Effective July 1, the law will increase the alcohol percentage in Mississippi from the current cap of 5 percent to 8 percent.
Spokesman Mick Bullock said Governor Bryant voted in favor of the bill, although it was not in his initial plan.
“Governor Bryant signed the bill as sent to him by the Legislature, even though it was not part of his legislative agenda,” Bullock said.
Many Mississippians are thrilled with his change of heart. Raise Your Pints, a grass roots, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the craft beer culture of Mississippi, has been working toward this goal for over three years.
Butch Bailey, president of Raise Your Pints, said they are thrilled and appreciative that their ambition has finally transpired.
“We’re thankful to the government for passing this, and we’re thankful to the governor for realizing this is a good thing for Mississippi,” he said.
Bailey said the law’s passing will affect the state positively for a long time to come.
“The first thing you’ll see is more beers to choose from,” he said. “In the long run, there will be new offerings from breweries that do business in Mississippi, businesses will be able to expand and because these are more expensive than the beers people are used to buying, that will be more tax revenue the state will collect without actually raising taxes.”
Lazy Magnolia, the only packaging brewery in the state, is a sponsor of Raise Your Pints.
The two have worked together to promote education and awareness on alcohol-related legislation.
Mark Henderson, an owner of Lazy Magnolia, said they are very excited about the law’s passing, but there is still more work to be done.
“This is one of many steps in the right direction,” he said. “The law permits the sale and manufacture of beers with increased alcohol content effective July 1, but it takes several months to design recipes and go through the testing process, artwork and development to get that done. During that time, other manufacturers will be able to sell to Mississippi. We’re still waiting on a bill to allow the manufacture of these beers within the state that would go into effect upon passage to even the playing field for us.”
Henderson said the new law should inspire a new interest in some of these newly available beers that would benefit Lazy Magnolia.
“As soon as people see this new diversity, they will get excited about craft beer in general. If they’re excited about craft beer, they’ll be excited about what we’re doing, as well,” he said.
Giving people more options could mean more revenue for the entire state.
“I get reports from people who go to other places and end up spending a lot of money out of state due to craft beer tourism,” he said. “This provides another incentive to keep those dollars at home. It will be a good thing for the consumers as well as all the retailers.”
Kaley James, a senior graphic design major and employee of Cowbells Bar & Grill, said the law should have a positive impact on their business by the sheer increase in beer availability for customers.
“I think this law will bring different brands and more revenue into our state,” James said. “Right now we can only get 15 of the top 100 brands in Mississippi, but after the law goes into effect, we’ll be able to have 70 of the top 100 for purchase. Working in a bar, it was frustrating when people from out of state wanted certain kinds of beer that we weren’t allowed to carry. Now, we’ll be able to serve a much larger variety of beer and satisfy more customers.”