As state representatives in Utah work to raise taxes on beer, there’s another legislative issue brewing in Georgia over whether brewpub customers should be able to leave the premises with a bottle of their favorite libation.
Brewpubs want to be able sell growler refills to customers, according to the Savannah Morning news.Representatives of multiple brewpubs from across the state testified last week to the Senate Study Committee on Brewpubs and Alcoholic Beverage Tastings.
Brewpub representatives said they are willing to charge more so as not to poach business from area retailers.
A lobbyist for the Georgia Beer Wholesalers Association, however, said on-premise sales would be a threat to retailers, adding that they would cease to carry those specific brewpubs’ products should the legislation succeed.
The Senate Study Committee is expected to issue its report before the end of the year.
While Georgians try to find a middle ground, one Montana community is just getting excited to welcome its first brewery Lolo Peak Brewery will be the first in its namesake town of just under 4,000 people. According to a local news report, co-owners Pat Offen and Al Zepeda plan to open a two-story facility with a tasting room and restaurant. According to the company’s website, the basement has been “poured and floored.”
While Lolo is just being born, others are continuing to expand. F.X. Matt Brewery recently purchased land across from its current brewing facility in Utica, NY, and plans to expand into the space on Edward Street.
The move will satisfy the company’s need for fermentation space, according to F.X. Matt CEO Nick Matt. Adding more aging and fermentation tanks, the brewery expects, could allow the brewery to produce upward of 250,000 additional barrels annually, according to a local NBC affiliate.
Construction is expected to begin in spring of 2014.
BrewDog, never a company to stray from the spotlight for long, is also ready to expand. Showing record growth for a fifth straight year, the company plans to pour £5 million into its Ellon plant at Balmacassie, according to the Ellon Times.
Currently employing more than 200 people, BrewDog plans to keep hiring over the next six months and will add more than 50 new employees in multiple departments, the article adds.
And since we’re on the subject of dogs, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog paid the craft beer-swilling brewers at the Great American Beer Festival a visit earlier this month. True to form, Triumph didn’t pull any punches and, in our humble opinion, he nailed it. The video is below.