Austin Breweries Now Allowed to Open for On-Site Drinking

South Austin Brewing Co./Facebook

Good news: Austin breweries will finally be allowed to open taprooms for the public, something craft brewers (and appreciators) in the city have long been clamoring for. But the newly approved changes to Austin's land development code—changes that local news station KXAN tells us took "months of discussion"—still impose several arbitrary restrictions on where and how brewing companies can sell beer. 

Under the new rules, only breweries located at least 540 feet away from any single family residences will be allowed to open public taprooms (unless they obtain special dispensation). Breweries must also provide on-site parking (but don't drink and drive folks!). And customers who'd like to taste a beer on tap and then take some home are also out of luck—under Texas law, breweries can only sell draught beer, not bottles for folks to take home. 

The rules aren't nearly as stupid as those proposed in Florida, where brewers could have to sell their beer to distributors and then buy it back at marked-up rates in order to sell it on-premise. But as the craft beer industry grows, I think it's interesing to see how different states are responding to the different market opportunities this is opening. Will more of them act to encourage small businesses and innovation? Or will they cave to traditional players in the alcohol industry, such as the big beer and distributor trade associations?

Comments

[Brett L]

The rules aren’t nearly as stupid as those proposed in Florida,

That is how to kick a state while they’re down! Well played.

[crazydaisy]

Yikes. I feel bad for them. las vegas criminal defense attorneys

[UnCivilServant]

What about breweries outside of austin?

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

Apparently, Texas made it legal for breweries to sell beer on-site in 2013, but a lot of cities (including Austin) still had specific zoning codes that prevented it.

[Brett L]

How will they keep Austin weird if Top. Men. don’t determine the rules for what can be operated where?

[prolefeed]

This doesn’t make sense — went to an LP of Texas event in Austin at a brewery a month or so ago, and for $13 you could sample 6 glasses of beer.

Perhaps because it was an LP special event rather than open to the public? Dunno, not like there were any cops or bouncers preventing people from walking into the event and joining in the party. It’s not like I’m an official member of the LP of Texas, LPTX bumper sticker from that event on my car notwithstanding.

[Rod Flash]

540 feet. Nice round number.

[NL_]

You could easily see a rule prohibiting tasting rooms from having parking lots or even required to offer shuttle service. And you have rules requiring parking lots at drinking establishments. And you could easily imagine an advocate of the regulatory state saying that different conditions may require different practices – the important thing is that those totally opposite practices be mandatory.

[LarryA]

Further evidence Austin is not really part of Texas.