---
title: HB 718. Women's Golf Week; first week of April each year; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb718
cite_as: HB 718, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb718
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb718.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb718/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71104
date: 2026-03-23
status: engrossed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 763
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb718.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 718
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-03-06
last_action: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
sponsors:
- Sheila Jones
- Timothy Bearden
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB718/2025
upstream_id: 1990352
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- alcohol licensing
- craft breweries
- beer sales law
- tourism and retail
---
# HB 718. Women's Golf Week; first week of April each year; provide
## Text
The Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism offered the following
substitute to HB 718:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 3-5-24.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
exception to three-tier system, transfer of liquids, sales at brewer's licensed premises, taxing,
regulatory authority, and conditions or limitations, so as to provide for satellite tasting rooms
operated by brewers; to provide for limitations; to provide for an exception to a transfer
limitation; to provide for rules and regulations; to provide for definitions; to provide for
related matters; to provide for effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 3-5-24.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to exception to
three-tier system, transfer of liquids, sales at brewer's licensed premises, taxing, regulatory
authority, and conditions or limitations, is amended as follows:
"3-5-24.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Common ownership' means the same 100 percent common ownership interest
including, but not limited to, ownership of the stock, limited liability company
membership interest, limited liability partnership interest, other entity interest, or
partnership interest, in whatever form such ownership interest may exist.
(2) 'Licensed premises' means the physical premises where brewer is licensed by the
state as a manufacturer of malt beverages. Such term shall not include a satellite tasting
room.
(3) 'Produces' means engaging in the material and essential aspects of the brewing
process to manufacture malt beverage for human consumption; provided, however, when
a brewer engages in the brewing process at multiple licensed premises, the malt beverage
will be deemed to have been produced only at the licensed premises where such malt
beverage first began fermentation through the chemical conversion of fermentable sugars
into alcohol.
(4) 'Satellite tasting room' means a separate physical location designated by a brewer,
under common ownership with the brewer, at which the brewer is authorized under
subsection (h) of this Code section to make retail sales of malt beverages to individuals.
(b) A limited exception to the provisions of this title providing a three-tier system for the
distribution and sale of malt beverages shall exist to the extent that the license to
manufacture malt beverages in this state shall include the right to sell malt beverages to
individuals on the brewer's licensed premises for personal use and not for resale, subject
to the following terms and conditions:
(1) The brewer may only make sales of malt beverages to an individual while the
individual is physically on the brewer's licensed premises where the brewer produces malt
beverages;
(2) The brewer may make sales of malt beverages the brewer produces at the brewer's
licensed premises where the individual is purchasing the malt beverages;
(3) As long as the brewer and all of the brewer's licensed premises are under common
ownership, the brewer may make sales of malt beverages the brewer produces at any
licensed premises of the brewer and subsequently transfers in compliance with the
limitations and reporting obligations of subsection (c) of this Code section to the brewer's
licensed premises for sale where the individual is purchasing the malt beverages;
(4) The brewer may only make sales of malt beverages for which the brewer is the sole
owner of the brand and brand label;
(5) Sales for consumption on the premises are not subject to a daily maximum amount;
(6) Sales for consumption off the premises shall not exceed a maximum of 288 ounces
of malt beverages per individual per day; and
(7) The maximum amount of malt beverages the brewer may sell pursuant to subsection
(b) of this Code section this subsection in each calendar year shall be 6,000 barrels in the
aggregate among all brewer's licensed premises making such sales.
(c) Nothing in this Code section shall be interpreted to prohibit a brewer from transferring
any liquid, regardless of whether such liquid would be deemed to be malt beverages or not,
to or from any of the brewer's licensed premises; provided, however, with respect to any
malt beverages a brewer produces at one of the brewer's licensed premises and transfers
to be sold to individuals pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section at another of the
brewer's licensed premises, the maximum number of barrels of malt beverages permitted
to be transferred from one licensed premises of the brewer to another licensed premises of
the brewer shall not exceed the number of barrels of malt beverages the brewer produces
under brands and brand labels for which the brewer is the sole owner at the licensed
premises receiving the transferred malt beverages and the brewer shall file a report with the
department every calendar quarter documenting all such transfers in such form as the
department shall require.
(d) A brewer may sell malt beverages pursuant to subsection (b) or (h) of this Code section
on all days and at all times that sales of malt beverages by retailers are lawful within the
county or municipality in which the licensed premises of the brewer is located, including,
but not limited to, Sundays.
(e) Any brewer engaging in sales of malt beverages pursuant to subsection (b) or (h) of this
Code section shall remit all state and local sales, use, and excise taxes to the proper tax
collecting authority.
(f) The commissioner shall promulgate and enforce such rules and regulations as he or she
may deem reasonable and necessary to effectuate the provisions of this Code section.
(g) Upon a violation by a brewer of any provision of this Code section or this title or any
rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, the commissioner shall have the power to place
conditions or limitations on such brewer's license and to modify or amend such conditions
or limitations.
(h) A brewer may operate up to two satellite tasting rooms, which shall be licensed in such
manner and subject to such reasonable registration, reporting, and inspection requirements
as the commissioner may prescribe by rule and regulation. A satellite tasting room license
shall include the right to sell malt beverages to individuals on the premises of the satellite
tasting room for personal use and not for resale, subject to the following terms and
conditions:
(1) All malt beverages sold to individuals on the satellite tasting room premises shall be
purchased from a licensed wholesaler and shall not be supplied by transfers from the
brewer's licensed premises;
(2) The brewer may only make sales of malt beverages for which the brewer is the sole
owner of the brand and brand label; and
(3) The satellite tasting room premises must provide at least one educational experience,
which may include but are not limited to, brand history, scheduled guided tastings,
brewery story signage, and ingredient or process displays."
SECTION 2.
For purposes of proposing rules and regulations, this Act shall become effective upon its
approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval. For all other
purposes, this Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
Despite its title referencing Women's Golf Week, this Georgia Senate substitute for HB 718 actually rewrites the state's beer law to let brewers operate satellite tasting rooms away from their main brewery.
### Plain-language summary
This bill's caption still refers to Women's Golf Week, but the actual substitute text replaces that subject entirely. The substitute amends Georgia's alcohol law (O.C.G.A. § 3-5-24.1), which lets brewers sell malt beverages directly to individuals at their licensed brewing premises.
The bill creates a new category called a satellite tasting room, a separate retail location under the same ownership as the brewer, where the brewer can sell beer to the public even though no brewing happens there. A brewer could operate up to two such rooms. Unlike sales at the actual brewery, beer sold at a satellite tasting room must come from a licensed wholesaler rather than being transferred directly from the brewery, and each room must offer some educational feature like tastings or brewery history displays. Rulemaking provisions take effect upon the Governor's signature, while the rest of the law takes effect July 1, 2026.
### What it does
- Creates a new licensed category, the satellite tasting room, letting brewers sell beer to the public at a location separate from where the beer is actually brewed.
- Limits each brewer to operating up to two satellite tasting rooms, each subject to registration, reporting, and inspection rules set by the state commissioner.
- Requires that all beer sold at a satellite tasting room be bought from a licensed wholesaler rather than transferred straight from the brewer's own licensed premises.
- Requires each satellite tasting room to offer at least one educational feature, such as guided tastings, brand history, or ingredient displays.
- Extends existing tax remittance and sales-hours rules that apply to on-site brewery sales to also cover sales made at satellite tasting rooms.
- Sets rulemaking authority to take effect as soon as the Governor signs the bill, with the rest of the law taking effect July 1, 2026.
### Who it affects
Georgia craft brewers and brewery owners who want to open additional retail tasting locations, licensed beer wholesalers who would supply those satellite locations, and the state revenue commissioner's office, which will write and enforce the new registration and inspection rules.
### Why it matters
Brewers currently can only sell directly to the public at the physical site where they brew. This change would let them open small retail outlets elsewhere to reach more customers, while still requiring that beer sold there flow through a licensed wholesaler rather than bypassing the normal three-tier distribution system.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 3-5-24.1 to define 'satellite tasting room' as a separate location under common ownership with the brewer, distinct from the licensed brewing premises.
- New subsection (h) caps satellite tasting rooms at two per brewer and requires they be licensed and subject to commissioner-set registration, reporting, and inspection rules.
- Subsection (h)(1) requires beer sold at a satellite tasting room to be purchased from a licensed wholesaler, not transferred directly from the brewer's licensed premises.
- Subsection (h)(2) limits sales to brands the brewer solely owns, matching the existing rule for on-site brewery sales.
- Subsection (h)(3) requires each satellite tasting room to provide at least one educational experience, such as brewery history or guided tastings.
- Existing sales-hours and tax-remittance rules in subsections (d) and (e) are extended to cover sales made under the new subsection (h).
- Section 2 sets rulemaking authority effective upon the Governor's approval, with the rest of the Act effective July 1, 2026.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2025-03-06)
- Last action: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (2026-03-23)
- Sponsors: Sheila Jones, Timothy Bearden
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71104
> The history, votes, and amendments (763 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb718.md?full=1