Let’s get right into it. Recently, a new ruling set by the NJ ABC (that’s the Alcoholic Beverage Control) affects how breweries (and by default, distilleries) are meant to operate. Team 3BR finds many of these overly restrictive as we find footing as a new business. Read on and let us know if you agree.
No more live music. Live or amplified music is considered a special event to which we are limited to 25 per year. Many of you know that we have been hosting live music Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Unfortunately, we will not be able to continue hosting unless there is a suitable workaround. This makes us particularly upset because we have worked with many amazing and talented musicians for the past year who have become welcome friendly faces. In today’s economic climate, these individuals will be missing out on another source of revenue or opportunity to showcase their skills to potential clients. We will do what we can and welcome suggestions for helping our musician friends. For those who have been visiting us for our live music, I hope that our lounge-like atmosphere will continue to delight you, and stay tuned for special events that may include live music.
About that 25 events per year. This includes board game nights, trivia, special cocktail tastings, paint n’ sips, and many other events we hold to garner interest in our business. We may not be able to hold as many events as we like but we will make the most of it and get creative or make them really count.
No food trucks. We are not allowed to collaborate with outside food vendors in any way. We may continue to have menus from local eateries, but are restricted from doing exclusive deals with any one of these establishments.
No coffee. Our dreams of having a fancy espresso machine are crushed. We are restricted from brewing and serving coffee on our premises. Unless it has alcohol in it.
These are just some of the restrictions we have taken note of that affect our day-to-day operations. If you would like to review the special ruling, please refer to this document: https://www.nj.gov/oag/abc/downloads/LimitedBrewerySpecialConditionsFinalText-6-30-22.pdf
There is a petition in place to reverse the special ruling: https://www.change.org/p/reverse-the-special-ruling-by-the-njabc
You can also text NJBEER to 52886 to reach out to elected officials.