First, a piece from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution which highlights a few struggles brewers in Georgia face with new proposed laws/restrictions.
Tasting tours are coming under scrutiny as state regulators revamp rules governing the production, distribution and sale of alcohol products. Under a new set of proposed rules being unveiled this week, visitors to Georgia's microbreweries may soon be limited to 24 ounces of beer, roughly half of the self-imposed amount brewers poured.There's also an interesting quote from the man who runs the Dept of Revenue for the state, which oversees such things.
The next story I found through Hop Talk (another quality beer blog). They quote an article posted on the Knoxville News Sentinel that discusses the somewhat new trend of business savvy brewers and breweries around the US.
The biggest beneficiary of the emergence of the craft brewer as executive may wind up being the consumer as more companies use their new skills to secure distribution contracts that allow them to offer their brews to a wider audience.
The business know-how is also helping brewers negotiate supply contracts for ingredients - a necessity in a period of sharp price increases for commodities and packaging materials.
Overall, a good read.
The final piece I'll share with you all is about the decline in German beer consumption.Per-capita consumption of beer in Germany, once the world's largest consumer of the drink, fell by 3.5 liters in 2007 to 112.5 liters -- the eighth decline in the last nine years.
