A More Modern Craft Scene Coming To Mississippi?
Brewers in the Magnolia State could soon be getting some good news.
One of the least progressive states with respect to craft beer might be about to leap ahead and bump shoulder with states that allow taprooms.
Representative Toby Barker, Mississippi’s youngest lawmaker at the age of 32, is spearheading the Mississippi Microbrewery Modernization Act of 2015. If it passes, MS beer makers that brew less than 200,000 barrels will be able to sell beer at the source. In their own brew pubs.
Brewers will be limited though. They can’t sell more than 10,000 barrels a year. The beer must be sold during an official tour. Also, they limit how much that can be sold to an individual. Three gallons in a 24-hour period. It is less than a keg but it allows for plenty of growlers, and allows for a lot more money to go back to the beer makers.
If House Bill 1158 passes it will catapult the state ahead of others that are fighting heated battles over the right to sell at their own breweries. Georgia is getting closer to a taproom breakthrough while Florida is fighting distributors and lobbyists to close what big beer is calling a “loophole”.
Special thanks to attorney and craft beer champion, Matthew McLaughlin, for bringing this exciting news to our attention.
