Texas lawmakers are trying to make it easier for small breweries to get their beers to thirsty Texans.
Senate bills 515, 516, 517 and 518 would modernize some rules for beer makers, allowing them to get beer into the mouths and refrigerators of more Texans.
Chip McElroy, the head of Live Oak Brewing Company in Austin, said the bill would allow his brewery to reach more customers. One of the new proposed rule changes would allow McElroy to sell beer for consumption at his brewery.
McElroy is confident the bills will pass. In turn, McElroy says small breweries could expand, hire more people and add to the state's tax base.
And McElroy said the craft beer industry in Texas could really explode.
"People in Texas are more conscious of things being from Texas," he said. "They're very nationalistic about their stuff, and that works to our benefit."
