SAINT PAUL – On Thursday the Minnesota House of Representatives passed SF444, the Liquor Omnibus bill, on a bipartisan 79-54 vote. The bill includes a provision to expand which breweries can sell growlers that was originally authored by State Representative Drew Christensen, R-Savage.
“Minnesota’s growing small breweries and brew pubs have been successful at making Minnesota a craft brew hub,” said Rep. Christensen. “Rather than penalizing successful small businesses like Fulton Brewing, we should be encouraging their success and welcoming more of it.”
Fulton Brewing made news in September of 2016 by announcing they had hit the 20,000 barrel threshold and would no longer be allowed to sell growlers. This bill increases the amount of barrels a brewery can produce while still being able to sell growlers from 20,000 to 40,000 barrels and also allows for growlers of different sizes to be sold.
“This law put an unnecessarily restrictive ban on one of Minnesota’s fastest growing industries,” said Rep. Christensen. “Small breweries and brew pubs have brought new jobs to Minnesota and grown our economy. We should lift the cap on small these small businesses and allow them to thrive."
The bill will now head to conference committee to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
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