Today with overwhelming bipartisan support, the Minnesota Senate passed a liquor bill that updates and improves Minnesota’s current liquor laws. Included provisions will allow Minnesota breweries and distilleries to grow their businesses and sell more of their product directly to consumers.  Most notably, this bill includes language authored by Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) that raises the state ‘growler cap’ from 20,000 to 150,000 barrels. Small brewers will be now also able to sell up to 128 ounces of beer per customer per day that could be packaged in any approved container.

Every year, 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. Lawmakers originally set this growler cap limit in 2013. Today’s bill updates and improves on these limitations.

“We have been working on this important legislation for over eight years, and today’s bill is a big win for small breweries and businesses across the state,” said Housley, who sits on both the Commerce Committee and the liquor bill’s conference committee. “The craft beer industry is vital to our communities and removing the growler cap will allow these businesses to grow and will keep more jobs in our state. Minnesota breweries have been operating at a severe disadvantage for so long, and today’s bill provides them more opportunities to grow. Breweries across the state have been working for so long in tandem with legislators to lift the cap on growlers, and I’m happy to see this language finally reach the finish line in today’s liquor bill!”

Other notable provisions: 

• Allowing local wineries that produce apple-based cider to self-distribute cider, up to 2,500 barrels a year, when no wholesaler is available 
• The ‘town ball bill’ which allows cities to issue on-sale liquor licenses to resorts and allows municipalities to issue on-sale malt liquor licenses to town ball baseball teams  
• Allowing the issuing of temporary on-sale licenses for county fairs for more than four days 
• Expansion of the list of items that liquor stores can sell by including citrus fruit and glassware 
• Allowing licensing jurisdictions to issue special permits for serving alcohol through extended hours during a FIFA World Cup
• Inclusion of the ‘Coleman Act,’ allowing local distributors to fairly compete with national players for distribution rights in Minnesota