Suds on Sunday
INDIANAPOLIS—Hoosiers might be able to buy beer on Sundays at microbreweries if a measure before the Indiana Senate becomes law.
Senate Bill 75 moved out of the Indiana Senate Public Policy Committee Wednesday. It would allow Indiana microbreweries to sell their products for carryout on Sundays in quantities of up to three cases.
As the meeting came to order, Committee Chair Ronnie Alting, R- Lafayette, stressed that the law only included the sale of the microbrews from the location at which they were brewed.
“This is not an issue about drinking. It is an issue of tourism,” said Sen. Vi Simpson, D- Bloomington, the bill’s sponsor. “It equals the playing field for the farm wineries and brew pubs.”
The bill drew a crowd of supporters to testify. Mark C. Webb, president of the Indiana Brewers Guild, opened his testimony with an electronic presentation of the history of artisan brewing and the guild, a community of 32 artisan breweries scattered across the state.
Several owners of breweries and members of the guild attended to show their support. Other supporters were author, playwright, and journalist Rita Kohn, Jason Larrison of www.hoosierbeergeek.com and others.
Lisa Hutcheson, director of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, gave the only negative testimony on the bill.
“I will say that this bill is not a slippery slope, but it is a slope,” said Hutcheson. She also warned the Senate that it should expect Indiana micro-distilleries to follow suit.
Alting said that they had learned from granting Indiana wineries the chance to sell their product for carryout on Sundays that it had worked to help the industry.
The bill passed, 9-2, and moves to the full Senate.
