Georgia craft beer industry says brewery closures put them at crossroads
Georgia's current laws don't let small brewers or brewpubs sell their own beer in stores without a distributor.
Now, members of the state's craft beer industry say they're at a crossroads, as local breweries close at an alarming rate.
In a bid to help save the industry, and the small businesses here that make it, there's a push at the capitol to change the laws so they can compete.
An example of a brewery closing close to home is Torched Hop, which had sat on Ponce de Leon but closed at the end of the year. It's one of nearly a dozen to do so in the metro Atlanta area in 2024.
Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach spoke to proponents of the craft beer bill to see what the proposed legislation would do, and how it would help their businesses.
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'Georgia breweries should be able to self-distribute like 40 other states and the District of Columbia,' Joseph Cortez, Executive Director at the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, said.
Cortez is the head of a nonprofit created to protect and fight for the interests of breweries around Georiga.
He said the current laws are dated all the way back to the prohibition era and hinder businesses' ability to grow and compete in the market.
Currently, if a small brewery, like a brewer or brewpub, wants to sell their beer in grocery stores or restaurants, they have to go through a large distributor, even if where they want to sell is across the street.
Now they're pushing for state lawmakers to pass the Craft Beer and Local Economy Revitalization Act to provide a path to keep business brewing.
It would 'provide some much-needed relief and flexibility for our small business around the state,' Cortez told Channel 2 Action News.
The bill first needs to be heard in a committee before it can move forward.
In the past two years, similar legislation failed to make it to the floor for a vote before the end of the legislative session.
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