By now, you’ve heard New Jersey’s Bureau of Alcohol Beverage Control has spiked those dumbass, new brewery tasting room rules. Y’know, the ones that – among many other things – prohibit breweries from displaying menus from the local pizza shop and require a permit to turn the Eagles game on TV.

The agency will go back to the drawing board and try to come up with something a little less insane.

Here’s the problem in a nutshell, as noted on the very first page of ABC director David Rible’s order <PDF>:

The legislature, he correctly says, “intended to promote the craft beer industry and create a demand for these products by the consuming public. The expectation was that the increased demand for craft beers would generate greater retail sales of these products at licensed consumption and distribution premises.” [My emphasis.]

Through this statement, Rible either ignores or is unwilling to address the obvious fact that the craft beer industry has changed since the original rules were written in 2012.

Five thousand new breweries have opened nationwide since then, and most of them have little interest in selling beer at other retail locations. There’s too much competition for tap handles and shelf space. And, besides, at their scale, selling beer through a middleman is a money-loser. Small breweries enjoy far greater profit margins by selling directly from their tasting rooms.

Moreover, tasting rooms are the single, best way for a new brewery to build its brand. (And, as the ABC finally learned when 25,000 people spoke up, many beer drinkers actually prefer brewery tap rooms to bars.)

Sure, this conflicts with the holy three-tier concept of beer distribution. But so what? What is the public interest in an outdated regulatory system that protects only those who can afford costly liquor licenses while impeding economic growth?

If the aim is to promote the craft beer industry, Rible – and more importantly the legislature – will have to rethink the “expectation” that retailers will see greater sales. It ain’t gonna happen until these startups grow large enough to benefit from wholesale sales outside of their taprooms.

And they won’t grow if these small breweries can’t do simple things to attract business. Y’know, like music, yoga classes and, for crissakes, food.

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Note: This column contains a clarification below.

The foam hit the fan on Facebook this weekend when a musician posted an item that his gigs at a central Jersey brewery had been canceled, because of a new policy edict from the N.J. Division of Alcohol and Beverage Control.

The item was wrong: Though change is coming, no new policy has been issued.

No matter. The musician’s posting, and subsequent remarks from brewers and others, sparked a panic over how new rules could jeopardize dozens of the small breweries that have cropped up in the state since licensing rules opened the floodgate in 2012.

That law created a new tier of licensing that, for the first time, allowed small breweries to serve beer directly to the public from on-site tasting rooms. It was passed over strong opposition from existing bars and restaurants, who feared competition from the new tasting rooms, whose licenses are far less expensive than typical liquor licenses used by bars.

To answer those concerns, the state laid out rules to prevent brewery tasting rooms from operating like a restaurant. Among other restrictions, tasting rooms are prevented from serving food and hosting live entertainment.* And, in one of the more troublesome requirements, the law demands that patrons tour the brewery before they are served – even if they’ve taken the tour before.

Those rules have been bent considerably in recent years. Many tasting rooms publicize regular music calendars, host yoga classes, and coordinate with food trucks parked outside, for example.

Indeed, judging by the look of some tasting rooms, I suspect business plans and financing for some breweries are based less on beer production and more on creating a bar-like atmosphere.

But even as breweries have pushed the envelope amid complaints from bars and restaurants, the ABC has dropped the ball on serious regulation. Even now – six years after the tasting room law was enacted – it is still struggling to establish workable rules on those brewery tours, for example.

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Read: A burgeoning rebellion against brewery tasting rooms

Read: Let’s settle this before it gets out of hand

Read: Why we drink in tasting rooms

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As the first executive director of the Garden State Brewers Guild (now the New Jersey Brewers Association), I sat in on numerous meetings with the ABC and state legislators, trying to hash out compromise policies that would satisfy both new breweries and existing liquor license holders.

I’m no longer involved n the association, but sources involved in the talks told me the discussions are ongoing. A draft policy has been circulated, but it’s still under discussion.

“It’s still being worked out, and it’s far from finished,” said Eric Orlando, executive director of the New Jersey Brewers Guild, who is among those talking to the ABC.

Jamie Queli, who owns Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing in Cherry Hill and is board president of the New Jersey Brewers Association, said she didn’t expect a final ruling until at least next week.

Among the proposals floated in the draft proposal:

• Breweries could hold up to 25 events per year, including live music, TV sports, yoga classes, trivia contests and others.
• Breweries could be eligible to serve beer at 12 off-site events per year, including  festivals, sporting events, civic celebrations and others, anywhere in the state.
• Breweries could host pre-ticketed events conducted by independent civic, charitable and other social organizations up to 25 times a year.

Though some breweries are already balking at the measures as too restrictive, the proposals are a significant loosening of current regulations.

Other proposed changes include items that are routine at most places that serve alcohol. Private parties, background music and the sale of snacks – mainly chips and nuts – would be OK. However, onsite food service and coordination with food trucks is still forbidden, as is the placement of restaurant menus inside breweries.

As for that troublesome tour, it’s still a requirement. But the proposed new rules now define a tour as “any form of engagement with brewery visitors… that communicates information about the brewery and the brewing process.”

So, technically, I suppose, a sign pointing to the brew house would qualify.

*ADDENDUM: Vince Masciandaro of Village Idiot Brewing advises via Facebook that “the part about ‘live entertainment…’ is incorrect, this was never a rule…..and in actuality last year with the prior director we received written notification that it was permitted.” In fact, an April 2017 directive from the brewers association director said the ABC would henceforth OK live music and live televised sports. 

I’m adding that correction here rather in the comments section so it doesn’t get lost.

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Read: A burgeoning rebellion against brewery tasting rooms

Read: Let’s settle this before it gets out of hand

Read: Why we drink in tasting rooms