are asking for seems pretty basic to me, especially when you consider that brewers in 45 other states are already doing it, and so are Georgia wineries.

A: We just think the breweries should be allowed to sell a little bit of what they make, just like any other small business. We think it’s an important part

of growing a small business, to have that kind of direct marketing, and direct sales to the public.

Q: Do you think the bill will pass?

A: Honestly, I really don’t know. I can tell that we feel like we have a lot of momentum. We have a lot of supporters and a lot of people who are willing to fight for us. And all of that feels great. But we do have a battle ahead of us, in that the Wholesalers Association is adamant in its opposition to the bill.

Q: Martin Smith of the Wholesalers Association told the AJC that Georgia brewers “have 100 percent market access with strong demand and distribution reaching every retailer in the state.” Do they?

A: His saying that 100 percent of what our brewers make actually makes it to market and to every retailer is outrageous and totally untrue. Many of our brewers have more product than their distributors are willing to take, even though there is demand in the market. That is why so many breweries open markets in other states, even though they would rather sell in Georgia.

Q: So it sounds like this bill is aimed at the distributors?

A: It is not about the distributors at all. This bill is about marketing, the kind of marketing that only craft breweries can do directly to consumers. It’s about tourism, the kind of tourism only craft breweries can provide. And it’s about creating jobs. Those three things are accomplished in this bill.