Sen. John Jasinski (R-Faribault) today held a press conference with Sen. Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) to declare support for Minnesota Breweries by removing the “growler cap” threshold. Many Minnesota breweries surpass production thresholds every season and are then limited to the number of growlers (64 fluid ounce jugs of beer) they can sell. Once a brewery has produced 20,000 barrels of craft beer in a calendar year, the state caps their growler sales. Minnesota is also currently the only state where all craft brewers are not able to sell beer to go.

“The current law punishes local businesses for being successful,” said Sen. Jasinski. “Increasing the cap is plain old common sense: if your business is doing all the right things and people want more of your product, then you should be able to provide it to them. Raising the cap is good for consumers, good for workers, and good for Minnesota’s incredible craft beer industry.”

Lawmakers originally set this growler cap limit in 2013 and told brewers to return to the Capitol when the limit needed to be raised again. Because of this, some Minnesota breweries are expanding in other states because of the state’s current beer laws. Of the 8,000+ breweries in the United States, only five are unable to sell beer to go, and all five are in Minnesota. Arguments have been made that if breweries are able to sell growlers, it will hurt wholesalers. However, there is already a rule in place that limits total growler sales to 750 barrels a year, therefore protecting retailers.