Mississippi Craft Beer Week
The growing phenomenon of craft beer in America is slowly seeping into the culture of Mississippi, a state long held hostage by antiquated beer laws limiting consumers’ choices as to what beer one may enjoy.
Raise Your Pints Mississippi has been lobbying state leaders for three years trying to get changes to the law to mirror 49 other states, but measures to up the alcohol content level in beer and introduce a home brewing bill have continually failed to make it out of committee in the state Legislature.
Last Monday, Gov. Haley Barbour issued a proclamation claiming the week of July 24-31 as the first Mississippi Craft Beer Week. The weeklong events will culminate on July 31 at the Jackson Convention Center with the first Top of the Hops Beer Festival.
More than 160 different beers will be available for tasting, and informational booths will be available to educate a rapidly growing segment of this state.
Craft beer sales in 2009 saw a 10.3 percent increase by dollars and a 7.2 percent increase in sales by volume, said a report issued by the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based trade publication. Mass-market beer sales during the same time period saw a 2.2 percent decline in sales, while imported beers saw a 9.8 percent decrease in sales.
Two brewing behemoths — InBev (formerly Anheuser-Busch) and MillerCoors — still dominate the national beer landscape, but in 2009 more than 1,500 breweries were operational for part of all of the year, more than at any other time since prohibition began in 1920, the Brewers Association reported.
Mississippi, though, still lags. The state limits the alcohol by volume to 5.5 percent. For example, Louisiana brewer Abita, in an effort to raise money for the Gulf of Mexico oil cleanup is creating a special “Save our Shores” beer with a bit of each sale going to cleanup efforts. Won’t help here, though, because the 7 percent beer will be unavailable in a state so affected by the oil leak.
With Craft Beer Week and beer festivals scheduled statewide in the coming months, an end to oppressive choice limits is imminent. If for no other reason, think tax money. Craft beers are brewed in small batches meaning prices will be higher than mass-market brews. Higher prices mean more tax collections.
Pressure will mount on the Legislature if Mississippi Craft Beer Week is successful.
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Sean P. Murphy is web editor. He can be reached at smurphy@vicksburgpost.com
