Maryland Reform on Tap Bill: A New Way Forward

The Reform on Tap Task Force process is concluding today with the introduction of the long awaited “Reform on Tap Act of 2018.” The model reform bill seeks to significantly change how the beer industry is regulated in Maryland. While the Comptroller does not have the authority to introduce the bill into the General Assembly, a number of committee members with jurisdiction over alcohol regulation were part of the Task Force and are likely to introduce some version of this bill in January.  We will be following up with their offices to confirm those details.

There are a number of important reforms being put forth in this bill, among them:

1. Removing all limits on volume of taproom sales for both on-premise consumption and to-go bottles, for all types of breweries (currently 2000 BBL/year for a Class 5 and 4000 BBL/year for on-premise sales for a Class 7);
2. Removing all limits on how much beer a brewery can sell to a single customer per visit (current limit is 288 ounces or one case);
3. Remove