The Haines Assembly is offering its support for a bill in the Alaska Legislature that would allow distilleries to continue serving cocktails.
The state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board spent the end of 2017 and early this year weighing whether to allow the practice.
A new interpretation of the 2014 law allowing tasting rooms to operate, determined non-alcoholic beverages used to mix drinks don’t qualify as the distillery’s product – what they’re allowed to sell.
The Assembly wrote to the ABC Board in December saying the Assembly “supports the previous understanding of state law by Port Chilkoot Distillery.” It said distilleries should be able to mix their distilled spirits with non-alcoholic mixers.
But in January, the ABC Board adopted new regulations banning distillery’s from selling pre-mixed drinks.
Those regulations are not yet in effect, because they haven’t been signed by the lieutenant governor.
New legislation has been introduced to clarify the intent of the law. House Bill 269 would allow distilleries to continue operating as they have been, serving cocktails.
“If it would be possible to readdress the same support letter to our legislature since they’re trying to deal with the issue in a different way,” said Port Chilkoot Distillery owner Heather Shade at the Tuesday Assembly meeting. “I’d also like to that the community who’s been super supportive as we’ve been dealing with this issue, because it’s been tiring and taxing and a lot of our time that we’d rather spend growing our business and doing other things.”
Local bar owner Christy Tengs Fowler sent a letter last month to the Haines Assembly calling it “inappropriate” for them to weigh in on the issue.
She asked them to take into account the point of view of beverage dispensary permit holders.
Still, in a unanimous vote, the group voted to send the letter to legislators.
