Delicious Craft Beer Would Totally Make Texas Rich If Its Beer Laws Weren't So Incredibly Backwards

Surprise! Craft brewers say craft beer is a good thing. The Texas Craft Brewers Guild released a study today on the craft beer industry's "measurable positive economic impact on local and regional economies" in Texas. But for real, they measured it with science. The founder of San Antonio's Freetail Brewing Company also happens to be a professor of economics at UTSA, and he found that craft breweries account for 51.2 percent of Texas brewery jobs, even though only 0.7 percent of beer consumed in Texas is craft beer.

Given the right legal climate—Texas is notorious for its restrictive beer laws that have long frustrated brewers—Freetail's Scott Metzger says the Lone Star craft beer industry could "reach $5.6 billion annually in just eight years," if it had the same freedom to develop and grow that the Texas wine industry has enjoyed.

“In other states, brewers can sell their packaged goods directly to consumers through tasting rooms. In other states, brewpubs can sell their beer off premises, at festivals, for instance, and as packaged goods in retail stores, not just at their brewpub location,” explains Metzger.

· Economic Impact of the Texas Craft Brewing Industry [TCBG]
· TX Craft Beer Impact $608 Million, Could Be Billions [TCBG]
· All Craft Beer Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]

[Photo: Freetail Brewing/Facebook]