Proposed Bill Could Allow Food Vendors Inside New Jersey Breweries
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) – A newly proposed bill by two New Jersey lawmakers could put an end to a requirement for breweries to provide a tour to allow customers to purchase beer inside tasting rooms.
The bill was introduced last week by Assemblyman Joe Howarth (R-8) and Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-14).
The proposed bill "amends current law to authorize certain activities in which a holder of a limited brewery license is permitted to engage," including tours and allowing food vendors on licensed premises.
"Under the bill, a license holder also is permitted to deliver its product to a consumer's home; sell soda, whether or not manufactured by the license holder; coordinate with a food vendor to provide food on the licensed premises, and provide menus to consumers," the bill reads.
The proposed bill comes as the state tried to issue new regulations last month.
Just a few weeks after the state's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control issued rules on Sept. 21 limiting the state's roughly 90 microbreweries to 25 on-site activities a year, the office said it was suspending the regulations.
"We want to make sure that we get this right," ABC Director David Rible said in a statement.
The rules stemmed from an attempt to clarify a 2012 law that allowed the breweries to serve their beers on-site. They would have limited microbreweries to 25 on-site activities each year, such as trivia nights and live performances.
It also called for barring them hosting more than 52 private parties each year or showing sports on television unless it counted as one of their 25 special events.
New Jersey's liquor laws limit retail licenses based on population. With a limited number of licenses in each town, and with some towns choosing not to allow any alcohol sales, demand for the licenses can drive up the price retailers pay.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
