Delaware votes to allow craft alcohol-makers to sell each other's products

Have you ever been to a craft brewery in Delaware with a friend who doesn't drink beer either because of taste or a gluten-free diet?

Well, they won't have to sip water any longer.

The state Senate voted unanimously Thursday to allow Delaware's craft alcohol-makers to sell each other's products, effectively allowing breweries to sell wine.

A spokesman for Gov. John Carney would not comment on whether or when Carney would sign the bill into law.

But Carney did say in a statement, "Delaware has a thriving craft beverage industry that helps drive our $3 billion tourism economy. We’re always looking for ways to support our craft breweries, wineries and distilleries."

The new rule would take effect immediately once signed, allowing each of the state's 30-plus alcohol-makers to decide whether they want to sell their products at other craft locations and vice versa.

The move offers more for choice craft drinkers, ushering in a new era where a customer could conceivably drink a glass of wine from Marydel's Harvest Ridge Winery at Blue Earl Brewing in Smyrna.

Delaware beer historian and author John Medkeff Jr. says the move should bring in new customers and expose them to more of what Delaware's craft world has to offer.

"I don't see it being a huge boon [for craft alcohol-makers], but it's certainly going to help them," Medkeff says. "It will eliminate some of the remaining vestiges of Prohibition-era regulation in Delaware."

The real winners may be customers, some of whom have been chafing at the regulations that kept them from having a shot with their beer in a brewery or a glass of wine at a distillery.

The idea for the bill originated after a trip to Pennsylvania by Smyrna's Painted Stave Distillery co-owner Michael Rassmussen. He noticed that their laws allow much of the same kind of interchangeable offerings that Delaware's bill would OK.

"We all turn away business because of the limitations on what we can serve," Rassmussen says. "We obviously want to introduce people to our products in our tasting room, but if it's the difference between them having a great time and not, then all the better to put something in their hands that they'll enjoy. And at the same time, we'll be supporting another craft producer in the state."

After approaching Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner John Cordrey with his idea last year, he sent the Pennsylvania liquor law to Cordrey, along with other states' laws that allow similar sales to see if it was feasible in Delaware.

Rep. William J. Carson, D-Smyrna, the bill's primary sponsor, soon got on board and introduced it in April. His bill didn't get a single "no" vote in the Senate (19-0) on Thursday or the House (39-0) on April 26. Carson says he has not heard a single complaint about the bill from a constituent. 

The bill did not face resistance from the state's alcohol distributorships because language in the bill was specifically crafted to keep the state's three-tier distribution in place for H.B. 373.

That means the state's breweries, wineries, distilleries, meaderies and cideries would not be able to directly sell to each other but would have to go through a third-party. That means everyone involved in the production, distribution and sale of the product would benefit.

Over at Yorklyn's Dew Point Brewery Co., brewer Cody Hoffman says his bucolic brewery at the Garrett Snuff Mill complex would jump at the chance to offer other drinks, such as wine.

He says the previous limitations affected the number of large groups that would choose a craft location over a typical restaurant or bar, which offer a wider selection to fit everyone's tastes.

"This is huge. I think we'll start to see more groups because the way it is now, if one person doesn't like beer, they aren't coming here because we don't have wine or mixed drinks," Hoffman says of the new flexibility.

If Carney signs the bill, that same kind of selection from the bar/restaurant world would be transported right to your favorite local craft location if they so choose. (Rassmussen predicts the vast majority of the state's craft alcohol-makers would take part.)

Milton's Dogfish Head Brewery — the largest craft brewery in the state and 12th top-producing craft brewery in the country — would be among those who would be willing to share their beers with others.

Dogfish Head Vice President Mariah Calagione says you could end up finding Dogfish Head beer at other craft locations across the state. And the next time Dogfish Head makes a collaborative beer with fellow First State brewery, you'll be able to find it at both spots.

That's another change that H.B. 373 brings in.

It now allows collaborative drinks made by multiple craft locations to be sold at each location. In 2016 when Liquid Alchemy Beverages made its Triple Trouble D³ mead with help from Painted Stave and Dover's Fordham & Dominion Brewing Co., the result was a powerful 13.5 percent ABV drink that could be sold only by Liquid Alchemy.

At Newport's Twin Lakes Brewing Co., they are chomping at the bit not only to support Delaware's craft industry but to also offer non-beer alternatives at their tap room.

"We've always put a focus on our Delaware identity, so anything we can do to support the Delaware alcoholic beverage-makers, we're going to do," says Twin Lakes co-owner J. Burke Morrison. "And we want people to come in and enjoy their experience. If somebody is not a beer drinker, nobody's perfect. We're not going to hold that against them."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

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