Georgia's craft beer industry wants new laws to support beer sales
ATLANTA - Georgia's craft beer industry wants new laws regarding how they can sell beer. They say current laws are hurting business.
"The thing about breweries, they're really the cornerstone of communities," said Nathan Cowan, owner of Eventide Brewing.
Eventide Brewing has been serving beer in the Grant Park area for 10 years. Cowan says at times it has been a struggle.
"If it weren't for the tasting room, we would have been out of business a long time ago," said Cowan.
Cowan says what he and other small breweries need is the ability to sell directly to local restaurants and stores. But Georgia law only allows sales like that through a distributor, which cuts into the bottom line.
Now, there's a push to change that. It's Senate Bill 163. Supporters have dubbed it the FOAM act, Fair and Open Access to Market. Among other things, Senate Bill 163 would allow breweries to sell directly to businesses within the county.
"Flexibility for these small businesses across the state to be able to get more product out to their consumers and to their local communities," said Joseph Cortex, Executive Director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild.
Cortes says current regulations have contributed to a number of small breweries shutting down in the past year.
"There's lots of reasons that breweries close, but when you're faced with some of the stiffest regulations nationwide, that has an effect on how you can weather all the other storms that small businesses have gone through over the past couple of years," said Cortes.
They've tried legislation similar to this in the past, but this time around they've got a lot of public support. About 8000 people have signed a petition, almost 1000 people have emailed their legislators and there's a rally planned for Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to vote in favor of Senate Bill 163.
"We need access to be able to sell to people who live in our neighborhoods, who want to buy our product," said Cowan.