• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

COVID-19 and craft beer: Normally only 12 states allow delivery of all alcohol. Why is that?

March 23, 2020Keith Gribbins

COVID-19 has exposed many holes in America’s state alcohol laws. Maryland just suspended its shortsighted craft beer carryout purchase limits because it only legally allowed one case per customer. The likes of Colorado, California and even Texas are allowing bars and restaurants now to sell alcohol to-go, which is not normally legal, and now the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is allowing distilled spirits permittees to produce hand sanitizer. Let freedom ring.

But without the current COVID-19 crisis this would normally not happen. Do you know how many states normally allow alcohol delivery legally? According to Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center (CCC), in a recent press release:

“Consumers can order thousands of household products and food from the internet, but prohibitions on shipping alcohol remain on the books. Instead of emergency laws allowing home delivery of alcohol for a short period of time, states should immediately move to make these laws permanent to increase consumer choice for every American. At present, 12 states allow for some method of delivery of all alcohol, and 31 states allow wine and beer to be purchased and shipped to consumers’ homes. Utah, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Rhode Island, and Deleware currently bar alcohol deliveries to personal residences.

“Allowing for alcohol delivery will help consumers during the Covid-19 outbreak in the short term, but will also help boost economic activity and increase competition and options for consumers in the long term,” said Ossowski. “There are dozens of innovative apps and online services like Drizly and Thirstie that are beginning to offer alcohol delivery in real-time, but the legal status is uncertain.”

States should allow alcohol delivery and to-go purchases beyond this crisis

If you’re reading this, you’re probably sitting at home right now — just like millions of other Americans in the face of COVID-19. State alcohol restrictions are being temporarily lifted via emergency declarations issued by state legislators to help support restaurants and small businesses that will not normally be allowed to deliver alcohol to people’s homes or sell them to-go. Feels like now is a good time to make that permanent.

safety
Back in Business: Keeping your brewery safe and managing risk as guests return
Alcohol Justice says Anheuser-Busch’s White House-approved free-beer-for-a-vaccination campaign is a data collection scheme
From HVAC filtration to green walls, five ways taprooms and breweries can create smarter, healthier spaces (even after the pandemic)
brewery risk management
How 2020 has (and hasn’t) changed craft brewery risk management

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nate Fochtman says

    March 23, 2020 at 9:07 am

    PA allows for delivery of all in state manufacturers to in state residents.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Toronto transaction: Junction Craft Brewery acquires Woodhouse Brewing Co.
  • 3 Daughters Brewing opening a spot in St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport
  • New podcast: Answering your 2022 beer branding trends questions
  • Watch: Bear Republic explains how its solar system works

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • Distribution update: Athletic Brewing and Buffalo Wild Wings team up + news from Evil Genius, Trap Door, Living The Dream and more
    May 25, 2022
  • urban-artifactUrban Artifact crafts the world’s most expensive fermented beverage and more beers to know this week
    May 24, 2022
  • 2022 Beer Branding Trends Part 2: Beyond Beer
    May 23, 2022
  • The-IBA-TeamIBA hits milestone – 1 million bbls of buying power – what’s next for the co-op?
    May 19, 2022
  • 2022 Beer Branding Trends Part 1: Reinvention
    May 17, 2022
  • satisfaction surveysAre brewery employees happy? Depends on the department
    May 16, 2022

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2022 · CBB Media LLC

Posting....