A House panel approved a bill Wednesday to allow retailers such as grocery stores and beer specialty shops to fill half-gallon jugs known as growlers from a beer tap, just the state’s growing list of craft breweries can do. South Carolina allows a similar practice. “With our burgeoning craft brew industry, what this bill would allow is the same thing to happen here in North Carolina,” said sponsor Chuck McGrady, a Hendersonville Republican.
The House Commerce subcommittee also approved a measure to allow in-stand beer sales at professional sporting events. Only the Carolina Panthers can offer beer sales from vendors walking the aisles because of a cap limiting it to stadiums that seat 60,000 people.
Image link for Pisgah growler.
Thanks to loyal reader Steve for the heads-up on this.
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Whole Foods and others do this in NYC and rotate the offerings. Breweries aren’t particularly convenient to Manhattan so fairly popular product.
Much easier to pop in an Asheville brewery so this may not be a huge deal, but perhaps someone can make it viable.
McGrady:
“The ‘Growler Bill’ (HB829 — Sale of Growlers by Certain ABC Permittees) also received a positive report from a House committee and will probably move to the House floor next week. As I’ve indicated in earlier updates, this bill came to me because a colleague recognized that I’d been quite successful in moving ‘beer bills.’ While pushing legislation to allow Southern Appalachian Brewery and Sierra Nevada to operate in Hendersonville and Henderson County was related specifically District 117, I’m not sure if the sale of ‘growlers’ is going to catch on in Henderson County.
A growler is a refillable and re-sealable glass jug that carries approximately 64 oz (a half-gallon) of beer. While North Carolina presently allows growlers to be filled and re-filled at breweries across North Carolina, HB829 allows growlers to also be sold at other locations by stores, restaurants, bars or other establishments that have certain alcoholic beverage licenses. To my surprise, the Piggly Wiggly grocery stores (doesn’t that name bring back memories?) that still operate in coastal South Carolina sell growlers. Basically, my Growler bill will allow North Carolina stores and other establishments to do what is already done in South Carolina and a number of other states.
I’m still not sure how exactly I’ve become the beer specialist at the General Assembly, but I now sense some appreciation by my 24-year old son, Steve, for the work I do.”
http://nchouse117.com/moving-moving-moving/