Beer tourism is a very real concept. Any time we travel out of state, I use the opportunity to find and bring back beer we cannot get in Oklahoma. There are several breweries I have growlers from and I make sure to pack their empties and take them with us when I know we are going to be in that area again.
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If we could get full line sales out of breweries, I’d hope it could make nano breweries a reality. Imagine being able to finish off a day on Grand Lake with a fresh craft beer in the courtyard of a small brewery along the water or making it possible for small operations in smaller towns throughout the state.
Exactly this. Whenever I travel out of state, I make a point of seeking out craft beer that I can't get here, I visit breweries and sample their beers, I visit local restaurants and try local beer on tap. Over the summer, we spent a week in Texas on a beercation, visited some breweries, and spent a stupid amount of money on beer at breweries, liquor stores, and growler stations. I have a friend who works out at Prairie who has to tell disappointed out-of-state visitors that she can only sell them low-point beer and they are NOT happy to hear that. I've seen posts from out-of-staters who would love to visit our breweries but pass us by because of the low-point restriction.
Certain segments of the population have a knee-jerk negative reaction whenever it comes to the idea of modernizing our liquor laws, but they fail to look at how change will benefit our state, or the ridiculous inconsistencies that exist (i.e. wineries being able to sell at point-of-production up to 24%, while breweries are limited to 4%; wineries can set up shop at *the farmer's market*, but no way would a brewery be allowed - it's nuts). Our current focus at LOCAL is parity between breweries and wineries, so we have to educate people on the way that will benefit our state. The momentum that craft beer currently has nationwide will help, I hope. We already have a nice concentration of breweries in Tulsa and OKC, so when the laws are modernized, we are perfectly situated to establish a couple of ale trails. There is so much potential here and it drives me nuts that we're not entirely living up it.