Could Beer Bring NJ Together?
Could Beer Bring NJ Together?
unlikely allies in the fight to save microbreweries in New Jersey
Beer. We should have known.
Some believed all along that the vast majority of people would fail to recognize modern tyranny until it bumped right into them. So leave it to New Jersey to interfere with how people can get together to enjoy a nice cold microbrew.
From the roi-nj.com article:
Why would a wealthy, densely populated state in the heart of the craft-loving Northeast, one with a rich brewing tradition and fervent beer fans, fail miserably at capitalizing on the brewery boom in this part of the country?
Ask yourself that question, and then ask the political party in power about their choking brewery regulations, and what’s really behind the rules. Because everyone’s full-throated roars are needed ahead of statewide elections next year.
Just so we’re clear about where we stand today, and for anyone not aware: A long-delayed attack on New Jersey breweries is underway after an uneasy respite from the siege. It stems from a 2019 Special Ruling by the state that set strict guidelines for breweries, but was loosely enforced in the time since. That changed July 1.
As progressive as many of us may be personally, we can’t avoid the fact that the mercenaries outside our gates fly the banner of the Democratic Party, are armed with the sword of state regulation and were sent into battle on behalf of a powerful lobby.
That’s the reality in the insane mesh of arcane, head-spinning liquor laws in New Jersey. These laws are fossils of Prohibition, and they spit on the memory of New Jersey’s brewing history, when the state’s brewery and pub landscape thrived, spurred on by an influx of European immigrants. Newark alone was home to a staggering number of breweries.
How silly are the rules, you ask? This silly…
I can legally sell you a cold pretzel, but not a hot one. I can legally mount televisions, but no more than two of them, and they had better not measure a centimeter larger than 65 inches from corner-to-corner. I cannot legally make you hot beer in the winter and add cinnamon to it — you have to add the cinnamon after I pour it. I think?
If I’m a brewery on Main Street, I can’t post which food truck is legally parked outside the brewery, even if I played no role in its presence, nor can I suggest to a food truck owner that they park on Main Street outside the brewery. Yes, let’s be clear, this Special Ruling goes so far as to restrict the content of the conversations that one small business owner can have with another small business owner, and limits the conversation that a business owner can have with the public…
Oh, if someone plugs a guitar into an amplifier or sings through a microphone at my brewery, I am legally obligated to notify the ABC. I literally have to tell the state if someone is playing an electric piano in my brewery. And it counts as one of my 25 events.
Similarly, the method of serving some wild beers, served for centuries in Europe, is expressly forbidden under our state laws. Take a Berliner Weisse, a tart wild ale traditionally served in Germany with one of two syrups — red raspberry or green woodruff — added to the finished beer at serving.
This is illegal in New Jersey.
Do you like beer slushies? Well, they are illegal if any flavoring or juice is added to the beer when it goes into the slushy machine. This is a new point of emphasis by the state this license term, printed on our licenses, most likely spurred on by the powerful New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality lobby.
New Jersey, your tyranny is showing.
Some NJ regulators, drunk on power, are becoming uninhibited with their tyrannical tendencies as they swerve more wildly towards stricter measures of control.
Surely, there’s a better way to address this problem. Particularly since this “problem” started out as a “solution” that involved incentivizing microbrewers to set up shop in NJ.
Rick Reed and his staff have been brewing their own beer since 2002. Like many of the handful of other microbreweries in New Jersey, it’s a small operation that can’t compete with big beer companies or even microbreweries in other states, partly because of restrictions imposed by the state. But those rules have been eased.
“You used to not be able to drink on premise, but the law changed so now we can have on premise consumption and the brew pubs can now bottle their beer and sell it to retail outlets. So it’s a big boon for them, it’s a boon for us, obviously. And it’s just, all it does is again level the playing field with Pennsylvania,” Reed said.
Another change — licensing fees have come down while production limits have increased. This all adds up to opportunities for growth.
The changes come at an ideal time because Reed and others in this industry say there’s a growing number of craft beer fans in New Jersey who are looking to buy local.
https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/jersey-breweries-look-to-capitalize-on-demand-for-craft-beers/
New Jersey giveth. New Jersey taketh away.
And these days NJ is not particularly good at finding solutions that involve flexibility or relinquishing control.
Luckily, some lawmakers are showing up to put a stop to it. Not surprisingly, Senator Mike Testa, who regularly promotes and advocates for small businesses, is among them.
“The fact that the government can come in and micromanage how breweries can operate is offensive enough. But further restricting their ability to innovate and be successful is unconscionable and requires the Legislature to counter the actions of these unelected bureaucrats,” Testa said.
Testa and other members of the Senate are reviewing the ABC language along with stakeholders across the state, he said.
And - here’s a happy surprise - voices from across the aisle are chiming in.
Yay! Bipartisanship!
Perhaps we all just need to discuss things over a beer every once in a while…