Georgia’s craft brewers could get more beer into the hands of customers who visit their breweries under a bill passed Friday by the state Senate.
Senate Bill 63 would allow 36 ounces of beer to be consumed "on-premise" of a brewery and up to 64 ounces of beer to be taken home. It would mandate, however, that the beer could only be purchased in a single container — a growler, say, or one 12-ounce bottle of beer.
It would still bar direct sales, something brewers really wanted. Instead, breweries could charge for a tour and, depending on how much someone pays, the tour could include that container of beer as a free souvenir — up to the limits. Additionally, the state’s brew pubs would be able to sell a growler of beer to eat-in customers, who could then seal the bottle and take what they don’t drink home.
The original version of the bill would have explicitly allowed direct sales, with looser limits: 72 ounces of beer to drink “on-premise” and up to 144 ounces to take home. In layman’s terms, these were daily limits equivalent to 4 1/2 pints on tap and a 12-pack to go, respectively.
Brewers supported the original proposal but faced an uphill battle with the state’s wholesalers, who wanted no part of allowing direct sales.
SB 63, a compromise hammered out by Senate leadership, passed on a 51-5 vote. It now heads to the state House, where supporters are hoping to negotiate something more akin to direct sales.