February 19, 2021
Amanda Yeager
Baltimore Business Journal
This Maryland General Assembly session has already produced an effort to keep the carryout cocktails flowing. Now the state’s alcohol manufacturers are seeking permission to further ease the convenience for stay-at-home imbibers by, among other things, shipping craft brews straight to a customer’s house.
New legislation backed by the Brewers Association of Maryland, Maryland Wineries Association and Maryland Distillers Guild would allow local alcoholic beverage manufacturers to ship booze directly to consumers upon request. The bill would also make the temporary to-go and delivery sales that breweries and distilleries have enjoyed during the pandemic into a permanent feature.
The proposal, House Bill 1232, seeks to create some stability for an industry that has been buffeted by the Covid-19 pandemic over the course of the past year, said Brad Rifkin, a lobbyist for the manufacturers. An emergency executive order issued by Gov. Larry Hogan in the pandemic’s early days allowing take-out and delivery alcohol sales has been a saving grace for breweries, wineries and distilleries throughout taproom and tasting room closures, shifting capacity limits and other pandemic-related hurdles.
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