FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 2, 2018) – Kentucky’s craft brewers would be allowed to sell more packaged beer to individual customers visiting their breweries under a bill headed to the governor’s desk.
House Bill 136 received final passage by a vote of 33-3 today in the Senate. The bill would increase what breweries can sell onsite to three cases and two kegs per customer. A second provision would allow breweries to sell one case per customer at fairs and festivals in wet jurisdictions.
A third provision would allow craft brewers to start sending their wholesale tax payments directly to the Kentucky Department of Revenue. Craft brewers currently pay their wholesale taxes to their distributor who keeps 1 percent before forwarding the rest of the money to the revenue department.
Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, presented HB 136 on the Senate floor. He said the legislation would encourage the continued growth of Kentucky’s microbreweries. The burgeoning industry has invested close to $79 million into the state in recent years and currently employs more than 600 Kentuckians, according to previous testimony on the bill.
“There is just no question at all … that one of the great success stories has been our craft breweries in the last 10 years,” Schickel said. “They are one of the most professional, hardworking entrepreneurs in our commonwealth.”
He said microbreweries locating in the urban core are leading a renaissance in cities across Kentucky.
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