Louisiana, long reputed to have an outsized thirst for alcohol, has a strangely small craft beer footprint, even as the industry flourishes throughout the country. At last count, the Bayou State ranked 48th in the U.S. in the number of breweries per capita.
That’s starting to change. The industry has a few dozen businesses open, more in the pipeline and a fully-functioning lobbying apparatus that is working on regulatory changes at the state level.
In addition, the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild and several local brewery owners are championing a provision that was folded into the GOP tax bill passed this month that will give them a windfall for the next two years.
Along with cutting rates dramatically for corporations, the bill cut the excise tax on many brewers in half, from $7 per barrel (roughly 31 gallons) to $3.50.
The legislation applies to the first 60,000 barrels produced, as long as brewers produce less than 2 million barrels per year (larger breweries will also see a smaller tax cut).
Why is that significant? Because nearly all of Louisiana’s breweries produce less than 60,000 barrels per year, and will effectively see their excise tax burden cut in half. For instance, Tin Roof Brewing Co. here in Baton Rouge did 9,000 to 10,000 barrels last year, owner Jacob Talley told Daily Report this week.
“The money we do save that’ll help us put more resources back into the brewery,” he said. “Whether that’s better benefits for the employees, better equipment, adding manpower.”
Whether the tax cuts—including the one for breweries—creates more and better jobs and increases wages remains to be seen. But for all the challenges faced by breweries—including rules that led at least one highly-anticipated business to up and leave for Oregon—the tax carveout will at least provide a cash boost to the nascent industry here.
Cary Koch, director of the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild, insists, “That’s going to be huge.”
—Sam Karlin
