Georgia is well known for its archaic and stringent alcohol laws which include DUI, brewpub regulations, and brewery restrictions, and seem neither wise, just, or moderate despite our official state slogan to the contrary. On May 15th, 2014, Atlanta Leisure Magazine recently did a story on the North Georgia Beer Brewing scene titled, “How to drink at six breweries in four days – You can do it, but I’m not quite sure that you should.” This pleasant article not only showcased some of Atlanta and North Georgia’s more renowned Breweries but also highlighted the absurdity of some of Georgia’s arcane and complex alcohol laws which prohibit direct sales by breweries to the public and limit time and amount of beer offered during a brewery tour. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-2-7-.01 (a one-hour free tour entitles a person to 24 oz. of free beer and a 2 hours tour entitles you to 32 oz of free beer). In fact, Breweries like Sweetwater and Terrapin are expanding in other states which may be in response to arcane alcohol regulations. In fact, according to a survey by the Motley Fool Georgia ranks 50 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in its Brewery-friendly taxes and regulations. In fact, only Tennessee is more alcohol production unfriendly. Apparently, Georgia is the number one place for business except for the Beer Brewing Business where it is in second to last place.
