Bottles of Larry Brown Ale are pictured at Yalobusha Brewery in Water Valley. Photo by: Zoe McDonald
Since Andy O’Bryan opened the doors of the Yalobusha Brewery in Water Valley in 2013, he’s welcomed thousands of people into the old foundry, often giving tours to crowds of all ages and backgrounds until his voice gives out.
“Just last week we had people from 23 states and three countries,” he said.
Lately, however, he’s been using his voice in a role he never planned on.
“I opened a craft brewery, I never thought I’d have to be a politician, too,” he joked.
One thing all Yalobusha Brewery visitors have in common is that they’ve left empty-handed. This is no coincidence — the brewery is housed not only in an antiquated building, but also under an outdated legal atmosphere which bars direct sales in Mississippi breweries.
Under the current law, the state of Mississippi mandates a three-tier distribution system for alcohol, meaning a brewer is required to sell the product to a licensed wholesaler, and in turn, the wholesaler sells it to a retailer. This means a visitor to Yalobusha can see where the beer is made, but must walk down the street to a retailer like B.T.C. Grocery to pick up a case.
Just because O’Bryan can’t sell his beer on site doesn’t mean the taps are running dry, though.
“What we do here is exactly what we’re allowed to do by law: We can give a tour and give away six six-ounce samples,” he said.
While the tours from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. every Friday and from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday.
“We’ve had something like 10,000 tours, most of them from out of state, and we need people buying a Mississippi product here and taking it back to where they’re from,” he said.
This spring session, O’Bryan and other Mississippi brewers are working to push a bill through the Mississippi State Legislature to allow for limited direct sales.
O’Bryan estimates with the passage of the bill he could almost double his staff and resolve a competitive imbalance in the southeastern brewing industry.
“All of the states around us have direct sales, so they are getting bigger and more financially viable, while they send their beer across state lines to sell against me in Mississippi while I’m operating with one hand tied behind my back,” he said.
He also hopes to expand his market and distribute to contiguous states like Alabama and Arkansas.
Kegs are pictured at Yalobusha Brewery in Water Valley. Photo by: Zoe McDonald
Yalobusha is working with other breweries and organizations such as Raise Your Pints and the Mississippi Brewer’s Guild to update the legislature.
“I’d say the biggest obstacle was educating people about the regulatory environment of alcohol manufacturing in the United States and in Mississippi, and trying to get them to understand why these changes were necessary,” said Matthew McLaughlin, a lawyer for the Mississippi Brewers Guild.
McLaughlin and his eight-member guild have been getting people into breweries and speaking at Chambers of Commerces across the state to get the word out about the bill.
“I think it is going to open up a lot of different styles of beer, and different opportunities for the consumer to have a better and more informed experience when they go to a brewery, and go on a tour,” McLaughlin said.
He also hopes to see an increase in the number of people drinking Mississippi manufactured craft beer from its current stance at 0.3 percent of Mississippi sales.
The brewers are now halfway there. House Bill 1322 passed through the House of Representatives on Friday February third following a floor vote and has been referred to a committee in the Senate. O’Bryan said he encourages the people of Mississippi to reach out to their state senators in the next few weeks concerning the bill.
“It’s all over our website and all over our social media,” he said. “You can click and get access to the website email and phone number of your senators.”
O’Bryan will be going down to Jackson in the coming weeks to assist in the passage of the bill.
In the meantime, Yalobusha’s exposed-brick main hall is still probably more lively than the state Senate Hall. Just last March, they added live music on Fridays catered by local food trucks like Fergndan’s Pizza and Yoknapataco. Water Valley natives, folks from Oxford, tourists and students alike file through the factory tour by tour, then hang out family-style on the long hardwood benches that transect the hall.
Children are climbing on pews, playing hide and seek around barrels, and the consensus among many families in the crowd seemed to be that it is the perfect evening out because the kids could hop around freely without breaking anything, while mom and dad can enjoy some hops themselves.
O’Bryan said he cherishes this familial connection his business has with the community. Yalobusha sponsors the Oxford Film Fest, Thacker Mountain Radio hour and the brewery will host “Beer and Yoga” benefitting the Second Chance Animal Alliance of Water Valley this Sunday. For a $20 donation, attendees will receive a class led by Southern Star Yoga and a free beer to enjoy for a post-workout re-tox. The event will feature music from Andrew Bryant, and a donation of dog food will garner you an extra sample of beer.
“We try to be as involved as we can,” O’Bryan said. “I’ve found that works better than any advertisements I’ve ever done – just getting to know the people around us.”
