I rarely write a true editorial these days. My coverage of the adult beverage world typically comprises books and research articles. However, in light of Sunday’s momentous day, I felt the need to share my personal thoughts.
How did we get here?
Trying to modernize beer laws in Texas has been an arduous journey over the last 10 years. Until 2011, most of the industry did not think change was possible. Distributors were locked into contracts with the big breweries, and any change to the laws that affected distributors and macro brewers was shut down before a bill could even be introduced. Attempts were made in 2007 and 2009 to pass bills that allowed beer-to-go (taking purchased beer home from a brewery), on-premise consumption (drinking beer from the brewery at the brewery), truth in labeling, and even the right to tell consumers where a brewery’s beer could be purchased. Always to no avail. The old boys club between some legislators and distributors (the biggest bully being the Wholesale Distributors of Texas) was just too powerful.
With beer from small and independent craft brewers (also known as microbreweries) becoming more and more popular, many business owners experienced renewed hope of a change in the law. Maybe there was a chance that things could change.
The 2011 legislative session saw the first real attempt in a long time to change the laws. Ultimately, any proposal of change was shot down. But a movement was born. Several Texas breweries formed a quasi-political group hell-bent on changing the hearts of legislators and distributors. Open The Taps, a grass-roots consumer advocacy group was formed in Houston, with chapters around the state, focusing on garnering the consumer vote to pressure lawmakers for change.
For a few years, I was fortunate to be able to help Open The Taps educate consumers about beer laws in Texas, running events in San Antonio and Austin. I was constantly amazed at how many people thought the laws in Texas were the norm throughout the country, and most were more than willing to help spread the word to others, as well as talk with their State legislators.
In addition to advocacy group support, others decided to take action themselves. Austin’s Jester King Brewery, Authentic Beverage Co, and Zax Restaurant & Bar filed suit against the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission in an attempt to let the courts decide. Ultimately, the courts agreed it was unconstitutional for breweries to be barred from using truthful labels (such as labeling a product a ‘beer’ or ‘ale’), and telling consumers where their beer could be purchased.
This was a victory, for sure; however, the courts failed to agree about on-premise consumption and beer-to-go sales.
For every step forward, there is sometimes a step back. In 2011, small breweries lost their ability to sell their distribution rights to a distributor of their choice, even though distributors could sell a brewery’s distribution rights to another distributor; production breweries still couldn’t sell beer-to-go from their taprooms.
Between 2011 and 2013, Open The Taps and Texas brewers, as well as a few sympathetic lawmakers, worked tirelessly, hoping to make some headway as the 2013 legislative session rolled in. It worked. Though small breweries didn’t get all they were hoping for, progress was made. Brewpubs could now distribute to retailers, as well as utilize distributors for a larger reach. Production breweries gained a little as well and were now able to sell beer in their taprooms for on-site consumption.
For a few years, I was fortunate to be able to help Open The Taps educate consumers about beer laws in Texas, running events in San Antonio and Austin. I was constantly amazed at how many people thought the laws in Texas were the norm throughout the country, and most were more than willing to help spread the word to others, as well as talk with their State legislators.
The next two years were hopeful. Support for small and independent breweries gained momentum. Unfortunately, the increased support didn’t translate into new beer laws at the 2015 legislative session.
The 2017 legislative session was even worse. Not only was there no forward movement in updating beer laws, additional restrictions were placed on breweries of a certain size—breweries producing 225,000 barrels or more were forced to sell through a distributor, which (by default) required breweries to buy their own beer just to serve it in their own taprooms.
This brings us to Sunday: the now historic day of September 1, 2019. Through the combined efforts of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, CraftPac, consumer pressure, sympathetic legislators, and loyal distributors, the last piece fell into place. Beer-To-Go was passed in the spring 2019 legislative session and became law effective yesterday. Though there was one setback: to help push through Beer-To-Go, the Texas Craft Brewers Guild and the Beer Alliance of Texas agreed that neither would lobby to raise or lower allowable Texas malt beverage caps for a period of 12 years, in order to provide stability in the marketplace, according to both groups.
There you have it. The Readers’ Digest synopsis of beer laws in Texas over the last 12 years. There is still more positive movement to be gained, but yesterday was like finally coming home after traveling the long, dark, winding road that is Texas beer law. I am excited, thrilled—giddy even—that we are out of the dark ages, and can now work toward truly modernizing a system that benefits everyone.