Brewing Controversy

New Jersey breweries want change. A new ruling by the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control includes 18 “special conditions” to which all breweries in the state must adhere, including no collaboration with food vendors, limitations on events, and required brewery tours for patrons. Though the ruling was established in part to draw a finer line between restaurants (which are required to have a liquor license to serve alcohol), and breweries (which fall under different licensing regulations), it’s drawing pushback instead.

“It’s caused a lot of confusion for consumers,” says Eric Orlando, executive director of the Brewers Guild of New Jersey. “[Breweries] are in this grey-area limbo stage in trying to interpret what’s allowed and not allowed.”

Orlando added that some customers have canceled brewery events due to the new rules, and that local businesses near these breweries might also be impacted economically. If customers no longer make the trip for a brewery event, “those customers [now] aren’t going to a local restaurant or to a local shop.” Breweries are calling on policymakers for change, but it doesn’t happen overnight; Orlando says the earliest breweries might see some relief is late fall or winter.

Note: Edible Jersey reached out to the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association for comment but as of press time had not received a response.