The North Carolina House Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee rejected a proposal to raise the self-distribution limit to 200,000 barrels from 25,000. The provision was pulled amid opposition from the North Carolina Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, said Rep. Chuck McGrady, the prime sponsor.
Also nixed: Another provision to allow small breweries to terminate franchise agreements.
But other provisions in the bill remained, including allowing breweries to sell crowlers, or large cans of beer, and allowing brewery employees to sample beer for quality control, education or sensory analysis.
The crowler provision was sought by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., which moved equipment to produce crowlers to North Carolina from its California brewery only to find they weren’t legal in the Tar Heel Sta