The Place for Jersey City News
Log In / Register
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Jersey City Times
  • News
  • Food and Fun
    • Food And Drink
    • Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    • Other Fun Stuff
  • Education
  • Business
  • Neighborhoods
    • Downtown
      • News
      • Guide
    • Heights
      • News
      • Guide
    • Journal Square
      • News
      • Guide
    • Bergen Lafayette
      • News
      • Guide
    • Greenville
      • News
      • Guide
    • Westside
      • News
      • Guide
  • Opinion
  • Columns
    • Eye Level
    • Mamarama
  • Obituaries
  • Event Calendar
  • Support our Mission
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Local Breweries Plead for Help in Fighting New State Regulations

Local Breweries Plead for Help in Fighting New State Regulations

Ron Leir
July 16, 2022/in Business, Food And Drink, header, Latest News, Narrate, News
by Ron Leir

Jersey City’s two craft beermakers — like their brethren from around New Jersey — are in a big brouhaha with state regulators over a “special ruling” they say threatens their livelihoods and that the state says was crafted to balance the interests of New Jersey’s restaurants.

Members of the City Council and state Assemblyman Raj Mukherji came to their defense at a Friday press conference co-hosted by 902 Brewing Company and Departed Soles Brewing Company, the two local breweries.

“Just as they’re on the verge of recovery, to create artificial barriers to the success and the economic recovery of these small businesses doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said Mukherji. “Craft breweries are just asking for fairness, for equity, for reasonable legislation.”

The special ruling by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control requires breweries to conduct in-person or virtual tours of their premises before they can serve patrons, and it prohibits the establishments from selling coffee or food on premise (though it does allow patrons to consume food and drink delivered from elsewhere).

The regulation also stipulates that beermakers can hold no more than 25 on-site special events (such as  gatherings to watch TV championship sports, live amplified music, or DJ concerts), 52 private parties, and 12 off-site events per year.

The ruling was to have gone into effect in 2018 but was revised and deferred to July 1, 2022 after brewery owners statewide protested.

One such opponent is Brian Kulbacki, Departed Soles’ owner. Kulbacki said the restrictions on “limited brewery” licensees “will harm us, our staff, and many people in the community like musicians and others who participate in the events we sponsor.”

Brian Kulbacki of Departed Soles Brewery

Brian Kulbacki of Departed Soles Brewery

He also noted the ruling requires breweries to advise the ABC when holding special events and to create guest lists of the events for the agency.

“It hinders our ability to book food trucks to park outside the premises,” Kulbacki added.  Essentially, “the ruling restricts free trade.”

A press release issued by the state attorney general’s office said the special conditions spelled out in the ABC ruling “are the result of an extensive outreach effort by the (ABC) Division to meet with industry leaders, individual craft brewery owners, members of the Legislature, and others whose objections led the Division to suspend a prior special ruling issued in October 2018.” Mukherji, however, pushed back, saying ABC hadn’t given legislators notice of the changes.

The newest version of the special ruling, the release said, is “intended to provide a simplified ‘blueprint’ to help ensure full knowledge of what is legally required on the part of licensees and a fair marketplace.”

According to the attorney general, the state did make some concessions to the breweries in the revised ruling. “First, an ‘off-premises event’ now includes a maximum of three consecutive days under a single ‘off-premises event’ permit. Second, the cost of this permit has been reduced to $100 per day,” the press release advises.

Moreover, the release says, “The Division believes the activities permitted under the (revised) special ruling strike a fair and appropriate balance between the interests of … restaurants and bars and the craft brewing industry. The Division will continue to work with all licensees to promote a fair and robust alcoholic beverage industry in New Jersey.”

In response, Kulbacki said, “There are only two entities that can stop (the special ruling): the legislature and the governor.”

The issue has sometimes pitted restaurants, which must often pay many hundreds of thousands for a liquor license, against breweries for whom the license is a relatively small yearly fee.

“Yes, liquor licenses do cost an absurd amount of money,” conceded Kulbacki, “but breweries should not be punished for that.” He noted that when all of a brewery’s fees were combined, they amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. “People like to say that we don’t pay a lot for our license, but that’s just not true.”

For his part, Mukherji said he was committed to protecting restaurants’ investments.

Mukherji said he would be sponsoring legislation to fix the problem.  “We need to consider whether reforming all of our liquor license laws are in order.”

Tags: Jersey City Business and Economics
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
You might also like
Price Gougers Beware: Big Fines Await You
Anna Prilutsky, Eleni Retzepis, Franchesca Doell, and Anjali Kapoor Five Local Princeton Sophomores Launch Business to Help Online Grocery Shoppers
A Movie Studio Opens in Jersey City
Worker with placard demanding unemployment benefits New Jersey’s Unemployed Fret About Federal Benefits Expiring
Gov. Phil Murphy said the cost of extending benefits is prohibitive. (Photo by Danielle Richards for New Jersey Monitor) State Won’t Extend Expiring Unemployment Benefits
Abandoned couch on street Courts Begin To Hear Long-Stalled Eviction Cases
City Hall, Jersey City Jersey City Uniquely Slow in Distributing Federal Rental Assistance
Flooded automobiles Jersey City Residents and Businesses Now Eligible for Federal Ida Disaster Relief
Jersey City, US
3:22 pm, August 14, 2022
82°F
broken clouds
Wind: 15 mph
Pressure: 1016 mb

Latest Articles

Cannabis Marijuana
August 13, 2022 /

Cannabis is Raising Millions in Tax Revenue for New Jersey

North River Sing
August 13, 2022 /

North River Sing Chorus to Offer Five Free Spots This Fall

August 12, 2022 /

Steel Tech Alternative Plan Embed

August 12, 2022 /

Jones Letter Embed

New Steel Tech Plan
August 12, 2022 /

Plaintiffs Propose a New Plan for Controversial Bergen-Lafayette Project

CONTACT US

    ADS/INFO

    For information on advertising opportunities, please contact - ads@jcitytimes.com

    For information on writing opportunities, please contact - info@jcitytimes.com

    Download our media kit here

    ABOUT US

    About Jersey City Times

    Contact Jersey City Times

    Social

    Archives

    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    Copyright © 2020 JCityTimes.com. All Rights Reserved - powered by Enfold WordPress Theme
    Council Tackles Exchange Place Redesign, Cannabis, Property Maintenance, To... Jersey City City Hall Jersey City School Superintendent Norma Fernandez Fernandez Received Big Pay Raise With Promotion
    Scroll to top