Letter to the Editor: Cash Bars at Breweries Should Require a Liquor License
New Jersey Restaurant Association Chairman Jack Koumbis opines on an amendment that would permit breweries in New Jersey to have a cash bar on-site.
On behalf of the New Jersey Restaurant Association (NJRA) representing over 25,000 eating and drinking establishments, we support State Assembly efforts to help small breweries sell their products. However, the proposed amendment permitting breweries to have a cash bar at the end of their tours leaves us frostier than the beer! Throw in a little “free” food, and we see breweries growing into open “Beer Gardens” that will undermine the value of our liquor licenses.
We favor beer samplings as part of a flat fee brewery tour, but a cash bar should require a liquor license as it always has. New Jersey restaurants have paid dearly for their liquor licenses, in some cases over a million dollars, and it’s not fair to undercut those who have properly paid for this privilege.
Currently breweries are not allowed to have cash bars, and we think this works well for all concerned. Can we imagine the Budweiser brewery in Newark having a cash bar at the end of their tour? We think not.
The NJRA urges the State Assembly to support our position and prohibit the “on
premise” sale and consumption of alcohol at breweries, and we’re asking our members to do the same.
In short, we are all for the expansion of a presently very vibrant business model for micro-brews and brew pubs. But any relaxation of Title 33 as it relates to retail consumption or the cash sale of alcohol should remain as it has in this State for many years with great success.
-Jack Koumbis
Chairman, NJ Restaurant Association
Thomas
4:16 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Dear Mr. Chairman,
I think your comments are very short sighted and keep only the interest of your constituents in mind.
You claim that this bill will devalue liquor licenses and turn a brewery into a restaurant or bar. Not true. New Jersey breweries do not (and cannot) serve food, there are no TVs and they only serve the beer we made at the brewery. They are production facilities in industrial areas. And they pay tens of thousands of dollars for equipment and the license. Moreover, the type of people who come to a brewery on a Saturday afternoon aren’t deciding between the local brewery or a bar, they are seeking a unique experience. Oftentimes, I will go to a restaurant that serves the beer from that brewery before or after visiting that brewery! If someone is looking to simply drink on a Saturday, they are unlikely to come to a brewery and spend a premium on locally brewed craft beer, they are going to go to a bar and drink an inexpensive Bud, Miller or Coors.
It’s big associations like this with deep pockets that give New Jersey a bad reputation for a place to do business. Shame on you.