New Rules – Georgia Breweries Expanded Hours, Take Home Beer Options, and Food Trucks
Decatur Metro | July 2, 2015 | 11:20 amMany brewers and craft beer lovers were a bit disappointed with the final version of the Georgia “Beer Jobs” bill that finally passed during the 2015 legislative session.
And while the state’s beer laws still aren’t as open – not to mention intuitive – as most other states, the new rules that went into effect July 1st, actually allowed many significant changes at our state’s breweries. At least compared to the limited options pre-July 1.
Wild Heaven recently provided a good succinct summary of the changes…
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You can now take home 72 ounces of our beer directly from the brewery as a “souvenir” as part of purchasing a “facility tour”.
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You can enjoy 4 more ounces (36 total) while visiting the brewery.
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We can offer you full pours of beer and we’ll have options for that and sample flights.
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We can be open anytime we want – and have added Thursdays and additional weekend hours.
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Food trucks are allowed! Look for food trucks at Wild Heaven on Friday evenings and Saturdays.
And here’s a compilation of new hours and and “tour” options provided by breweries around Atlanta…
Wild Heaven Craft Beers
Three Taverns Brewery
Blue Tarp Brewing
Orpheus Brewing
Most importantly, you’ll be able to take some souvenir beer away with you! As part of a $12 tour package, you’ll be able to take up to 72 oz of beer (a 6 pack, or equivalent quantity). We’ll have Transmigration of Souls and Atalanta available this week. We’ll eventually have tour packages that include growlers and bottles (we expect bottles of Wandering Blues, Cognac Barrel-aged Sykophantes, and Bourbon Barrel-aged The 12th Labor in the next month or so).
Instead of buying a glass for us to fill with free beer, you’ll now be buying a $12 brewery tour that includes samples (up to 36 oz instead of the old 32 oz). Because the beer samples come as part of the paid tour, that means that you won’t be able to bring your glass back for beer samples.
You’ll be able to buy a tour package that contains combined tastings and souvenir beer, or buy multiple packages, as long as they doesn’t add up to over 36 oz of beer tastings and 72 oz souvenir beer per day.
We’re extending tour hours: Thursday/Friday 6-9 and Saturday/Sunday 2-5. Also, expect to start seeing food carts soon!
Monday Night Brewing Company
Eventide Brewing
Their tasting room just opened on June 20th. According to a recent post, hours are: Thursday from 5:30-8:30pm, Friday from 5:30-8:30pm, and Saturday’s from 2-6pm.
Burnt Hickory Brewery
On JULY 1st we will be able to charge you for a tour. With that tour you can get 36 (before it was 32) oz’s of beer samples and also be able to take home a Souvenir Facility Tour Package of up to 72oz of beer in multiple containers.
Here’s a sample breakdown.
1. 10.00 with a clean glass that you bring to the brewery you can drink on site during a tour, 36 oz’s of beer. I know you have a ton of glasses from the ones you bought from us and every other brewery in the state in yr cupboard, Right? We will honor any brewery’s glass btw! If you don’t have a glass, we’ll provide BHB plastic with the option to pay 5.00 for a new BHB beer glass.
2. You will also be allowed to pick out up to 72 oz’s of BHB beer from our tasting room cooler or get a growler fill. We will have 32oz BHB custom growlers avail for purchase or you can bring any other clean growler from another store or brewery. It’s that simple.
Every beer will have a certain per oz value and we will allow you to “Build Your Own Souvenir” package. Basically. .. 32oz of Zeke = BLANK. One bomber of KILLDOZER = BLANK. We will then add it up and charge you accordingly. There won’t be crazy swings in prices just basic tier level beer value at established prices. We are now figuring out EXACT pricing to be posted in Tasting room.
New Tour Hours
TUES-THURS 430-730
FRIDAY 430 -800
SATURDAY 11- 4
How did they come up with 72oz as the cut off amount to be able to bring home? I guess they are saying that you can buy one six pack a person?
If I want to fill up a 64oz growler will there be an 8oz bottle that I can buy to get my full share? Seems pretty archaic still.
Also, thanks for posting this article. It is very informative.
In time enough of our legislators will vacation in Asheville and experience their thriving beer tourism industry. Then they’ll start to seriously dismantle Georgia’s archaic alcohol distribution laws to the great benefit of Decatur/Avondale. Hopefully this will happen soon. Perhaps the backers of the Beer Jobs Bill can charter a bus.
Doubtful.
Little disappointed in some of the pricing (not just on the breweries shown here). Without having the middle-man distributor, the profit margin is increased dramatically for the brewery. That should reflect on the price of the take home beer. Give me a reason to get beer from the brewery rather than the store! $20 for two bombers from Monday Night? No thanks.
Can someone, anyone please get our state government into the 21st century? Good grief, what a confusing mess. Honestly, is there any good reason I should not be able to go to a brewry and simply buy some beer to take home without having to take a “tour”? Crap, people, it is not that hard. Hey, state legislators, get your hands out of the beer distributors pockets! You make me sick and disgusted.
Yeah, it’s pretty pathetic. We should be able to sit and buys pints as well.
But they are letting you drink 4 extra ounces at these establishments now!! You should be writing them Thank You Letters.
What timing. I was in the Twin Cities yesterday. Check out this article in their paper today showing the vibrant “taproom” scene in MN.
http://m.startribune.com/variety/dining/311239391.html?section=/variety
Is it dumb law? Sure.
As long as the distributors remain a powerful force in the legislature, the laws will move little. And I doubt most legislators care as much about craft beer as say, people in Decatur
People I know in the craft brewing industry (who may or may not be right) have speculated that the real fear of the distributors is not the breweries themselves. Rather, the distributors fear that it could lead to a slippery slope that may compromise the value of some of their biggest customers — the supermarket chains. Imagine if Kroger or Publix could buy direct from Sweetwater or Terrapin. The horror! I have no idea if this fear is valid. But as in all politics, follow the money, and this argument makes sense to me.
Don’t forget Second Self. They have a fun sounding event tomorrow.
http://www.secondselfbeer.com/tours/
Legislators may not care too much about beer, but they should care about tourism. Nathan Deal may have his faults, but he can be pragmatic. There’s money to be made, we have a strong governor form of government, and Deal is a lame duck. We’ve gotten high gravity beer (2004), growlers (2010), and Sunday sales (2011). So how about craft breweries that can sell fresh beer to drink on site and bottles that can be purchased to take home.
Ahhhh … a man can dream.