Today’s 21-year-olds were just 12 when Soldotna Republican Sen. Peter Micciche first started working on rewriting existing restrictions on Alaska’s alcohol industry.
For a decade, his bill remained in limbo as bar and brewery owners poured over disagreements.
But Monday, the bill cleared the Alaska Legislature. Supporters say it’s a long-awaited, much-needed change to how the industry works.
“I mean, we were antiquated. We’re talking 1986 is the last time it was done," said Kenai River Brewing owner Doug Hogue, of Soldotna. He's been watching as the bill made its convoluted way toward the finish line, at times working with Micciche and testifying before the Legislature.
He’s excited about updates to the regulatory approval process. He said applying to the state’s Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office for liquor licenses has been somewhat of a nightmare for new businesses.
“The rules and everything were so convoluted and so messed up that even the people at AMCO didn’t know what the rules were," Hogue said. "So just cleaning that language up and streamlining the licenses, I’m really happy about.”
Breweries are growing in popularity in Alaska.
The number of breweries in the state was up to 53 in 2021 from 20 a decade earlier, according to datafrom the Brewers Association. And there’s more cropping up each year — including in Sterling, where a new operation has plans to join the ranks of four other central peninsula operations.
The newly greenlit rules will loosen some current restrictions for brewery taprooms like Hogue’s. Those are the tasting rooms where customers can sit and drink the beer breweries make.
And beginning in 2024, they’ll be able to stay open an extra hour, until 9 p.m. instead of 8. (There’s a hard closing at 9:30.) Breweries can also get up to four permits a year to host live music, which is currently banned.
Those new rules don't come without tradeoffs.
One is a controversial provision that limits how many taprooms are allowed in a municipality based on its population. Before, the rule was 1 alcohol business license per every 3,000 residents.
That’s still true for breweries, bars and distilleries. But for taprooms, the limit will be much stricter, at one license for every 9,000 residents.
Current taprooms are grandfathered in. And the legislation does say there could be more taprooms allowed after 2030.
Many brewers, like Hogue, agree — it’s a compromise.
“For most small communities that pretty much shuts down any expansion," he said. "So that’s something we would like to see change down the road. But it wasn’t something that was worth bagging the bill for.”
For a city like Soldotna, with fewer than 5,000 residents, the new limits would allow just one taproom.
But Hogue said Kenai River Brewing’s spot could open up, leaving space for another to take its place. He’d like to transfer its license to a restaurant license. And under the new regulations, he could do that and still sell the beer they make in house, without the restrictions of taprooms.
“And really, for us, that means hiring more people," Hogue said. "I mean, we’ve got a potential five to 10 additional new full-time employees. So it’s really exciting.”
That potential for new business opportunities excites Sarah Oates. She leads CHARR, the statewide association that represents bars and Alaska's hospitality industry.
“Another important component of the bill is it not only creates new certainty for businesses, and flexibility for businesses, but it also facilitates state proactive education on what the expectations and new requirements are of businesses, of consumers," she said.
She said the new rules will also overhaul regulation enforcement so that penalties for violators more accurately fit the crimes.
Micciche and other advocates of the bill cheered Sunday as the Alaska House gave it the thumbs up at a floor session.
Oates was there. She said it made her emotional to see it go through.
“I cried," she said. "Numerous people in the steering committee cried. But it was also especially emotional because this was a huge win for Alaska’s hospitality industry after two years of pandemic madness and uncertainty.”
Anchorage Republican Rep. James Kaufman carried the bill on the House floor. He called the bill an “every-interest bill,” citing input from across the industry and public safety advocates.
“As a great example for the Legislature, factions that started out this process 180 degrees out from each other got to a point where each of them have repeatedly provided formal support on the record," he said.
Micciche was at a floor session and could not be reached before air time.
Now that the bill has cleared the House and Senate, it heads to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for final approval.
