Minnesota's #FreeTheGrowler movement looks to get a boost from the Minnesota House on Wednesday when state lawmakers put their liquor bill up for a vote. The vote would be the first on a proposal to expand growler sales by lifting the so-called "growler cap" from 20,000 barrels per year to 150,000 barrels.
"It's a longtime coming," said Fulton Brewing COO, Jim Diley. "The Alliance of Minnesota Craft Breweries have been workings towards freeing the growler and allowing five of Minnesota's breweries, who up until now, cannot sell directly to the consumer in a growler. We're looking forward to this week."
The House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee voted 14-1 in late March to approve the omnibus liquor bill.
Rep. Zack Stephenson on Tuesday said the bill seems to have strong support, with very little pushback.
"I don't know if there is a ton of criticism," Stephenson said. "It passed with a huge majority out of the Commerce Committee 14 to 1. It passed out of Ways and Means 18 to 2. There's broad, bipartisan support for it and no stakeholder opposition."
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The House bills is receiving pushback from a coalition of Minnesota grocery stores, conveniences stores, and gas stations who want the state to drop its 3.2 percent beer mandate. The stores want to be able to sell wine and strong beer. They also say that 3.2 beer is getting harder to find, especially when companies like Molson-Coors have dropped it from production.
Rep. Stephenson believes there will continue to be pushback on proposals to drop 3.2 from store shelves, saying the concern about giving convenience stores and grocery stores the ability to sell strong beer and wine comes down to consumer choice and jobs.
"There's much less shelf space at a convenience store than there is at a liquor store. That's fine for Miller, Budweiser, and Coors. Craft beers and local beers, they might have a harder time making it to a shelf in a convenience store," he said. "There's also the concern that having the beer everywhere else would drive liquor stores out of business."
Business is a concern when it comes to limiting growler sales, too. Diley says there are serious discussion happening among Minnesota microbreweries about taking expansion projects and operations elsewhere, if the state continues to cap growth opportunities.
"I've heard of multiple Minnesota breweries considering taking their headquarters, operations, and expansions to neighboring states," he said. "When a new building goes up, those are construction jobs. Those are people looking for daily employment. They simply won't be in Minnesota, they'll be elsewhere."
The House bills also looks to create a new Liquor Industry Advisory Council to listen to proposals about changing the state's liquor laws. Those proposals, if agreed on by the 12-member board, would be sent to the legislature.
"We continue to hear criticism about how difficult it is to get various stakeholders to the table for a discussion when it comes to liquor," Stephenson said. "This bill would make that table part of law and force people together to talk things over."
The Senate has a smaller liquor bill, which would need to pair with the House bill if it passes the Minnesota House on Wednesday.