Beer and the 2007 Vermont Legislative Session

Four bills of note to beer drinkers have been introduced in the Vermont Legislature so far this year. I will be writing to my representatives to urge their support for the changes as noted, based on my understanding of the legalese.

Support: H.94/S.28 would raise the maximum alcohol by volume for beer and other malt beverages from 8 to 16 percent. This would allow more "big" and exotic beers to be sold through regular distribution channels instead of through the state monopoly. This would be a very worthwhile change as wine up to 16 percent ABV does not need to go through the state system already. I don't know why a different level of alcohol came to be allowed in the two types of beverage, but the mismatch has never made sense to me since in my experience it is just as easy to get drunk off of one type as the other.

Support: S.029 would amend the law so that both in-state and out-of-state brewers could not hold a liquor serving license where they served their own beverages. I presume this means other than brewpubs and on-site pubs of brewers. Previously only in-state brewers were prevented from owning a liquor serving license. It is quite reasonable to make the law uniform, and in general I think it is a good idea to limit brewers from owning their own bars. This is especially true in Vermont, which is so small that a major could probably buy most of the bars in the state with the money they find in their accounting errors.

Neutral: H.034 would expand the bottle bill. Unfortunately the text is not online as of this writing, so I can't say for sure how I feel. I don't have an opinion on bottle bills as a whole because I haven't seen any evidence that they reduce litter, which is their main intent. However, the current deposit levels are undoubtedly low at $0.05 (at least for beer bottles), and if bottle bills do work this one should be updated to increase the deposit levels and cover as many types of containers as is reasonable. Since I am used to putting all my containers out for curbside recycling and have continued to do so since I moved here, and because I am not jerk who litters, the bottle bill doesn't have much influence on my personal actions.

Already Passed: H.157 explicitly allows homebrewers to transport their creations for competitions, and provides for regulation of other beer tasting events, both with restrictions. This bill passed with a few bit more red tape and limitations lodged in it than I would like, but I take it that homebrew events were operating in a grey area before, and so the bill made improvements. I think area of law should be revisited after a few years of practice, or if data becomes available on how well similar regulations in other states have worked.