The Support Your Local Breweries web site has issued a Beer Activist Alert in Georgia.
John Cochran of Terrapin Beer Co. explains the situation:
All Georgia breweries need your help. We recently received notice that the Georgia Department of Revenue has decided to change the rules that apply to tours at breweries in Georgia. The new proposal calls for a limit of a 2oz pour of each beer style on the tour with a maximum limit of only 16oz. The 16oz pour is only possible if we have eight different styles of beer to offer on the tour. If a brewery only has four beers available to taste, then only 8oz can be poured at the tour.
It is the belief of the Georgia breweries, and our wholesalers, that the proposed rule change would effectively kill the tours. Since the breweries have spent significant sums of money on tasting rooms for the purposes of conducting tours this investment would be lost. In addition it would cause the layoff of employees who now operate as tour guides and could cause serious harm to the bottom line of all breweries. The tours are our main marketing tool and by losing the ability to continue tours as they are currently structured, we would lose customers, lose sales, and find it much more difficult to continue in business.
You’ll find information about how to protest this proposal here (scroll down) – the deadline for comments is Monday.
Glad this isn’t in effect in my state. The local brewery here doles out a few pints over the course of the ~2 hour tour. Yet to encounter a problem with inebriated attendees. And yes, they sell a good amount of brewery gear, glassware and growlers on those tours. All in all, it’s their most popular and attended “event” of the year – fills up every week.
Georgia overcame the 6% abv cap and I’d think craft beer lovers would lend as much, if not more, support to this cause. Good luck.
Amen. HELP US OUT, GODS OF GEORGIA BEER! I can’t believe there’s the potential for beer laws here to get MORE lame…
Is this an attempt to slowly re-introduce prohibition? Proposed laws like this, when passed, act like viruses – spreading from state to state! We can only hope that enough people contact their political representatives to protest this proposal. Additionally, out of state tourists should contact the Georgia tourism board to express their concern of this proposal.