New Hampshire

New Hampshire’s New Booze Law Will Hamstring the State’s Brewpubs

Published

8 months ago

July 16, 2025

New Hampshire’s New Booze Law Will Hamstring the State’s Brewpubs

The rationale behind New Hampshire’s new brewpub regulation is more headache-inducing than the beer.

On Friday, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed House Bill 242 into law. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. John Hunt (R–Rindge), will take effect in August and limits brewpubs in the state to self-distributing their beer to only one additional restaurant or business outside their premises. The bill is a follow-up to H.B. 1380, also sponsored by Hunt in 2024, which limited the amount of beer or cider a brewpub could sell to 2,500 barrels a year and permitted licensed brewpub owners to obtain licenses to sell their product on their premises in bars and at off-premise locations like grocery stores, so long as they didn’t have a manufacturing license.

If the law sounds like it will keep brewpubs small, that’s because it’s intended to do so. “This is what we call a very inside baseball bill,” Hunt told the New Hampshire Bulletin.

Hunt said that H.B. 242 was designed to preserve the state’s current regulatory system, describing New Hampshire as a “three-tier state,” where businesses operate as either beverage manufacturers, distributors, or retailers. By restricting brewpubs from becoming a one-stop shop that acts as a “bottler…distributor” and “retailer,” Hunt said the bill is intended to safeguard the “monopoly” held by beer distributors in the middle tier of this system.”Frankly, I think the relationship between the distributors and the licensees (retailers) is pretty sacred, and it works well, and there’s no reason to upset them.”

The bill was supported by the state’s restaurant and lodging trade group. “You have to understand, in order for one of these brewpubs to make enough beer to self distribute to more than one additional location, they would have to make an enormous amount of beer…and frankly, most of them didn’t think they could make enough beer to even distribute to another location,” Mike Somers, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, told the New Hampshire Bulletin. “Most of the folks in the industry that I’ve talked to didn’t really feel that the restriction was much of a restriction, because they could now own multiple brewpubs and restaurants.”

Rather than having the freedom to ramp up production and distribution, Somers contends that brewpub owners would rather start new brands and businesses from scratch.

This wasn’t the only booze-related bill that passed the governor’s desk: Ayotte also signed H.B. 467 and let H.B. 81 become law without her signature. H.B. 467 allows municipalities to create designated “social districts” where people can legally consume alcohol outdoors. These areas must be clearly marked with signs indicating the permitted times and boundaries, and all alcohol must be purchased from businesses within the district. Separately, H.B. 81 permits restaurant patrons to bring their drinks with them to the restroom.

While both laws ease some restrictions on consumer alcohol use, they stop short of meaningfully reducing the state’s overall control of alcoholic beverages. And now, New Hampshire’s brewpubs will face more hurdles to scaling up the production and distribution of their beer.

In keeping with that spirit, the state would be better served by promoting policies that encourage innovation, rather than anticompetitive laws like H.B. 242 that restrict consumer choice and unfairly penalize brewpubs for their market success.

The post New Hampshire’s New Booze Law Will Hamstring the State’s Brewpubs appeared first on Reason.com.

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New Hampshire

New photo released in unsolved 1997 homicide of a N.H. woman

Published

9 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

New photo released in unsolved 1997 homicide of a N.H. woman

Local News

“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” said the family of the victim.

A new photo has been released of the victim in a nearly 30-year-long unsolved murder case, in the hope of finding any new potential witnesses in the cold case, New Hampshire officials said.

“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” the family of Rosalie Miller said in a press release. “We miss her and want to give her peace.”

Miller was last seen on December 8, 1996 at her apartment in Manchester. At the time of her disappearance, Miller had plans on meeting friends in the Auburn, New Hampshire area, officials said.

Her body was found on January 20, 1997 in a partially wooded spot on a residential lot along the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn, officials said in the release.

The autopsy report declared Miller’s death a homicide by asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation, N.H. officials wrote.

As part of a new effort to garner public help with the case, an “uncirculated” photo of Miller, 36, is being distributed “in hopes it may jog the memory of someone who saw or spoke with her in the winter of 1996,” Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall announced on behalf of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit in a joint press release.

Investigators are especially hoping to talk to anyone who was in contact with Miller in December of 1996 or anyone “who may have seen her in the vicinity of the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn during that time,” officials said in the release.

The newly released photo of Rosalie Miller, 36, who was strangled to death nearly 30 years ago. – Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall

“We are releasing this new photograph today because we believe someone out there has information, perhaps a detail they thought was insignificant at the time, that could be the key to solving this case and bringing justice for Rosalie and those who loved her,” Senior Assistant Attorney General R. Christopher Knowles, New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Chief said in the release.

The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit encourages anyone with any amount of information to contact the group at [email protected] or (603) 271-2663.

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New Hampshire

Former president of NH-based charity sentenced after stealing $350K

Published

21 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Former president of NH-based charity sentenced after stealing 0K

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New Hampshire

Mass. man struck by car, seriously injured on I-93 in Londonderry, NH

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Mass. man struck by car, seriously injured on I-93 in Londonderry, NH

A Massachusetts man was flown to the hospital after he was struck by a car when he stepped out of his vehicle in the breakdown lane of Interstate 93 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Saturday morning.

State police say 40-year-old Felix Matos Medina, of Lawrence, had stopped on the right side of I-93 south at Exit 5 just before 11 a.m. to investigate a possible mechanical issue. He was struck shortly after he stepped out of his vehicle by a Chevrolet Malibu and sustained serious injuries.

Medina was taken by medical helicopter to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Mass., police said. There was no immediate update on his condition.

I-93 southbound was closed near Exit 5 for about 30 minutes to facilitate the medical helicopter’s landing. One lane remained closed for several hours to accommodate crash reconstruction and on-scene investigation.

The driver who struck Medina, identified as David Jodoin, stopped at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, according to police. No charges have been filed at this time, but all aspects of the crash remain under investigation at this time.

Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact Trooper Evan Puopolo at 603-451-9784.

State police are also reminding all New Hampshire drivers that Sherrill’s Law requires motorists approaching a stopped vehicle displaying warning signals to slow down and give plenty of space. Drivers are also required to move out of partially or wholly blocked lanes when it’s safe to do so.

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