Brew Talks CBC 2023: Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild

Speaker 1 [00:14] Alright, welcome everybody. Uh, excuse my voice, I was at a wedding in Saint Louis last night, so I might have a bit of party girl voice. We're gonna get through this. Um, we're gonna kick things off talking to Sharon Creek from the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild, but first we got a couple thank yous, a big thank you to Dogfish Head and Ollie and Next Glass Company, both repeat sponsors, presenting sponsors of Brew Talks. An additional thanks to our other sponsors, Arrive Distribution, the e-premise Group, at Encompass, Mall Europe, Pneumatic Scale Angelis, Ray's Beverage Group, and Strike Visuals. Lots of awesome people helping making this happen. We have 4 conversations planned today, but as I said, our first one is going to be with Sharon here, who's the executive director of the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild. Some of the proceeds from today are going to the guild, so it's only proper we see where that money is going, what you guys are up to. Uh, so let's kick things off. Sharon, what is the craft beer scene like in Tennessee?

Sharon Cheek [01:20] Well, thank you so much for having me today. I really appreciate it and thank you guys so much for your support, for coming out to this event and for supporting hopefully your local guild at home as well. Um, I'm Sharon Cheek. I'm the executive director of the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild. We represent 70 of Tennessee's breweries, uh, from one side of the state to the other. The craft beer scene is kicking ass here right now. Um, I have to say we're churning out some really good beer. Um, our breweries are expanding. And my, um, and we're, we're just, yeah, we're rocking and, uh, I hope that y'all that are here for CBC have a great time and get to experience some of that.

Speaker 1 [02:02] This is my first time here and as soon as I got in the Uber our driver was like, yeah, we, the breweries here are doing great, we love them, so it's definitely ringing true um when you're having conversations with members right now we're a couple of years past when the pandemic started and we're still seeing some changes in the marketplace, what are your members saying are the biggest issues they're tackling right now?

Sharon Cheek [02:24] OK, definitely the biggest issues that we're tackling right now, um, a lot of you feel the pain of franchise reform, so that's always a hot button issue, that's a national issue. One thing that's unique to Tennessee that that y'all don't share with us is that Tennessee has the highest wholesale tax in the country. We are at almost $40 a barrel, so just for some perspective, yeah, give me some booze, right? So just a little perspective there, um, even if you cut it in half, we're still in the highest 5 states in the nation for wholesale tax, um, so come on y'all, like drink some Tennessee beer while you're here and help us out.

Speaker 1 [03:11] So you guys just came to the end of a cycle of the legislation session. You had two big ones this year. Can you tell us a little bit about what you guys were able to get done?

Sharon Cheek [03:21] Oh yeah, we had a, we had, we had a really big one, last year too. Do you mind if I touch on that? So, um, prior. To last year in Tennessee you could self distribute your beer in the county where you brewed it and that's it. So in Tennessee we have several cities that straddle multiple counties you couldn't distribute through that whole city you had to stay in your county. Um, so we actually partnered with the wholesalers to come up with, with an agreement for some limited statewide self-distribution, and we are delighted over how it's turned out. I've already heard from several breweries that have had distributors knocking on their door because they're getting out there, they're showing what they've got. So that was last year. This year our big, uh, our big issue was, um. Canned cocktails in grocery stores and many of you have have won or lost this fight in your states, but, um, here in Tennessee it was about, uh, putting hard alcohol in the grocery store and I think the way I'm gonna say that we won the battle but not the war because we know it's coming back and for those of you who have managed to keep it out of your grocery stores, um, you know it's gonna, it's gonna rear its ugly head again but for now. Now Team beer is here to stay and here to win. Um, we defined beer as not including distilled spirits and not including wine, so we'll see what, what they do with that, um, but I was really proud of the fact that as of right now you cannot buy Jack and Coke in the grocery store. So

Speaker 1 [05:06] that's a big, I mean we've seen at other states where they are starting to get more of these allowances, and we just heard at MBWA them talking about this is a big. Big beer priority this year. So yeah, great to see you guys are getting some things done. Um, you also got a 3rd year of funding for Farm to Tap. Can you talk a little bit about that partnership?

Sharon Cheek [05:25] Oh yeah, thank you for asking. So Farm to Tap started 3 years ago out of a relationship with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, and we wanted to figure out a way to encourage more Tennessee breweries to use Tennessee farm products in their beer. And likewise, we wanted to keep farming cool. Um, agriculture and commerce, that's our state motto and that's also our biggest industry in the state is agriculture. Thank you for that. OK. Um, and so we received funding now for 3 years, which is over $1.15 million to the guild, um, to manage this partnership called Farm to Tap, and we do happy hours, we do special events, we do all kinds of things to put farmers and brewers in the room together and really just let them organically grow relationships.

Speaker 1 [06:19] As someone from a farm town, I appreciate that. I think farming is always cool. um, so now looking forward, what is the guild prioritizing for what you guys wanna get done?

Sharon Cheek [06:31] Oh, I just wanna hang on. Um, we are, uh, our session literally just ended, um, so we are. We are regrouping and thinking about what, what our next move is. Of course, we'd love to lower the wholesale tax, but, um, in Tennessee, beer is governed at the local level as opposed to the state level. So I believe it's 80, 80% of our wholesale tax goes to the communities where that beer is brewed. So we need to be very careful with how we address wholesale tax, make sure that we keep the cities and counties whole, so.

Speaker 1 [07:09] So let's wrap this up. We're in Nashville. What do you, is the one thing you want people to take away from being here for CBC and being in your state?

Sharon Cheek [07:21] Have fun. Drink Tennessee beer, have a great time. When you drink Tennessee beer, you're supporting Tennessee farmers, so I think that would be my, my message. But yeah, there's a variety of styles, there's a variety of cultures and communities. You'll see, um, our brewers love to collaborate just as y'all do in your home states, um.

Speaker 1 [07:43] And you guys have a guild event during CBC today, right? You have a

Sharon Cheek [07:47] party. Actually, the majority of the breweries that have beer at the CBC welcome reception, um, over 30 out of the 40 are from Tennessee. So if you want a taste of Tennessee, come on down to the CBC welcome reception.

Speaker 1 [08:01] Great. Well, I think we should cheers to that. Cheers, man.