Significant changes to Alaska’s alcohol industry will take the market on Monday, which business owners and public health organizations believe will increase the safety of people and better align with how people in Alaska drink alcohol. State regulators are working to make sure businesses are compliant with the new laws.
The Alaska Legislature approved Senate Bill 9 in 2022, following 10 years of efforts to modernize the industry of alcohol. The regulators were granted 18 months in which to create the new rules that will affect the licensing process as well as how alcohol will be distributed all across Alaska as well as the interpretation of the laws governing alcohol.
For customers who have been waiting for changes, there will be no changes that will be in effect from January. 1. Taprooms at distilleries and breweries are expected to remain in operation until 9:00 p.m. The current law stipulates that they shut down at around 8 p.m.
Taprooms are not currently permitted to hosting live events, however the new rules permit them to host a certain amount of events per year. Other restrictions remain that include no TVs as well as no seating or tables at the bar of the taproom as well as serving sizes limited. Alongside other modifications in the law alcohol stores are able host events and offer alcohol samples.
The 127-page bill on alcohol was designed to end”the “bar battles” — a lengthy dispute among traditional bar owners and beer breweries about licensing costs manufacturing equipment, as well as how the two types of businesses operate.
Lee Ellis, owner of Midnight Sun Brewing Co. He said that the “huge” modification to this new legislation is the fact that owners of businesses may be granted multiple licenses that overlap that meld roles of businesses that were previously separate by statute.
Breweries will be able operate restaurants with less restrictions and can sell beer from other brewers. Bar owners in the past were forbidden from producing their own drinks – for instance, making beer, but it is now feasible.
Ellis who is also the president and president of The Brewers Guild of Alaska, interviewed members in the past year and discovered that 88% of members were in favor of licensing changes to operate with more freedoms as a bar or restaurant. Ellis said that for brewers and distillers this law is the largest increase in rights since Prohibition.
Midnight Sun is in the process of submitting an application for a restaurant endorsement which allows it to host additional live shows, sell cider, and stay open until nine p.m., Ellis said. The changes will be in effect by April.
“We’ll continue to continue doing what we’re doing today, and even the same,” Ellis said.
Evan Wood, one of the founding members of Devil’s Club Brewing, said that the thing he’s enthusiastic about is hosting live events in the city’s downtown Juneau tasting rooms. These could be theatrical performances as well as movie premieres or concert performances however, he added, they’ll be limited to four events each year.
“We’re trying to figure out what kinds of exciting and fun events we can plan to bring in the most people possible,” he said.
Wood said that often when changes to the regulatory framework are made to the industry of alcohol people don’t take notice. With the broad changes made to bars, tasting rooms and the way alcohol is distributed across Alaska but that shouldn’t happen this time around, Wood said.
“I think that this is going to be a very thrilling year for the alcohol industry as a whole,” he said. “Because I think there’s many exciting changes taking place across a variety of license kinds.”
Public security
The public health and safety organizations have pushed that law in a means to reduce the rate of alcohol abuse and related deaths in Alaska which are double that of the nation’s average.
The new mandatory registrations for beer kegs are designed to restrict drinking by those under the age of 18. There are updated limits on the population for the number of new taprooms that are allowed to operate within a town or city, with the intention of preventing the overabundance of alcohol within communities.
The state is set to permit companies that transport alcohol, and will tax those companies at first. Licensing will assist police in tackling bootlegging, which is a problem for those in the “dry” areas, advocates declare.
The law also will bring changes to the enforcement of alcohol infractions beginning on Monday. Licensees may be held accountable for certain offenses, including the serving of alcohol to children.
Since that the Alaska Department of Law rarely is it prosecuting misdemeanors, a lot of low-level alcohol offenses will be cited. Drinking underage is as a misdemeanor. However, transporting alcohol that does not have an endorsement from the state will result in the subject of a $500 fine.
Joan Wilson, executive director of Alaska’s Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office She said the change to citations could raise the level of accountability.
There has been a series of outreach efforts with police officers from throughout the state to establish the new role of officers and alcohol regulators, she added which allows law enforcement to concentrate on more pressing concerns for public safety while regulators are focused on licensing.
Licensing race
The staff at the state’s alcohol regulator work overtime to make sure that the businesses are compliant with the new laws by the beginning of the year.
Breweries and distilleries must submit applications to ensure their taprooms are open. Wilson stated that only 40 out of 90 licensees had filed at the time of writing on Tuesday evening.
Clubs and bars that run restaurants are required to file a form so that minors older than 16 can be served and employed. About 105 people have filed out of 440 who must be filed, Wilson said.
“We’re not planning to shut people down, but they’ll not be in compliance with the new law, and we’ll continue to cooperate to help them.” Wilson said about the deadline of Dec. date of 31 December. “But they could face fines and other penalties, which I do not wish to happen to anyone.”
The law permits the licensing authorities to accept applications beginning in September. Wilson expressed her desire that licenses automatically converted in the event that no changes were made However, that’s not the way the law was drafted.
The Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development recently unveiled an new portal online to licensees. Paper applications will continue to be accepted.
Sarah Oates, president and CEO of CHARR the leading Alaskan alcohol industry trade association, said that overall the rollout to the law has been successful, though there are some issues. The trade organization is helping to inform its members of the new regulations.
“For those companies that don’t operate online their transition will take longer duration,” Oates said.
Following a lengthy debate on the legislative side the law on alcohol came with restrictions regarding the quantity of taprooms that can be opened according to the amount of people living in the community. Existing taprooms can be grandfathered into the new system of regulation.
In areas that are already exceeding the population limit, Wilson said tardy licensees may be at risk. New applicants may theoretically jump into and obtain licenses from brewers or distillers who are waiting too long to submit an application for a new license.
“That’s why it’s crucial to fill out their application as I don’t want them losing any grandfather privileges,” Wilson said. “So suppose that they submitted their application three months late, and somebody arrived and claimed the retail version and they’re out of luck.”
