Washington D.C. Council passes "Pint Law"

Discussion in 'Mid-Atlantic' started by nightfly, Jul 15, 2014.

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  1. nightfly

    nightfly Initiate (0) Feb 11, 2010 District of Columbia

    http://www.wtop.com/109/3662588/DC-Council-passes-pint-law
    Monday - 7/14/2014, 5:18pm ET
    By Rebecca Cooper
    D.C. breweries are likely to be toasting the D.C. Council after lawmakers on Monday approved a rule change that will allow them to sell pints of beer to customers in their tasting rooms.

    Though the District has become an increasingly hospitable place for brewery businesses during the past few years, the so-called "pint law" is one of the last big changes that brewers were arguing for. (They told me as much back in March when I profiled the region's booming beer business.)

    Previously, production breweries such as D.C. Brau, Atlas Brew Works and Three Stars
    Brewing Co. could only offer free tastes of their beer to customers in their tap rooms. Now, breweries will be able to obtain a separate permit for on-site sales and consumption.

    Breweries will be able to sell beer for consumption between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. seven days per week, according to the change, which was approved Monday as part of the fiscal year 2015 budget act.

    The owners of Three Stars told me back in March that the pint law was the big push they were making with the council this year. With people coming to the brewery to get growlers — large-format bottles of beer — and tastes, the fact that they couldn't sit in the brewery and buy a beer was confusing to many patrons, they said.

    And the change couldn't have come at a better time for D.C. Brau, which recently reopened its tap room July 12 after closing it during the brewery's expansion.

    D.C. is catching up to local Maryland and Virginia jurisdictions in making the on-premise consumption change; the Virginia General Assembly approved such a change in 2012 and Montgomery County recently implemented a similar change.

    © 2014 American City Business Journals, Inc.
     
    #1 nightfly, Jul 15, 2014
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  2. Dirtyhands

    Dirtyhands Initiate (0) Jul 3, 2014 Maryland

    Awesome. Now I can finally have a proper drink AT DC Brau.
     
    #2 Dirtyhands, Jul 15, 2014
  3. C20Percent

    C20Percent Initiate (0) Aug 24, 2011 Virginia

    I wonder if DC Brau will now have growler hours throughout the week.
     
    #3 C20Percent, Jul 15, 2014
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  4. jmdrpi

    jmdrpi Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,989) Dec 11, 2008 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    when I saw the headline, I was thinking a requirement for bars selling "pints" to actually have glasses with 16 oz fill lines, ala the UK. one can hope.
     
    #4 jmdrpi, Jul 15, 2014
  5. kdb150

    kdb150 Initiate (0) Mar 8, 2012 Pennsylvania

    While I'm all for honesty, I think it's a bit misguided to believe this would reduce the cost-per-ounce of a glass of beer, if bars were required to pour you 16 oz. when you order a "pint."
     
    #5 kdb150, Jul 16, 2014
  6. RKP1967

    RKP1967 Savant (1,150) Sep 26, 2010 Virginia

    Does this signal the end of the four or five free samples they give you?

    My wallet prefers that method.
     
    #6 RKP1967, Jul 16, 2014
  7. jmdrpi

    jmdrpi Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,989) Dec 11, 2008 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    I don't really think that would ever pass, based on all the lobbying power the alcohol industry has. It's just a personal pet peeve when a bar specifically lists their draft beer on a menu or price board as served in "pints", and then you get maybe 14 oz in a shaker glass.

    Considering the Bureau of Weights and Measures does things like confirm that you are really getting a gallon of gas at the gas station, or that you really get a pound of ham at the deli. But beer, who cares!
     
    #7 jmdrpi, Jul 16, 2014
  8. jmdrpi

    jmdrpi Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,989) Dec 11, 2008 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    looks like there was a group trying to organize this, but doesn't look to be much activity lately:
    http://honestpintproject.org/
     
    #8 jmdrpi, Jul 16, 2014
  9. southdenverhoo

    southdenverhoo Pooh-Bah (1,567) Aug 13, 2004 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah

    Well, you still have to have C-M-1 zoning as a manufacturing facility so I don't think this will spur the proliferation of nanos with tap rooms we have in Denver, who don't even intend to package but rather sell 100% of production on site, quite often (if not always) in standard retail/commercial zones (vs industrial)...but maybe that's a good thing, we may be a little overpopulated with breweries, not all of whom are knocking it out of the park, right now.
     
    #9 southdenverhoo, Jul 16, 2014
  10. TheNightwatchman

    TheNightwatchman Initiate (0) Mar 28, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Does this going into effect immediately? I'm just curious, because I'm heading to DC for a couple of days next month.
     
    #10 TheNightwatchman, Jul 20, 2014
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