SB456: SB456 Alcoholic Beverages; regulation of the manufacture, distribution, and sale; provide

Georgia currently limits how much beer a brewery can sell directly to customers for off-premises consumption (288 ounces per person per day) and generally requires beer to move through a wholesaler before reaching retailers. This bill changes both of those rules for certain brewers. It creates a new legal category called a 'small brewer,' defined as a brewery whose sales to its wholesaler make up 15 percent or less of that wholesaler's total sales. Small brewers would gain the right to sell up to 1,000 barrels of beer per year directly to retailers in the same county, bypassing the usual wholesaler step, and to trade beer with other licensed brewers and brewpubs. Separately, the bill removes the existing 288-ounce daily limit on beer a brewery can sell to an individual for off-premises consumption. The rule-making parts take effect once the Governor signs the bill; the rest takes effect July 1, 2026.

• Creates a new legal definition of 'small brewer' as a brewery or brewpub whose sales to its wholesaler are 15 percent or less of that wholesaler's total annual sales.
• Removes the current 288-ounce daily cap on malt beverages a brewery can sell to one person for off-premises consumption.
• Allows small brewers to sell up to 1,000 barrels of beer per year at wholesale directly to retailers located in the same county as the brewery.
• Allows small brewers to sell, deliver, and ship beer to other licensed brewers and brewpubs, and to receive shipments from them.
• Directs the state revenue commissioner to write rules and regulations to carry out the new small brewer sales rights.
• Simplifies the contraband rule for beer bought outside normal wholesale channels by removing a reference to exceptions elsewhere in the chapter.

Georgia craft brewers and brewpubs, especially smaller operations that qualify as 'small brewers,' along with the beer wholesalers and retailers they do business with. The state revenue commissioner's office, which enforces alcohol regulations, is also affected because it must write new rules.

Small breweries could sell more of their product directly to nearby retailers without going through a wholesaler first, potentially expanding their local market reach. Brewery visitors could also buy more beer to take home in a single day, since the current ounce-based daily limit would be eliminated.

• Section 1 adds a new definition of 'small brewer' to O.C.G.A. § 3-1-2, based on a brewer's sales to its wholesaler being 15 percent or less of that wholesaler's total sales.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 3-5-24.1(b) to remove the 288-ounce daily maximum on off-premises beer sales at a brewer's licensed premises, while keeping the 6,000-barrel annual cap and other existing conditions.
• Section 3 adds new O.C.G.A. § 3-5-24.2, letting small brewers sell up to 1,000 barrels per year at wholesale to same-county retailers and trade beer with other brewers and brewpubs, with the revenue commissioner authorized to write implementing rules.
• Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 3-5-27 on contraband beer, removing language that had carved out exceptions found elsewhere in the alcoholic beverage chapter.
• Section 5 sets the effective dates: rule-making provisions take effect upon the Governor's approval, and all other provisions take effect July 1, 2026.
• Section 6 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-04Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-03Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)Primary sponsor
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)

• alcohol regulation
• craft brewing
• small business licensing
• beer sales rules