BeerBorg

Sure is. Columbus is slowly moving Ohio into the 2000's!

Yahtzee!!!

Does this have anything to do with the fact that Brew Dogs is bringing bidness there?

RedBEERd wrote:Does this have anything to do with the fact that Brew Dogs is bringing bidness there?

From what I've heard/read, no it doesn't. But I have to wonder. Ohio lost to Virginia when Stone was moving east last year. People said that the 12% max ABV law had nothing to do with Stone choosing Virginia. But I don't buy it. It's awfully coincidental that Ohio loses Stone, then BrewDog comes knockin' at the door. They weren't going to make that mistake twice, time to abolish that law!! But that's just my opinion.

I know that TN has missed out on some big ones (Sierra Nevada, for instance, who were said to be considering building in Alcoa, TN prior to the Asheville build) due to the beer laws here. We've been going thru law changes in the last few years that may help in the long run... Beer taxes were changed for the better a few years ago (still high, but not increasing at the runaway rate they were before) which has opened up a whole new world of distribution to us. Wine is available in groceries starting next month. At the end of year, "beer" will go up to 10% (previously 6.2%), meaning groceries and other stores will be able to sell higher grav options, and more importantly that local breweries will be able to brew higher grav beers without a distiller license. Yazoo has such a license, but not many others, so most brewed here is below 6.2% currently, which likely caused our state similar problems in the bidding war for the expanding craft breweries. They considered an exemption for SN, but that obviously caused strife in the TN craft brew community.

Here was SN's statement on the matter back in '11:

(Chico, CA) – Here is Sierra Nevada Brewing‘s response to the legislative limbo in Tennessee.


….as sent by Communications Coordinator, Bill Manley:

———————————————————————

It is true we are looking for a new facility in the East, although, no final decisions have been made as to whether we ARE in fact going to build. Nevertheless, we’ve narrowed our search down to a handful of locations and we are doing our due diligence in finding the best spot for our company moving forward.

That said, one of the requirements for us in any site is to be able to brew and sell the full lineup of our beers. All of the states on our final lists either A) Have laws that would already allow us to do what we are doing here in Chico or B) Are working on amendments to state laws that would allow us to brew and sell our beer.

Sierra Nevada does not employ lobbyists in any of the states we are considering for a potential eastern location, and have had little-to-no input on any of these potential bills moving through state governments. We are in the business of brewing beer, not writing legislation. We have no interest in excluding craft brewers, nor limiting the favorable business environments that allow the craft brewing community to thrive. At the end of the day, we have very little control or involvement over the legislation in question.

As it currently stands, Tennessee state laws would make it impossible for us to brew beer above 5% ABW (6.25% by volume) and it would also be impossible for us to sell beer out of a potential gift shop at a future site located within the state.

When we were first considering sites to locate a potential brewery, we had “The ability to brew our full lineup of beers” on our list of requirements before any considerations could be made. We assume this current Tennessee law was designed to accommodate this requirement and to make that state a more attractive candidate for us in our search for a new brewery. This bill is an attempt to make that state more attractive as a potential site for our Eastern facility.

The bill itself is very fluid, and a current “work in progress.” It has come to light that as the bill currently stands, it could potentially harm the craft brewing community in Tennessee. We have communicated to Tennessee officials encouraging them to take a “do no harm” tactic in allowing craft brewers across the state, wherever they may be, to brew whatever type of beer they see fit. Sierra Nevada has always supported the notion that what’s good for craft brewing is good for us all. We want to ensure the craft brewing environment across the country is healthy, vibrant and strong.

and one more:

Sierra Nevada East HQ search moves to Tennessee as local liquor law debate ignites
Posted on May 16, 2011 at 2:44 pm by Adam Nason
tennessee-map-575

(Alcoa, TN) – Sierra Nevada Brewing has selected a site in the Volunteer State as a potential location in its search for a new facility.


Tennessee isn’t normally the center of attention on these pages though it finds itself on the front page today with the news that Sierra Nevada is looking at a location in the eastern part of the state. More specifically, the small town of Alcoa with a population of less than 8,000 people (2000 Census).

…but not without lots of complications…

In February, State Senator, Ken Yager introduced Bill 1224, a harmless one-pager reducing residency requirements for liquor store applicants as regulated by Title 57. An amendment was later added that makes some administrative changes with respect to fees, etc.

The second amendment to SB 1224, introduced last week, is what is creating so much buzz.

Beer Law Blog lays out a few of the nutty liquor laws in Tennessee including one that requires a brewery to also hold a second license as a distillery in order to produce beer greater than 5% alcohol by weight. Nashville-based Yazoo Brewing, which got its license last summer, is the only brewery to hold a distillery license and City Brewing, which just purchased the old Coors plant in Memphis, is rumored to be another candidate for the license.

Amendment 2 both re-defines beer (“high alcohol content beer”) as having an ABW cap of 20% and introduces a pilot program in which a brewery wouldn’t be required to hold a distillery license to produce these beers. The crux of the argument among locals is that only one brewery will be allowed to participate in this proposed program in each of the state’s three grand divisions. Here is a copy of the amendment which perversely establishes the rules in each division. One brewery will be in Memphis, one will be in Nashville and another in that tiny town of Alcoa.

Why Alcoa? Senator Yager answered that question in his comments on the new amendment.

This is where it gets good.

I certainly appreciate the patience of the members of the committee as we have worked our way through these amendments. [They] are admittedly very technical and frankly somewhat confusing and that is probably because we had twenty lawyers and as many lobbyists working on these.

Let me try to put it in perspective as I ask for your support on this. We have a very serious industrial prospect for the city of Alcoa and Blount County which Senator Overbey brought to my attention which resulted in amendment two. We discovered that there was an unintended consequence that might have an adverse effect on a concern in both Memphis and in Nashville hence these amendments to make sure that existing activities in those communities were, in no way, harmed.



The thrust of the amendment and the intent originally was to ensure the city of Alcoa’s competitive place in securing a very significant industrial prospect and I certainly appreciate the committee’s patience in going through all of these technical amendments but that is what it is all about.

After news of the amendment spread, Yazoo Brewing was questioned as to whether it was part of a lobbying effort for getting this proposed exclusivity around “high-gravity” brewing rights. Yazoo Brewmaster, Linus Hall, responded to the questions on his blog on Friday.

[…] I got a call last Friday afternoon from a lawyer who helped us get our TN ABC distillery license last year. He told me that there is a certain nationally distributed brewery who was looking to set up another brewery location in either eastern TN, Virginia, or North Carolina. They want assurances from TN that, if they chose TN for their new brewery, they would be able to brew high-gravity beer, and to serve it at an on-site restaurant. So an amendment was added to an unrelated bill, that would create a new definition of “high alcohol content beer” and authorize the ABC to issue licenses to brew it. But then the state-wide definition was narrowed to only allow this particular brewery to qualify. Why, I don’t know.

At the same time, the group who purchased the old Coors brewery in Memphis got wind of the amendment. We were going to join with them, to lobby for the bill to include all breweries in TN, but then found out they wanted to go it alone.



We don’t have the resources to hire lobbyists. I started calling and emailing our senators. I talked to our distributor, asking them to try to contact the legislators and lobbyists crafting the bill. We have had ZERO input into the wording of this bill.

If Virginia and North Carolina sound familiar in that (underlined) context, it is because those two states were already rumored to be among the east HQ candidates for Sierra Nevada.

On a phone call this afternoon, Sierra Nevada Communications Coordinator, Bill Manley, confirmed that Alcoa, TN, was among a short list of locations that the company was considering for its East Coast headquarters.

Sierra Nevada has received dozens of emails and phone calls since the Tennessee situation erupted late last week. While the company does provide a list of criteria to interested East HQ locations, Manley said that the company does not hire lobbyists and has had no input in the drafting of this bill. This has caught everyone at the brewery by surprise.

He noted that Sierra Nevada has heard that the amendment is going to be re-worked later this afternoon.

It is slated to be voted on this Tuesday though that may be up in the air.

Alcoa is an attractive site for a number of reasons. Manley mentioned Alcoa’s similarity to Chico, the quality of life, the town being a relatively convenient location for shipping and the community’s green focus. On that note, the town announced the birth of Pellissippi Place late last year, a business development park that sits at the entrance of a major highway, is only a few miles from a commercial airport and requires all businesses that develop there to be LEED-certified.

Manley could not confirm the site within Alcoa at which they were looking.

As for Senate Bill 1224, we should have a clearer picture of what is happening over the next 24-36 hours.

Update I: Via Art Whitaker on Facebook…”I received an email from Senator Bill Ketron this morning saying he will move in committee to remove amendment 2 from the bill calling it ‘a terrible amendment.'”

Update II: Via Nashville Beer Geek‘s Sean Smith…”Email from Senator Johnson: ‘I have spoken with Sen. Yager regarding your concerns. He has assured me that he will remove any language that is harmful to current or prospective brewers. I will continue to monitor the legislation to be sure. Thanks for the email.'”

Update III: Via Marble City Brewing Co-Owner, Johnathan Borsodi, on Facebook…”Per Mark Cate, Special Assistant and Policy Advisor to Gov. Haslam, ‘We agree that the amendment as written will not work and are working to find a better solution.'”

Dawg LB Steve wrote:Sure is. Columbus is slowly moving Ohio into the 2000's!

Yeah, but you will always have the Buckeyes so there's that...

GO BLUE!

Now scarlet and blue fans can get even more drunk and trash even more stuff in Columbus. Hurray!

Scarlet and blue??? Blasphemy I say!!!


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I frequently travel to VA and I like to buy beers that I just can't get in Utah. You can only buy beer at the state liquor stores in Utah, and even then, the selection is limited. Most seasonals would never make it here because by the time they could get approved, they'd be out of production.

What I find especially humorous is that I've seen beers by Utah breweries in VA and, since they're shipped almost clear across the country, they're only about 2/3 the cost as what they are in UT. But since I can get them in UT, I pass.

Considering the Browns, Indians and the Cavs have a better chance of all winning a championship in the same year as that state up north winning an outright National Championship.

So we got that going for us too!!!!