Wide-Ranging NJ Craft Alcohol Bill Signed into Law

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Signed by the Governor, Senate Bill 4265 allows craft alcoholic beverage manufacturers (defined as a limited brewery license, cidery and meadery license, and craft distillery license holder) to: hold not more than 25 off-premises special events and an unlimited number of on-premises special events and private parties. In addition, these license holders would be entitled to hold not more than 25 social affair events hosted by the holder of a social affair permit; sell and serve customers tableside utilizing servers or wait staff employed by the license holder and to serve the licensee’s products for on-premises consumption in outdoor spaces approved by the municipality; to offer for sale or make the gratuitous offering of de minimis food items including, but not limited to, packaged crackers, chips, nuts, and similar snacks to consumers; to sell non-alcoholic beverages; to coordinate with a food vendor, including food trucks and restaurants, for the provision of food on the licensed premises and provide menus to consumers for the sale of food; to offer discounts for promotional purposes, provide targeted discounts, and establish membership programs that offer discounts; to show or display any televised program on televisions or other screening devices of any number or size on the licensed premises without the need to provide notice to or obtain a permit from the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control prior to showing or displaying any televised event; to sell beverages for on-site consumption without having to give a tour; and to allow holders of restricted brewery licenses to manufacture 300,000 barrels/year (currently 10,000 barrels/year) and to directly sell and distribute to retailers 50 percent of the beer that is produced on premises in each year. The bill also establishes a farm-brewery license that would permit the licensee to produce malt alcoholic beverages for retail sale to consumers for consumption off the licensed premises; brew up to 2,500 barrels of malt alcoholic beverages per year for retail sale for consumption off the premises and to offer samples. The license would be issued only when the brewery is located and constructed upon a tract of land exclusively under the license holder’s control, license holder is actively engaged in farming on or adjacent to the brewery premises, and also requires the license holder to manufacturer beer that is substantially produced from hops or other ingredients grown or cultivated on the license holder’s tract of land.

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