Minnesota
‘Free the growler’ beer bill on its way to Minnesota governor’s desk for signature
ST. PAUL — Each chambers of the Minnesota Legislature on Friday, Could 20, voted to advance a broad rewrite of the state’s liquor legal guidelines, together with a plan to let a handful of huge breweries resume the sale of growlers from their taprooms and enhance to-go gross sales choices for microbreweries and distilleries.
That would imply Minnesota breweries and distilleries might open up new off-sale choices of their taprooms within the coming days and weeks.
On a 62-4 vote within the Senate and a 111-21 vote within the Home of Representatives, lawmakers authorised a plan to let breweries that produced as much as 150,000 barrels a yr provide growler gross sales, up from the present 20,000 barrel cap. The transfer sends the invoice to the governor for his signature and Gov. Tim Walz has stated he plans to signal it into regulation.
The state’s six largest craft breweries — Citadel Hazard, Fulton, Certainly, Elevate Bridge, Schell’s and Surly — have been blocked from promoting growlers beneath the cap. And the homeowners of Elevate Bridge final yr added a brewery in Wisconsin so they might produce extra beer whereas not hitting Minnesota’s barrel cap.
Jamie MacFarlane, co-owner of Two Harbors-based Citadel Hazard Brewing, received emotional speaking in regards to the invoice’s passage on Friday afternoon. The brewery was amongst a bunch that pushed to elevate the restrict since 2018.
“It is unbelievable that it is lastly occurring,” MacFarlane stated. “I am excited to not need to have individuals come this summer time and ask, ‘Why cannot I get a growler?’”
The plan would additionally let smaller and medium-sized breweries promote 4 and six-packs from their taprooms. And it could enable micro-distilleries to extend the variety of off-sale merchandise they’ll provide and permit city ball baseball groups to promote alcoholic drinks. Resorts would even have the choice to promote beer with an alcohol content material increased than 3.2%. However 3.2% will stay than commonplace for grocery shops and comfort shops.
Stakeholders together with craft beverage producers, wholesalers, liquor retailers and Teamsters for months forward of the legislative session met in non-public to achieve a deal on a liquor regulation rewrite that would appease everybody. Their suggestions led to the omnibus liquor invoice that got here up for a vote on Friday.
“It has been virtually a yr of labor,” the invoice’s writer Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, stated noting he spent the legislative interim visiting breweries, distilleries, warehouses, liquor shops and different venues to raised perceive the issues with the state’s liquor legal guidelines. “It feels simply wonderful to be on the 1-yard line.”
The push for modifications got here after years of gridlock between stakeholders within the distribution system and after craft breweries launched public stress campaigns to persuade lawmakers to elevate caps on the barrels of beer they’ll produce every year whereas nonetheless providing to-go sale choices of their taproom.
On the Capitol, liquor regulation modifications are uncommon and slow-moving. And the pinnacle of the Senate Commerce Committee stated he would not take into account any tweaks till all teams concerned might attain a “peace within the valley” settlement. Finally, the compromise proposal met that commonplace for Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, stated on the Senate flooring and he urged members to shortly approve it.
There was little opposition to the plan in both chamber however a number of legislators raised considerations about making extra alcohol sale choices out there with out additionally placing up further state funds for alcohol dependancy schooling and remedy applications.
“Simply suppose what that is doing to the households, to the communities that we symbolize, as nicely,” Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, stated. “If we enhance the entry to this, I hope that we’re additionally being attentive to our duty to what’s going on at dwelling.”
Others raised frustrations that the proposal did not go far sufficient to open up new choices for alcohol gross sales for grocery shops and mini-marts or craft beverage producers.
Surly Brewing stated it could nonetheless need to file state and metropolis paperwork and get provides sourced within the subsequent few weeks however hoped to have growler gross sales again up and working this summer time. MacFarlane, with Citadel Hazard, stated she hoped that after getting applicable sign-offs from the state and metropolis that the Citadel Hazard might provide growlers once more in a single to 2 weeks.
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