Free the Beer
It’s no secret that I detest the three‑tier system and would like it to be blown up entirely. I find the legal requirement for brewers to enter into cost‑inefficient, resource‑inefficient, environmentally and economically unfriendly, borderline abusive contracts to bring their craft to the world to be immoral. It hurts the producer, the consumer, and only benefits the legally required middleman that doesn’t care about your shelf space, volume, or customer satisfaction, much less will they invest in the local kickball or rugby league or give a portion of their proceeds to a community fundraiser. Distributors love to reinvest into politicians, but come up short on local reinvestment.
If a small brewer wants to serve their product at the restaurant down the street, they are legally required to use a distributor. The distributor picks up the product from the brewer, transports it to their facility, then transports it back to the restaurant after the restaurant places the order with the distributor. This is crap. To quote Buzz Brockway, this makes me so mad that “I am on the verge of swearing.” But if you know me, you know I’ve already sworn enough about this to make even Gunny blush.
I was sitting at what used to be a bar at Decatur and Hill (it’s now a brunch spot) with then‑Speaker Ralston, Marshall Guest, Spiro Amburn, and our former editor having wings and a “col’ beer” talking about policy. Offer me wings and beer and I’ll talk policy as long as you want; honestly, you don’t even need the wings and beer, I’ll just do it anyway.
At that time, the city of Asheville, NC had more breweries than the entire state of Georgia. I had just gotten back the month prior from the annual “hiking trip” with some friends from the Boy Scouts — really just an excuse to go to Asheville for the Highland Brewing Cold Mountain release and hit a bunch of other spots. We came home with an outsized number of bottles, growlers, bombers, and cases of stuff we couldn’t get in Georgia. Like Pokémon, we had to catch them all, and the Speaker found this fascinating.
Beer is a hobby for me, my dad, and many of our friends. It’s not that we like to get blitzed à la frat boys during pledge week; there is sooooo much variety, chemistry, and craftsmanship in what can be done with barley, hops, yeast, and water. We want to experience the craft — and frankly art — that is brewing. The last 20 years have been like living through the Italian Renaissance.
I also collect some: I’ve got a few Mephistopheles from Avery in different vintages, a ’13 Sam Adams Utopias, and some barleywines from before Atlanta United’s MLS Cup. I’ve brewed a few barrels of my own since I started homebrewing in 2010, and I’ve never managed to make the same thing twice. That takes far more skill than I have.
I bring all this up because I recently saw Joseph Cortes’ op-ed in the AJC. Joseph is far kinder to the distributors than I am — he’s the Craft Brewers Guild ED so he has to be — but he’s right about the basic point: if Georgia wants stronger downtowns and real small‑business growth, we have to modernize the three tier system. I don’t have to be that kind. To hell with the three‑tier system. Eradicate this unnecessary legal requirement like smallpox.
What purpose does it serve at this point anyway? In 2026, the honest answer is protecting a cartel.
That’s where SB 456 comes in. It’s barely a baby step in the right direction, but it does move the ball toward economic sense by loosening some of the handcuffs on small breweries and giving them a little more room to sell their own product instead of begging a warehouse for attention. It’s not real freedom, but it’s a start. Assuming the General Assembly doesn’t water it down into meaninglessness or let it die in committee.
SweetWater, Terrapin, and Monday Night need a distributor. SweetWater has the capacity for a half‑million barrels a year and they’re in what, two dozen states at this point? That’s more than what Joel and a pickup can do, and it makes complete economic sense for them to use a distributor.
But if the guys at Grumpy Old Men in Blue Ridge want to sell a couple of kegs to Blue Jeans Pizza and Pasta (get the calzone, it’s delicious), they should be able to do so without Savannah Distributing Company getting involved. Blue Jeans doesn’t need a warehouse; it needs a keg from the guy down the road and a law that gets out of the way of its local economy thriving instead of pretending to ‘help’ by picking winners.
For my BBQ hobby, I don’t have to go through a distributor to get a hold of ribs, brisket, or pulled pork. For my fountain pen hobby, I can go directly to the small makers at the Atlanta Pen Show. Only with beer does the state insist on inserting a legally protected middleman between two willing adults trying to do business.
Free the beer.
If a brewery wants to use a distributor because it makes economic sense, let them. But if Emma has a refrigerated box truck and the restaurant down the street wants her beer, let her throw a couple of kegs in the truck and deliver them with a smile. SB 456 should be a floor, not a ceiling, for what the beginning of beer freedom should look like in Georgia. Anyone who tells you otherwise is choosing the Cartel over Main Street.
Disclosure: I used Perplexity AI to help edit and point out flaws in my argument. Also, I know Joseph personally. I enjoy when he performs with the ASO Chorus. I have worked with him on campaigns and even applied to the GCBG ED position when it was open. The guild chose him over me. I also know there is a delicious Chili Colorado recipe that he doesn’t share. All this said, my hatred of the three tier system predates my introduction to Joseph at a Cobb County YR event 15 years ago.
