So I've been a bit derelict in my duties. First, I was on vacation. Then I was sick. Then I was stressed from getting caught up at work at work from being on sickcation, and couldn't be arsed to work on the blog in my downtime. THEN, I had to spend some time thinking of an excuse for why the blog hadn't been updated. Ahem. But then I realized I had a big subject to cover, and decided to take some extra time to split it up into two separate posts rather than one giant one.
That said, let's get into THE LAW.
Now, I'm no fancy, big-city lawyer... but today we're going to talk a little bit about beer laws in Massachusetts (and save New Hampshire for next time). My two home states both love beer, but they each handle certain things about beer in very different ways, and their decisions greatly affect the market. There's a lot to talk about here, even if I only limit this to a few topics in each state, so strap yourself in.
Sure enough, there are all kinds of crazy liquor laws out there, but some of those laws restrict beer specifically, and I've always thought it weirdly biased. All too often you can point to a regulation that pertains just to beer drinkers and not to wine. I've always chalked that up to the perception of beer drinkers being something like this:
...and that of wine drinkers being something like this:
Sure, it's not all about that. For the most part, it's about where and when you can buy beer, or any alcohol for that matter. It wasn't that long ago that you couldn't buy booze at all on a Sunday in Massachusetts. I remember hearing tales of a few intrepid package stores that stayed open in defiance of the blue laws, and were not shy about stating that they just wanted to make enough in sales to cover the fine for being open. Nowadays, you can purchase on any day of the week in MA (save for a few holidays, including a certain one celebrating a certain ship landing on a certain rock because they ran out of beer), but the state still has its fingers in how much you have to pay and what happens when you want to give away just a taste of your brews.
Recently, under the shadow of the oncoming Massachusetts casinos and their likelihood of handing out cheap-as-free drinks, the idea of repealing the "Happy Hour" ban so that local drink dispensaries could remain competitive. The idea was nixed because of a fear of a "race to the bottom" (so they say) and for consumer safety concerns. I guess they suppose all that's keeping people from becoming binge drinkers and overthrowing society is a dollar off on Tuesdays, 5-6pm. We live in a country where there's a parking lot outside most bars, and I live in a city where the public transportation stops well before the taps are shut off... yet Happy Hour is a public safety issue?
The wording of the Happy Hour ban itself is interesting. Basically, it doesn't say what you can sell a drink for, but rather it mandates that you can't sell it for less than you would on any other given day of the week. I will note that I have seen at least one Brewpub circumvent the ban in a very interesting way: they offer a $2 beer at all times. The beer constantly rotates, but they're not charging "a price less than the price regularly charged" for that named item on the menu.
While we're on the subject of the Commonwealth, did you know that (shock of shocks) there are laws which afford wine drinkers privileges that beer drinkers can only dream of? Namely, restaurant goers can take unfinished bottles of wine home with them. Granted, this is not without its hiccups, as there's a huge hoop to jump through in terms of how the wine-to-go must be packaged, but I consider this pretty good food for thought from the same state that gives Nanobreweries no uncertain amount of trouble when it comes to pouring samples of their beers.
I'm no giant of the craft beer community, but even with my limited scope, I hear plenty of tales of breweries who are having trouble just merely letting people sample their beer. Sure, there's a semantics dance a lot of the time about if someone is selling a sample of their beer or if you're paying for the glass (like the beer isn't technically a rental too, amirite folks?), but some places can't pour samples at all. To me, this is a clear growth inhibitor. It's lucky that these brewers have a supportive community around them in the form of people willing to plunk down for a growler of a beer they've never had before... but there are just some people that are going to want to try before they buy, and freezing them out can cut off growth at the knees. Growth of both the business at hand and of converting people to craft beer. Think about it. If you're a casual or a macro drinker and find out there's a new nano down the street from you, and you go to check it out only to find that you have to pay the deposit on a growler plus the cost of the beer for something you can't even try? Well, back to your aluminum bottles and color changing cans you would go.
There are lots of vague and mysterious reasons that a nanobrewery may not be allowed to pur samples. With Tree House Brewing Co, it's chalked up to "licensing confusion" (you got me on what's that shorthand for). With Trillium Brewing Company, they need to build an ADA complaint bathroom before you can try just a few ounces of their offerings. And of course it's already been pointed out that liquor stores pour samples, and just you try to find a bathroom in there. Used to be the liquor store closest to me always had a wine tasting going on, but no bathroom in sigh-- oh WAIT. That was wine. Clearly, the rules should be different.
There's a whole 'nuther issue of what it takes to actually sell pints slash more than just samples of your beer. We'll touch on this more when we get to New Hampshire, but the new law of the land there basically involves the sale of "hot food". While I can appreciate this in spirit, as I can the bathroom law, this also seems weirdly inconsistent. Who hasn't been to a tavern where the bar is open until 1 or 2 in the morning, but the kitchen closes at 10 or 11? Do they think the late hours are the slow ones or something?
So, that's all for Massachusetts for the moment. Next time... NEW HAMPSHIRE! Keep watching the skies!
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