Minnesota Beer Laws are Ancient
Simply put Minnesota is close to being 100 years behind the rest of the country in terms of post prohibition regulation laws.
I cant tell you how many people I have met that have come here on a vacation or to visit family and not be baffled by the liquors laws in this state. Everything from the time of bar close to where you can buy beer and the size and container it’s sold in.
Right now, Minnesota is the only state in the country that has a production cap set on breweries that sell more than 20,000 barrels a year. After that number is achieved, that entity is no longer allowed to sell take home containers directly to the customer and those breweries are Castle Danger, Schell’s, Summit, Fulton and Surly.
Photo - Alex Kormann - Star Tribune
On the other side of things, smaller breweries and distilleries that actually sell far less than the larger breweries in the state, are only allowed to sell a 750ml Bottle and or a 32oz Crowler for take out….until they reach the magic number of 20,000 barrels, see how that works.
So in short you are technically being punished for being a successful business. Just for example the loss of growler sales alone can cost a brewery upwards of $300,000! It almost seems like the state of Minnesota doesn’t like making money or something.
Many are asking will this disrupt the Three-tier system and the answer is no. The following is from the MNcraftbevcouncil - “The three-tier system works well for many producers, distributors, and retailers and we have no intention of disrupting it. Unfortunately, some aspects of the current system have not evolved with the craft beverage industry. Our proposed changes are meant to improve the existing system to better support the growth the industry has experienced in the last decade and develop more job opportunities throughout the entire craft beverage ecosystem in Minnesota.”
So fear not, because right now there is a movement to change all this which would allow all breweries, distilleries and restaurants to sell in all formats headed by groups of craft beer drinkers, brewery owners and law makers who are joining together to finally change things and make Minnesota liquor laws more modern and not from the time of Ralphie, Randy and Red Ryder bb guns.
So far, The Small Craft Brewers Coalition (SCBC), The Minnesota Craft Beverage Council, The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild, Hospitality MN, SupportMNBreweries/Free The Growler and MN Independent Restaurants are on the move to get this done this year!
And it’s just in time because the service industry is in desperate need right now during the pandemic with shut downs, loss of employment and actual establishment closings. Minnesota needs to step up and do the right thing!
If you believe in this change I highly suggest following the links below to contact your representative and ask them to change the archaic liquor laws Minnesota still has in place, so all of us can join the rest of the country with beer for ALL!
