Boston's Beloved Beer Gardens Are Facing Serious Backlash

Emailed Nick Collins to inquire why he thinks such a measure is necessary. We shall see

 

I’m sure he’ll get right back to you with a transparent answer

 

Perhaps I get no response. Better than just sitting on one's hands though no?

 

What goes better than government and pointless legislation with no positive effects for the public.

 

I read the headline and thought Backlash Brewing was opening a beer garden. Kind of bummed that's not the case.

 

From the original Globe story:

The fact that they have to change the law to prevent these beer gardens seems to be pretty clear evidence that it is in fact legal.

 

So we're banning these because people like them too much, is that it?

 

They’re trying to ban them I’m assuming because restaurants and bars were complaining about losing business last year. Squeaky wheel gets the grease

 

Below is email response from Nick Collins office to my earlier inquiry:

"Thanks for reaching out to our office. Firstly I want to clarify, the article stated Senator Collins was a sponsor of this bill- that’s not accurate. Only one Senator can introduce a bill, and that was not Senator Collins. This isn’t an issue that is high on our agenda, but he did cosponsor the bill because he thinks it’s an important conversation to have around what our “one-day” licenses should look like. At the moment, they are theoretically limited to 30, but recently companies have worked around that to essentially access unlimited “one-day” licenses: de facto making them permanent liquor licenses without any of the cost incurred by traditional businesses to get those licenses.

The state and city have worked very hard to make traditional liquor licenses more accessible to small, locally owned restaurants in our neighborhoods, and it would be unfortunate to see “one-day” licenses undercut the value there by bypassing what is a pretty rigorous and expensive process.

That is not to say that we don’t like beer gardens or appreciate their economic impact, I certainly do. This bill is not about taking a side between restaurants and beer gardens, but rather having a conversation about how to best approach these temporary licenses. Maybe a hard 14 limit is not the best way, maybe it is just enforcing the 30 limit, or creating a separate licensure for beer gardens that levels the playing field with restaurants. In any case, it’s an important conversation to have, and we look forward to being a part of that. We certainly want to achieve access for consumers, and economic development for all sorts of businesses in the city and state, not stifle any successful industries.

Hope that answers your questions, and please feel free to reach out to our office should you have any more concerns. This bill will also have a public hearing (Date TBD) and you are more than welcome to come testify with your perspective."

 

I have no ill will against restaurants, but they're, in my opinion, getting mad because they're not taking the additional steps to be more mobile. Some are, taking a reverse path from brick and mortar to having food trucks as well (Naco Taco, Moody's, etc), but the majority of them are standing pat and complaining because breweries are acting fluidly with how they sell their beer. Breweries are looking at what the consumer wants and are delivering. I love a lot of the restaurants and bars in town, but they're not giving the experience people want. It's tough to sacrifice a beautiful summer evening to sit in a dark bar.

 

Hope to see some serious "backlash" to this legislation. It's winter more than half the year in MA. I understand the economical concerns of restaurants but preying on people's ability to enjoy drinking outside for a few months a year is not the answer. IMO food trucks, pop-ups, patios, roof decks, happy hour (try that one legislature) etc. are a step in a better direction.

 

Fair enough. Do that. Level the playing field then step away.

Maybe a four month license at 1/3 the cost of an annual.

 

Pick one.

Ah, a race to the bottom, making it more restrictive for beer gardens rather than less restrictive for restaurants. Great plan, Nick Collins.

 

Don’t forget distributors

 

I agree. I didnt realize the beer gardens were just getting one day licenses every day and i definitely think it's worth a look at the system to provide a better solution. That solution isnt to put a hard cap on those licenses and leave it at that. They have to provide some sort of monthly/seasonal license.

 

It’s a tough spot. We all love the pop-up beer gardens. But folks that have paid exorbitant prices for their licenses at brick & mortar places have to be pissed. The archaic laws are to blame for sure - wasn’t there supposed to be a review of them a few years ago? And a Republican pro-business regime under Baker would resolve this? I guess not.

 

Massachusetts politicians see green and want their cut, business as usual.

 

So are breweries currently circumventing the process by having different individuals in the company apply for each of the licenses vs. the company as a whole?