Brew Baby Brew

Tennessee is poised to "legalize" brewing of high alcohol content beer. Much to the surprise of Tennessee beer brewers, a bill before the state legislature earlier this year would have outlawed brewing high alcohol beer for most breweries.

Like many of its liquor laws, Tennessee has an odd rule about beer. Regular beer is beer that has an alcoholic content of 5% or less by weight. Don't confuse this with the alcoholic content by volume, which can push the measurement to nearly 7%.

In Tennessee, any beer over 5% by weight is an alcoholic beverage, taxed at a higher rate, sold through liquor distributors and not available for sale at groceries and convenience stores. Called high alc beer by many in the industry, high alc beer can only be purchased at package stores and at restaurants and bars, after payment of additional taxes that push the price up considerably.

In most states, and at the federal level, there is no distinction between high alc and regular beer. Both are treated and taxed the same.

The Scoop.

We represented a city that was trying to recruit a brewery to locate in Tennessee. We wanted to clarify that brewing high alc beer was legal. Most folks thought it was, and Nashville brewery Yazoo had a permit and was brewing a high alc beer called "Sue." But the law was not entirely clear. The law allowed manufacturers to "distill," but not brew alcohol, and high alc beer was not listed among the products that were defined as alcoholic beverages under state law.

Some important folks thought differently about the legality of brewing high alc beer, and a squabble ensued. After the dust settled, a bill was passed that allows breweries to obtain a special license to brew high alc beer, as well as some other privileges. We expect the governor will sign the bill into law soon.