SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Controversy is brewing over a proposed bill that would put a deep freeze on selling cold beer in Tennessee, and Memphians in the industry are not happy.
The Tennessee Prevention of Drunk Driving Act, proposed this week by West Tennessee Republicans Ron Gant and Paul Rose, would ban all sales of cold beer in the state. According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation, one out of three fatal car crashes involve a DUI.
“Drunk driving is a major issue," said Dwight Black, owner of D’s Spirits & Wine in Memphis. "A major problem. This is just not something that is going to solve it, and I don’t think it will make any difference at all, but it will hurt the small businesses as well as the larger stores.”
He estimates 80% of his beer sales are cold, and only having warm beer to sell won't go over well with his customers.
“I’m just taken aback that this is what our politicians are spending our resources on to come up with," Black said. "‘Oh, if we don’t sell any cold beer, there won’t be any more drunk driving,’ because that is not the root cause of the problem.”
Black considers himself fortunate that beer sales are only part of his business. Other venues where cold beer is sold, like breweries, are far more dependent on it.
“Alcohol is already very regulated," said Blair Perry, co-founder and CEO of Soul & Spirits Brewery. "We have a lot of hoops that we have to jump through to make alcohol. So why take away something that makes the process even harder?”
Perry said the bill would completely devastate her business and over a dozen breweries in the Bluff City.
“It’s very hard as a small business owner when you have representatives in your state that are always pushing you down instead of helping rise you up,” she said.
The bill hasn't come up for a committee vote yet, but Perry said the Tennessee Brewers Guild has already reached out to lawmakers, hoping to find an alternative solution.