One small step in the right direction: http://www.dcbeer.com/news/new-law-signals-big-beer-changes-montgomery-county Not everything is changing though - the fact that there is an extra tier who admittedly does not refrigerate beers along with the higher markups makes Montgomery County still one of the worst places in the United State to buy beer.
This is why I never buy beer in the county I live in...sigh! Even with gas prices, I can go to DC or VA and stock up and save over MoCo, and I am not the only person that does this by far. I also cannot get 1/5th the harder to find craft beers in MoCo that you can get elsewhere in the area. It's like a craft beer desert here! I don't see this law helping much at all. I talk to the brewers at places like 3 Stars and they showed no interested in self distributing...they just want to make beer. You go out to Seattle or Portland and can buy fantastic beers on tap for $3-$4 a pint at tap room after tap room. In this area $9 is the norm. I don't see that ever changing because the number of craft breweries is small here in comparison to the west coast states and the people here have more money to throw around.
Kind of ironic that in a county with plenty of wealth that the county itself is screwing over residents in purchasing beer - not just about prices, but in availability and treating the product with respect.
One of the worst places in the United State to buy beer? Really? Are you kidding? Hundreds of dry counties exist across the United States, a majority of them in the South.
Well being dry would be worse. For places that actually do sell beer, having the product mistreating and marked up doesn't seem like a great situation. It is bad for people buying the beer and bad for the producers themselves, whose products are being overpriced and mistreated.
