James May June 2024 web - Flipbook - Page 20
or those coming of age—
drinking age, that is— it is
a genuine boom time. For
the longer in the tooth but no less
parched, we are still at the dawn of a
new era. Since breweries and distilleries became legal (or loosened)
a few years ago, and the decadesin-the-making vineyard country of
North Georgia, locally-made alcoholic
beverages have been flying off the
shelves and taps. And the economic
impact is significant compared to
the era when beer revenue went to a
company based in Colorado (Coors)
or Missouri (Anheuser-Busch).
Most of the revenue from a
beer bought at your local brewery
or taproom stays right in the community. Some day the people in our
collection might have as famous a
name as Anheuser but for now, they
are members of our local community
and contributing to the shops and
restaurants of our neighbors. Adolphus Busch was not doing a lot of
shopping in Jasper, Georgia.
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According to research from UGA
Extension, the industry in 2022 saw a
total gross final demand (GFD)— basically the GDP equivalent for a single
industry— of $2.6 billion. In 2001,
that number was less than half at
$1.23 billion, with nearly $400 million
in growth over the last five years.
Breweries had the highest total
demand of $1.1 billion, with wineries
close behind at $970 million. Distilleries are growing quickly, at a clip
of six percent year over year. And all
that is despite our relative teetotaler
behavior, we ranked fourth to last in
the country in terms of consumption,
with less than 2 gallons per capita
compared to 2.5 gallons for the nationwide average.
Demand in Georgia is growing
quickly though— a relatively astonishing rate. From 2018-2022, demand
growth for beer, wine, brandies and
distilled liquors grew across the
country by .05 percent, that’s not .5 or
one-half of percent but .05, 1/20 of a
percent. In Georgia, that number is 5.7
percent— 114 times the rate of the rest
of the country. Bottom line, it’s a good
time to be in the booze biz in Georgia.
As part of our annual Sippin’ Local feature, James is featuring some
of the best. We asked readers to vote
for their favorite winery, distillery
and brewery across the state. This
year, our winners are from three
corners of the state and their business is very different. They all are
host to loyal customers and success.
We feature here a little bit about each
winner, plus the other top 10 vote
getters in each category.
PHOTO BY JASON LOCKLEAR
