Linus Hall
As owner and brewmaster at Yazoo Brewing Co., in Nashville, Linus Hall has spent years negotiating state legislation on behalf of craft beer in the Volunteer State. As the president of the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild he worked in close conjunction with the Tennessee Malt Beverage Association to successfully lobby the State Legislature in 2013 with a Fix the Beer Tax campaign. The 17 percent wholesale tax, which unfairly burdened higher-priced beer, was changed to a flat per-gallon tax.
This year Hall turned his political efforts to increasing the limit of alcohol content in beer with the Beer Cap Reform Act. Previous law restricted beer to 5% alcohol by weight (about 6.2% ABV). Brewers had to hold a “high alcohol content” license on which they paid an annual fee in order to make high-gravity beer and an additional license to sell their own beer if it exceeded the alcohol limit. High-gravity beer was confined to liquor stores for retail. Hall pushed the legislation increasing the cap to about 10%, allowing Tennessee to compete with neighboring states that have a higher alcohol cap or no cap at all. The new definition of beer improves selection for consumers and increases sales tax revenue for local government. Hall effected change in Tennessee beer law by lobbying legislators and bringing the alcohol industry together to voice the changes needed. Updating antiquated regulations allows Tennessee brewers a greater range of creativity and makes the state more attractive for out-of-state breweries. Now lawmakers agree—it’s a benefit to all of Tennessee to grow the state’s craft beer industry.
This profile appears in the November 2014 issue of All About Beer Magazine. Click here for a free trial of our next issue.