Omnivore - House Bill 314 proposes retail sales for brewpubs and breweries

New legislation ‘presents a gentle massaging’ of Georgia’s three-tiered system

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Creative Loafing’s Feb. 7 cover story, which was written by a talented and attractive young man, examined the state of Georgia’s booming craft-beer union. While there are many reasons to be excited about the new breweries coming to the Peach State, there are also some obstacles. Homebrewer, podcaster and craft-beer enthusiast Blake Tyers lamented Atlanta’s growler situation in particular. “Currently, I can buy growlers from candy shops, corner stores, butchers, gas stations, you name it,” he said. “All these places, and I still can’t buy beer from a brewer.”

If passed, Georgia House Bill 314 would change that. The bill would:

...provide for limited exceptions to the three-tier system for the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages; to change the definition of the term ‘brewpub’; to provide for limited retail sales by brewers of malt beverages manufactured on their premises for off-premises consumption; to provide for the collection of applicable taxes on such sales; to change certain provisions relating to the terms and conditions that exist for owners and operators of brewpubs to allow for retail sales of malt beverages manufactured on their premises for off-premises consumption; to change certain provisions relating to manufacturing limitations; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Got all that? Great. End of blog post ...