Changes in the state’s alcohol laws and the increase in number of craft breweries have given some Mississippians the chance to turn what was once a hobby into a full-time career.
John Hornor began his involvement with making beer as a home brewer, but is now one of only two full-time brewers with the Yalobusha Brewing Company.
In 2012, the Mississippi Legislature passed Senate Bill 2878, which allowed the alcohol content of beer being produced and consumed in Mississippi to increase from 5 percent alcohol by weight to 8 percent. The passage of the bill made exploration and experimentation possible to professional and home brewers alike. Before the passage of the bill, Mississippi only had one craft brewery, Lazy Magnolia, which was founded in Kiln in 2003.
The Growler is a local spot on the Square that serves a variety of craft beer. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
“Aside from Lazy Magnolia, we’re the only brewery that got a professional brewmaster to come in and start it up, so that gives us a little something special,” Hornor said.
That brewmaster is Tony Balzola, a Portland, Oregon native with more than 12 years of professional brewing experience under his belt. Hornor said Balzola’s experience shows in the product Yalobusha makes.
“Home brewing is a completely different skill set than brewing commercially,” Hornor said. “It’s because you want the product to be consistent. We want our River Ale from 2023 to taste like our River Ale from 2013.”
Hornor said his motivation for home brewing was simple.
“Good beer,” Hornor said. “Making my own good beer instead of paying 12 bucks for a six-pack.”
Hornor said brewing is now what he sees himself doing long-term, even though he is still a student at Ole Miss studying chemical engineering. Hornor also said one of the many perks that come with working at a brewery is free beer, which was formerly a significant portion of his budget.
Craft beer has recently popularized in Mississippi by a law which allowed higher percentages of alcohol by weight. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
In 2014, the Mississippi Brewers Guild counted eight craft breweries operating in Mississippi, compared to just one in 2003. The group’s economic study showed 2014 total sales from craft breweries in Mississippi, both in and out of state, of just over $6.8 million— a 39-percent increase in sales from the previous year. According to the economic impact study, the craft beer industry accounted for 68 jobs, contributing to almost $4 million in wages and benefits for employees and a projected impact to the Mississippi economy of around $10 million in 2014.
The boom in craft breweries has affected more than just breweries in Mississippi.
“For the longest time, because of the laws breweries wouldn’t come (to Mississippi) because they couldn’t sell their beer here,” said General Manager of the Oxford Growler Krisi Allen, a bar in Oxford that specializes in craft beer. “(Breweries) would be able to sell maybe two or three of their 10 beers due to alcohol limitations. (Now), we have four or five breweries that opened in 2013 and (the industry) has just blossomed.”
Allen has been with The Growler since before it opened in Oxford in September 2014. Allen said the surge in craft breweries has helped The Growler’s Oxford location, as well as other local bars, carry a wider variety of beers and also helped introduce newcomers to beers that weren’t previously available.
“The overall goal (with the Growler) was to introduce people to craft beer and what, especially, some of our state and local breweries have to offer,” Allen said. “Right now, we have 30 beers and we dedicate around a third of the taps at least to beers brewed in Mississippi and to our regional breweries.”
Allen said a lot of businesses that serve beer, as well as consumers, are becoming more open to craft beer, and she doesn’t see the change as just a trend.
“I think (craft beer) is here to stay— some of what we used to consider ‘crafty’ beers are now considered staples,” Allen said. “People’s tastes evolve, years ago it was kind of off or unique to drink a Blue Moon, now that’s just as much a staple as a Coors Light in a regular bar.”
While Hornor has made beer his career, some brewers are content with more casual operations.
Oxford native Yerger Andre has been home-brewing his own beer since the Summer of 1995. Andre brews his beer outside of his own home, hasn’t paid for beer since May and said the quality and freshness of his beer makes it distinct.
“I don’t want to make a bunch of different beers,” Andre said. “I want to make the beers that I like and save a whole lot of money in the process.”
Andre’s brewing operation is low-cost and helps him save money he would otherwise spend on beer at the store. Andre said it costs him about 37 cents to brew his own beer. Andre makes 10 gallons of beer at a time, with each 10-gallon batch amounting to about 106 beers total. Andre estimates that if he brews just once a month, this process will save him over $1,000 a year.
Mason Meeks, owner of Oxford Brewing Company, was a home brewer like Andre until he started entering his home-brewed beers into local beer competitions. After Meeks’ beers did well in competition, he decided to take his passion and turn it into a career.
Meeks’ business is different from that of Yalobusha or some other breweries in the state in that Meeks contracts his brewing through other already established breweries. This allowed Meeks to help get his brand out into the market while he looked for a place to set up permanent shop in Oxford.
Meeks said the relationship between two breweries in contracts like these is mutually beneficial.
Meeks began contracting his brewing through Back Forty Brewing Company in Gadsden, Alabama for one year before contracting with Lucky Town Brewery in Jackson when it opened. Meeks said he is still looking for a permanent location to establish Oxford Brewing Company in its namesake town.
“I started with two beers,” Meeks said, “the Mississippi Pale Ale No. 8 (MPA8), and the Sorority Blonde Ale. I had been brewing the MPA8 recipe at home for years before I started my business.”
Meeks is currently only selling his beer in Mississippi in draught form, but plans to begin canning his beers some time next year.
