NC: Looser liquor laws let you buy more than 1 beer, even in dry counties
By Mackensy Lunsford
August 21, 2019
If the ability to buy multiple drinks at once and hang out with your dog at the bar appeals to you, your dream is about to come true.
On Sept. 1, North Carolina’s ABC Regulatory Reform Act kicks into effect, bringing with it tons of changes. Soon, you can sip mixed drinks at distilleries, where you can also buy unlimited bottles of liquor. Consumers might also see beer at the farmers markets, where booze makers makers and brewers are now allowed to offer samples.
Even if you’re in a dry county, you too may soon enjoy a beer at a local brewery. What’s more, your dog can come too, as long as the brewery doesn’t also serve food. Soon, the wait for beer might be shorter than ever, but more about that later.
In Old Fort, the changes will become apparent in 2020, when Hillman Beer opens a second location of its Asheville-based brewery. Old Fort is, on paper anyway, a dry town. McDowell County is officially dry, though the city of Marion does have its own municipal ABC board. No one ever said North Carolina ABC laws made a ton of sense.
North Carolina breweries have long been able to make beer in dry counties, but they haven’t been able to sell it there without express permission from a county or municipal ABC board. With the new laws, breweries can serve beer, wine or cider in dry counties, but only what they make themselves.
Hillman co-owner Brad Hillman said the reception has been largely positive, at least in his view. “Plenty of people have said they’re thankful someone is coming in here to do this, so they don’t have to drive a long way to have a nice beer and bite to eat.”
Shorter lines at the bar
These sorts of changes, said Mark Combs, general manager of Asheville’s ABC Board, “can be a real rubbing point for some communities, and a real turning point for the others.”
Graham is the only completely dry county in Western North Carolina. Most of the rest are a patchwork of officially dry or partially dry counties with municipalities controlling their own destiny — Buncombe County is one, actually, though it has local ABC boards in Asheville, Black Mountain, Weaverville and Fletcher.
While tweaks to the state law represent a modernization of liquor regulations, Combs said the dryness of a community says nothing about its contemporaneity. “It’s a question of culture.”
Hillman thinks the new liquor laws will add to the culture of fellowship in Old Fort, where people already go to visit Catawba Falls and Andrews Geyser. A brewpub might give people reason to linger even longer, he said. “There’s not a grocery store selling beer in that area.”
Buy more than one beer
Beer in dry counties sounds dramatic, but Hillman also said new provisions allowing guests to order more than one beer represent a sea change in terms of hospitality. “That’s the biggest one. It makes it more convenient for everyone: consumers, guests, and bartenders.”
That’s right, North Carolina: now you can join most of the rest of the country in buying your buddy a round. Specifically, customers may buy two beers or glasses of wine at a time, but only one liquor drink.
Hillman figures it will shorten the wait for a beer since fewer people need to stand in line at the bar.
Dogs and cats, drinking together
Also new to NC liquor laws: clarifications underlining the fact that dogs and cats are allowed in breweries without restaurants means Hillman’s lab-hound mix Roland can accompany his person more places than ever.
Hillman Beer has long rolled out the welcome mat to canines, who can lounge on a front and back patio. The brewery also partners monthly with Charlie’s Angels Animal Rescue to host onsite adoption days.
“We have volunteers out walking dogs and puppies around, and that way people can come and see them in a more natural environment, rather than a shelter where they’re stressed out,” Hillman said.
A one-stop liquor shop
Leah Howard of Cultivated Cocktails, formerly H&H Distillery, is a member of the Distillers Association of North Carolina, so she’s had a front-row seat to new liquor legislation.
So sure was she of the continued modernization of liquor laws that she and the other owners of Cultivated Cocktails, which has a production distillery in Fairview, opened a downtown Asheville storefront with a 30-gallon still, tasting room and retail section stocked with books, bar tools and mixers.
When Sept. 1 rolls around, the 29 Page Ave. tasting room can also start serving cocktails made solely with the distillery’s own liquors and non-alcoholic mixers.
Howard said allowing in-store cocktails opens the door to something new to the distillery. “We want to be an educational resource, and offer classes on cocktail making, muddling and mixing.”
Starting next month, the tasting room can also sell unlimited bottles of its liquor, up from an annual five per person. The distillery’s portfolio includes Hazel 63 Rum, Hwy 9 Gin, Asheville Coffee Liqueur and a wine barrel-rested gin, Shades of Rose.
“And after Sept. 1, you can walk around with a cocktail while learning about the spirit, how it’s made, and buy mixers,” Howard said.
The new laws, she added, represent a giant lift for her business. “For us, this was almost the make it or break it point, really and truly.”