Opinion

In the end, arbitrary rules for masks will only hurt businesses

I’m reticent to use this space as means of airing personal grievances, and when I do my goal is toward serving the greater good, so to speak. But I want to share an experience my wife and I had in Wilmington this past weekend as an example of the hysteria created by mask rules and...

John Trump
News

Amid COVID-19, mom-and-pops in N.C.’s craft alcohol businesses struggle to keep the lights on

Keeping the lights on. That’s the popular theme, for businesses — small and large — throughout the country. Throughout North Carolina. “Our No. 1 aim,” says Stuart Arnold, president of Fortnight Brewing Co. in Cary. Arnold was sitting in the brewery’s dark taproom, devoid of customers. Several workers, headed inside and out, passed him as...

John Trump, Kari Travis
News

Distillery reform ‘game-changer’ passes key Senate committee

A bill that would align laws for North Carolina craft distilleries more closely with rules governing wine and craft beer easily cleared the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, June 18. It now heads to Senate Rules. Senate Bill 290, Distiller Regulatory Reform Bill, would allow N.C. distilleries to sell malt beverages and unfortified and fortified...

John Trump
Opinion

New craft beer law could be first of many needed alcohol reforms

Lawmakers have offered several proposals to repair the broken, outdated way the state governs alcohol through the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control system. About a dozen bills, in fact, are moving through the General Assembly, and one, House Bill 363, the Craft Beer Distribution and Modernization Act, is now law. H.B. 363 allows breweries that sell...

Becki Gray
News

Brewery law compromise spurred by lawsuit

Rep. Chuck McGrady, his hand on the polished bar, couldn’t stop smiling as he leaned in for a better look. Gov. Roy Cooper, McGrady just to his right, was smiling, too. A group of lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — brewers, and distributors, all lined up around and behind the governor. They laughed, clapped, and...

John Trump

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News

Cooper signs bill letting craft brewers distribute more of their own beer

It was only appropriate. Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday, May 30, signed into law House Bill 363, the Craft Beer Distribution and Modernization Act, the result of a compromise among mid-sized craft brewers and the N.C. Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association. “It’s with a little trepidation that I sign a bill behind a bar,” Gov....

John Trump
News

Bill letting larger craft brewers self-distribute easily passes Senate, heads to governor

A move to ease restrictions for N.C. craft brewers who want to distribute their own beer is on the verge of becoming law. The N.C. Senate in a 38-3 vote Monday, May 20, passed the Craft Beer Distribution and Modernization Act, the result of a compromise among mid-sized craft brewers and the N.C. Beer and...

John Trump
News

Craft beer distribution compromise cheers brewers, wholesalers

Editor’s note: This story was updated 11 a.m. Friday, March 15. A collection of lawmakers, lawyers, lobbyists, and brewers gathered for a news conference Thursday, March 14, to talk about a pair of bills that, if passed into law, would even further energize North Carolina’s thriving craft beer market. Collaboration, common ground, and a collective...

John Trump
News

Hearing date set for lawsuit challenging beer distribution, franchise laws

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. Friday, March 9 The plaintiffs in a complaint challenging the constitutionality of two state laws involving beer distribution and franchise laws have filed a brief opposing a state motion to dismiss and transfer the case. The brief filed by the plaintiffs — Craft Freedom LLC, The...

John Trump
News

Federal tax cut will help N.C. craft alcohol producers but, they say, much work remains

Much of the reporting on the recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been cluttered with moans, groans, and general derision. But the act includes provisions that, until now, were talked about mainly within their respective circles of interest. Provisions that reduce taxes for entrepreneurs struggling to climb a hill pockmarked with rules and...

John Trump
Opinion

Beer money and changing markets

News that beer distributors through political action committees poured nearly $100,000 toward defeating a bill to lift a production cap on North Carolina brewers should surprise no one. Tuesday, The Charlotte Observer, citing campaign finance reports, said from January through June the distributors gave Senate Republican leader Phil Berger $33,300 and House Speaker Tim Moore...

John Trump