What are we proposing?
The change we want to make to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code is pretty simple. And for purposes of this discussion, we will refer to everything we make as "beer" regardless of alcohol level, even though according to the TABC, "beer" is a fermented malt beverage at or below 4% alcohol by weight (which is about 5% alcohol by volume) and "ale" or "malt liquor" is any fermented malt beverage over 4% ABW. Most of our beers are "ales" in Texas. Only Fancy Lawnmower Beer, Texas Wheat and Summer Pils are "beers".
We want to make it legal for any brewery making less than 75,000 bbls of beer per year to be able to sell up to 5,000 bbls per year direct to the public.
Where did the concept of being able to sell direct to the public come from? Texas wineries attained this right 3 years ago. Every state where craft breweries thrive also allows this. Many of these states have no volume restrictions either.
Why did we choose to allow only breweries making less than 75,000 bbls to have this right? Frankly, we would prefer not to cap it but felt it had a much better chance of passing the legislature with this cap. We made just under 11.000 bbls last year and will probably end this year around 14,000 bbls, so we have a long way to go before becoming concerned about this cap.
From where did we get the 75,000 bbl number? The Code already has a provision allowing breweries making less than 75,000 bbls per year in Texas to sell directly to retailers without going through a distributor. This has always been called the "Shiner Law" because they are why the law was made. Of course, they were only making about 30,000 bbls at that time. Today they make around 300,000 bbls and are no longer covered under this provision.
Why did we choose to cap the direct sales at 5,000 bbls per year? That is the same level that brewpub sales are capped at in Texas.