Mitch Perry
Little debate on the Senate floor Wednesday preceded its unanimous approval of Clearwater Republican Jack Latvala‘s bill (SB 186) that would legalize 64-ounce growlers.
The issue has become a cause celebre among millenials and other casual observers of the political process in Florida the past few years. Some have been flummoxed as to why the Sunshine State is the only one in the nation that doesn’t allow the two-quart containers to be filled at a craft brewery.
In addition to repealing the ban on 64-ounce growlers, the bill would also:
•Limit the number of vendor licenses that the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation may issue to a manufacturer of malt beverages;
•Require the brewery in a taproom to be in a single complex;
•Require that any alcoholic beverage not made by the brewer must go through the traditional three-tier distribution system;
•Limit the amount the amount of beer that can be transferred from one brewer to another to 100 percent of the amount brewed at the receiving brewery;
•Provides that all malt beverages not manufactured at the brewery owned by that brewer must be obtained through a distributor (as is the case currently);
•Prohibits deliveries by the brewer directly to the consumer (again protecting the distributors who have been the main obstacle stopping the ban from being repealed in recent years);
•Limits each malt beverage manufacturer from having no more than nine alcoholic beverage retail licenses, and;
“This will put Florida on par with 49 other states,” Latvala said, adding that he thinks it will help a relatively growing industry continue to prosper.
The bill will return to the Senate one more time before final passage, and is moving in the House. One of those bills, HB 301, is sponsored by Pinellas County Republican Chris Sprowls.
