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New Hampshire brewery legislation update & brewery news

Discussion in 'New England' started by FrankLloydMike, Mar 1, 2012.

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  1. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    I had started a thread on the old forum about some new breweries and brewery-related legislation in New Hampshire, but there have been some new developments, so I wan't to update and revive the discussion. It's mostly all pretty promising stuff, and good news for the beer scene in New Hampshire.

    First, here are some of the brewery-related bills currently under consideration:

    HB1172: scheduled for March 7 vote, committee recommended to pass as amended
    - This bill authorizes nano brewery licensees to sell their products at farmers’ markets.

    HB1208: scheduled for March 7 vote, committee recommended to pass as amended
    - Increases the size of servings that may be consumed on the premises of a nano brewery. (removed in amendment)
    - Prohibits the liquor commission from requiring federal label approval for New Hampshire beverages.
    - Repeals a prohibition on advertising in certain publications by liquor licensees. (amended to prohibit advertising targeting under 21)

    HB1236: scheduled for March 7 vote, committee recommended to refer to interim study (probably no action this session)
    - This bill allows beverage manufacturers, nano breweries, and brew pubs to obtain up to 5 on-premises licenses.
    - This bill also repeals certain employment and business interest restrictions on liquor licensees.

    HB1411: scheduled for March 7 vote, committee recommended inexpedient to legislate (recommend killing bill)
    - This bill establishes a committee to study small brewer relationships with distributors.

    As I said before, I'm not exactly sure what HB1411 will do, or what the effects of the portion of HB1236 relative to repealing the employment restrictions would have on the brewing industry and beer drinkers, but otherwise these bills all sound like no-brainer good ideas to me. I was especially excited about removing the label approval for beverages; allowing nanobreweries to serve 16 oz. beers, which would enable true taprooms in the state; and allowing breweries to have up to five locations in the state--a small, regional brewpub chain like Sebago in Maine or Beer Works in Mass--whether new or additional locations of existing breweries (a handful of Smuttynose Brewpubs, for instance)--would be a welcome addition in plenty of cities and towns as far as I'm concerned.

    I'm disappointed that the serving size will remain small, so no true taprooms will be appearing, but I'm hopeful that breweries will be able to sell beer at farmers markets, that the liquor commission will no longer have say over in-state labels, and that we may still see brewpubs/breweries with a few locations throughout the state.

    Original post from 01/27/2012 regarding new breweries:
    There have been some promising developments in the brewing scene in New Hampshire recently.

    Candia Road Brewing Company/Nepenthe Ale House has started distributing bottles of their pale ale and stout (and possibly their IPA) from their brewery in Manchester. I saw that they're doing a tasting at Bert's tonight. I tried the stout last weekend and it was very nice, with good hop bitterness balancing the malty sweetness.

    I haven't been able to find a ton of information about these guys, but they're operating out of the same building as the homebrew shop owned by former Manchester Brewing owner-brewer, Kevin Bloom. The bottles name a different brewer, though. The dual Candia Road/Nepenthe name is a bit confusing, but the Ale House part makes me wonder if they have any plans to open a taproom in the future. Like the former Manchester Brewing, the bottles at Candia Road/Nepenthe are very attractive.

    If you lump Hooksett into Manchester, Candia Road makes the Queen City a three-brewery town for probably the first time in a century. I think the city/region could still use a Switchback-style entry-level local beer, but I think Switchback and Tuckerman Pale Ale fill that void in Manchester pretty well as it is.

    Speaking of taprooms, a new nanobrewery is planning to open up in Hampton. Blue Lobster Brewing Company just got approval from the town and is planning to open a brewery and taproom (serving food from an outside vendor) sometime this spring/summer.

    That will add to the already vibrant Seacoast brewing scene, along with Smuttynose, Portsmouth, Redhook and Throwback.

    On top of that, Smuttynose is building their new brewery in Hampton and Woodstock is expanding so they can brew all their bottled beer on-site. I haven't heard anything more about it, but there's also the news from the fall about a possible Henniker Brewing Company.

    Update regarding new breweries:
    I've also just read about Earth Eagle Brewings, which is planning to open a Portsmouth brewery that will in part focus on gruits. I believe one of the guys behind it is also the owner of A&G Homebrew Supply. The idea of a gruit brewery on the Seacoast is really exciting. And as EnronCFO pointed out in the old thread, just south of the border but also in the Seacoast region, Riverwalk Brewing Co. is getting ready to open in Amesbury. Sort of nearby, Bow Lake Brewery sounds like they are hoping to move from avid homebrewers to a 1bbl brewery.
     
  2. LostTraveler

    LostTraveler Initiate (0) Oct 28, 2011 Maine

    Farmers markets and no having to have federal label approval. Awesome. Brew free or die.
     
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  3. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    05Harley likes this.
  4. GarthDanielson

    GarthDanielson Initiate (0) Nov 6, 2010 Virginia

    Very good to hear things are moving along in the right direction. My wife and I moved to NH last summer, after living in Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, and Anchorage, AK, and the beer scene/state of affairs here was slightly alarming, but it seems to be going in the right direction!
     
  5. 05Harley

    05Harley Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2008 New Hampshire

  6. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts


    I saw that the bill as passed applies to all breweries in the state, not just nanobreweries as originally written. Very good news, indeed.

    Now, I really hope they stop requiring label approval from the state Liquor Commission, and I'd really like to see the bill passed to allow multiple locations for breweries. While some chain brewpubs sometimes get flack on BA, I really think something like a Beer Works, Sebago or McMenamin's would be great in getting brewpubs into communities that might not otherwise see them. Given their proximity, I could even see a Beer Works or Sebago brewpub in New Hampshire. Of course, allowing the Portsmouth Brewery to have multiple on-premise licenses might also allow it to expand production at another site.
     
  7. Alexmc2

    Alexmc2 Pundit (784) Jul 29, 2006 New Hampshire

    Great news. I'll be moving up to NH in a little bit over a month. Since I've spent every vacation there over the past 4 years, I feel like I know the place already and its great to see things moving in the right direction.
     
  8. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    Things are definitely moving in the right direction. New Hampshire was a bit slower than Maine and Vermont to get into craft beer, and localism in general--no huge surprise given that it's a much less agricultural than either of those states or even Mass., but I think it's really begun taking off in the last few years.

    What part of the state are you moving to? The Seacoast is definitely the craft beer/buy local hotbed in the state, but I think the Merrimack Valley has been catching up a bit.

    On a side note, I was sad but not surprised to see that HB1236, to allow brewpubs and breweries to have up to five on-premise brewing locations in the state, was sent to study, which means it's probably dead. Not that they necessarily would have done this, but I believe the bill would have allowed some place like the Portsmouth Brewery with capacity issues to open an overflow brewery off-premise.
     
  9. 05Harley

    05Harley Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2008 New Hampshire

    I was disappointed with this decision myself.

    It appears the biggest hang up the Liqour Commission has with this bill is the belief that the State will lose future revenue.

    The Liquor Commission states this bill allows beverage manufacturers and breweries to obtain up to 5 on-premises locations under the same name and license, and the annual fee shall not exceed the annual fee for a single location. The Commission states revenue will decrease by an indeterminable amount due to allowing up to 5 locations to be under a single license, instead of requiring a license for each location. The exact fiscal impact cannot be determined at this time.

    Why are they not considering the added revenue of customers frequenting these establishments and pumping money into the local economies!?!

    I guess we have to keep our chin up and forge forward with more studies and diplomacy, f#$k...
     
  10. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    Agreed. I also don't understand how the state loses revenue. My understanding (and this could be way off) is that the argument is that under HB1236, if Brewery A opens a second location, they don't have to pay for a second license, so the state is missing out on the revenue from a second license. The problem I have with that, though, is that it presumes that without Brewery A, another brewery would have opened in its place.

    I'm not an economist and this is just a hunch, but I think that's precisely wrong. My assumption is that at the least, allowing an already established brewery/brewpub to open additional locations means that you could end up with something like a Smuttynose Brewpub or Beer Works in a city like Manchester, or in a small tourist/college town like Meredith or Hanover. My guess is that breweries like that that already have name recognition and capital would be better able and more willing to take a risk in opening a new location than an upstart. And at best, the success of secondary locations--and the greater knowledge of and demand for craft beer by people in those towns--would give brewers and others greater confidence in opening an entirely new brewery, which would net the state a new license fee.

    On top of that, of course, you're right that the secondary locations would generate meals taxes for the state. I just don't see how the state loses revenue on this.
     
  11. nathanjohnson

    nathanjohnson Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2007 Vermont
    Deactivated

    I am an economist and you're looking at the revenue side in a holistic manner, which is the incorrect viewpoint. The liquor commission is not concerned with total tax receipts to the state, but their portion. They view forms of alcohol as imperfect substitutes, and liberalizing beer production/consumption will reduce hard alcohol consumption, and thus, their take.
     
  12. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    Fair enough, and thanks for the professional opinion! Aside from the overall tax receipts, though, would the other portion of my argument be true? I'm not sure about this, but I think breweries currently can have only one location in the state. That means, that with the exception of someone like Peter Egleston who owns two distinct breweries, a brewery cannot open a second location even for an additional fee. Given that, I don't see how the Liquor Commission is losing money on this. I don't see how an existing brewery opening an additional location precludes a new brewery from opening, just as I don't see how prohibiting additional locations presumes new breweries (and their associated fees) will open. I'd be curious in your professional opinion.

    In the end, though, I don't really care what the Liquor Commission thinks, and I don't think the legislature should either--they should be looking at overall revenues, not to mention what is in the best interest of consumers and the economy of the state. Of course, I'm not really expecting much wisdom or reason from the current set in Concord.
     
  13. nathanjohnson

    nathanjohnson Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2007 Vermont
    Deactivated

    In a perfect world, no one should care what the NHLC thinks, but unfortunately, they operate as monopolistic industry group, with governmental powers. It's all bullshit, but because it's a government organization, it's treated as legitimate, despite logic or data.
     
  14. 05Harley

    05Harley Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2008 New Hampshire

    I'm afraid this conclusion is sad but true. Living here in NH and watching these bills run their course for greater freedom atleast gives us hope that change is within sight.

    After all, we are the "Live Free or Die" state (chuckles).
     
  15. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    What was it that Lenin wrote... "The means of inebriation belong to the whole of society." Something along those lines. Liquor may be a state industry in New Hampshire, but it's clearly not working in the best interest of the whole of society (or at least BA society).
     
  16. LostTraveler

    LostTraveler Initiate (0) Oct 28, 2011 Maine

    Does NH have a tax on beer production per barrel? I thought I read it was around $0.30 a gallon which is about $33 a barrel of taxable income.
     
  17. 05Harley

    05Harley Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2008 New Hampshire

    This link is pretty informative and does list it as $0.30/gal.
    I reference it often.

    http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/new-hampshire-beer/
     
  18. Alexmc2

    Alexmc2 Pundit (784) Jul 29, 2006 New Hampshire

    Moving to the Keene area.
     
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  19. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    I'm less familiar with beer in the Keene area, though that corner of the state is really beautiful, and probably tied with the Seacoast in terms of interest in local products and that sort of thing. The Monadnock region around Keene, is a bit more off the beaten path than the Pioneer Valley across the border in Mass or Brattleboro in Vermont, but I think they all sort of blend into a really nice, laid back area of open space, dotted with a few small cities, and plenty of tiny villages. Not that you asked for advice, and you might already know some/all of this, but here's my assessment of beer in the area:

    In New Hampshire, there's only one brewery in the region--Elm City, which is a brewpub in an old mill just outside downtown Keene. I visited for the first time recently, and loved the vibe and the beer was solid. It's not the Portsmouth Brewery or Moat Mountain, which are probably the two best brewpubs in the state (in my mind), but it seemed like a great local spot. I haven't visited, but there's a new beer store in downtown Keene, so that bodes well for the interest in good beer. Harlow's in Peterborough has a pretty solid, but short, rotating taplist, and I think the place would do well as a brewpub, especially in a town like Peterborough.

    Just across the Connecticut is McNeill's brewpub in downtown Brattleboro. If you like English-style or cask beer, you should check it out. I've also read that the folks behind Here for the Beer are planning to open a brewpub, to be called Whetstone Station, literally on the New Hampshire border at the edge of the Connecticut River in Brattleboro. There are plenty of breweries just to the south in Massachusetts. Some of my favorites are the People's Pint in Greenfield and Element in Millers Falls.

    Enjoy the move!
     
  20. FrankLloydMike

    FrankLloydMike Maven (1,284) Aug 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    A little off-topic, but I just saw that the River Road Tavern in Bedford has Goose Island Honker on-tap. Since it was announced that Redhook would be brewing some of Goose Island's beers for the East Coast a year ago, the beer still wasn't available in the state. I didn't hear that they were now available, but it's good news as more and more breweries are (slowly) entering distribution in NH.
     
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