Wow. Sometimes that's all you can say. The year 2012 was a banner year for us here at Yazoo Brewing, and for craft beer in the Southeast. Our sales jumped 40%, up to about 17,250 barrels of beer sold. We did expand into the rest of Mississippi in 2012, selling our beer now along the Gulf coast and in north MS, but the amazing thing is that most of that 40% growth came from existing markets for us.
We added two new 200 bbl fermenters in December, bringing our annual capacity to somewhere between 27-30,000 bbls a year, depending on our mix. That should give us some room to grow for another year or two before we have to figure out a way to get more tanks into the brewery. It's getting pretty tight in here already!
In the first part of the year, we plan on making a big push along with other members of the TN Craft Brewers Guild to reform TN's 17% wholesale tax on beer. I firmly believe that the current structure of this tax unfairly puts a higher tax burden on smaller brewers in Tennessee and keeps other craft brewers from distributing in the state. We have the beginnings of a great beer culture in Tennessee, and reforming this tax would help nurture local breweries and the jobs they create.
As part of that effort, we will be brewing the second batch of our collaboration brew with Calfkiller Brewery here at Yazoo, and bottling it for state-wide distribution. We are calling this beer "The Beacon - a TN High Tax Ale" to try to bring awareness and publicity to our fight to change the 17% wholesale tax. Look for it in your favorite beer stores in Spring.
Our seasonal brews will include Onward Stout in bottles for the winter (coming soon!), Rye Saison again in the spring, and the Fall Lager in fall. We plan on introducing a summer seasonal as well, but haven't settled on a recipe yet.
We are working on two new high-alcohol releases for this year, but again, the recipes haven't been finalized yet. I can say that we are definitely looking forward to an even bigger batch of Bells Bend Preservation Ale, with hops grown out at Sulphur Creek Farm, around October.
Finally, mark your calendars for October 5th, 2013, for the Ten Year Anniversary party for Yazoo. You won't want to miss this one!
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