Two competing bills have been introduced by the same Senator in the Nebraska Legislature, pitting the state’s beer wholesalers with craft brewers.
LB1235, supported by beer wholesalers would allow a small brewery to apply for a special wholesale liquor license to self-distribute up to 500 barrels of beer annually. Brewers could only sell their beer in markets where they do not have a distributor, and could only continue selling their beer through the end of the calendar year before they would be required to relinquish their wholesale license.
The second bill, LB1236 is being supported by brewers. This bill would allow breweries to self-distribute an undesignated amount of beer — brewers have indicated they were comfortable with the cap being set at 1,000 barrels — to retail locations across the state while also maintaining relationships with their existing distributors.
Both bills were introduced by Sen. John Lowe of Kearney with the hope that a compromise could be worked out.
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