Local Brewers Fight Against Grocery Store Beer, Liquor Sales
DENVER (CBS4) - Should all Colorado supermarkets be allowed to sell liquor and full-strength beer? Lawmakers have been struggling with that question for years. Recently a petition put the question to Coloradans and now local breweries are fighting back.
Local brewers say if grocery stores could sell beer and liquor, people might never have heard of their favorite brand.
It's all about shelf space. At Argonaut Wine & Liquor they offer about 16,000 different items, and many of them are from small, local breweries. Supermarkets can only offer a few hundred and they're usually only big name brands. Brewers say if supermarkets are allowed to sell beer, it will put the little guys out of business.
Danny and Betty Wong are the husband and wife team behind Caution Brewery.
"We just celebrated our three-year anniversary of our first tap room," Betty Wong said.
They're locally owned and operated and say changing Colorado's liquor laws would hurt them, and the entire craft brewing community.
"Only the bigger name brands is what you can get at like Target, Walmart and other places like that," Betty Wong said.
Right now state law allows one store per grocery store chain statewide to sell liquor, allowing local small breweries to directly market to liquor stores.
"Whether you only have five cases or 100 cases of beer that you can sell, they will put it on their shelves. They'll give everyone a chance," Danny Wong said.
But now a group called Colorado Consumers for Choice is gathering signatures for a 2016 ballot initiative that could lead to allowing liquor sales at all grocery stores.
"If that disappeared for us, it really will be a big hit as to where we can go with our products," Danny Wong said.
And now they're fighting back by banding together. Many breweries will be making the same brew called Keep Colorado Locale.
"It's a Colorado pale ale that's brewed with all Colorado ingredients," Danny Wong said. "Kind of as a show of solidarity between the brewers."
Colorado Consumers for Choice was unavailable for comment to CBS4, but on their official Facebook page, which has more than 40,000 "likes," they posted the following statement: "We congratulate the liquor store monopolies on the launch of their new beer. Wouldn't it be great if you could pick it up while you're shopping for dinner?"
Breweries across the state are all expected to start making Keep Colorado Locale in the coming weeks. Each brewery is asked to use Colorado-only ingredients and add their own twists to the recipe.
