Beer Matters
T
he wide difference of alcohol a beer that was produced outside of laws from state to state is one North Carolina, it was sold to the of the most frustrating aspects retailer through the wholesale tier. about working in the alcohol industry. This tier is made up of companies This frustration gets exacerbated when that scour the world outside of our working near a tourist attraction— state’s borders to bring you exciting looking at you Pinehurst No. 2! I have brands. It is a race to buy up the rights seen countless sad faces from golfers to sell certain brands. If an out-of-state trying to buy Tito’s at Triangle Wine brewery, say Modern Times from San on a Saturday after 8 p.m. Diego, enters into a contractual sales When Prohibition was repealed at relationship with a wholesaler, it is the federal level, the government left usually binding and incredibly hard to it up to the states to decide how they dissolve. And most wholesalers cannot would regulate alcohol. Born from this cover an entire state, so a brewery transition came the advent of the threemight need three to four different tier system (producers, wholesalers, wholesalers to cover the state. To add retailers). even more confusion, those three to Retailers are licensed by the state, four different wholesalers might decide through the Alcohol Beverage Control to buy different beers from the same Commission, to sell you beer and brewery. That is why you might find wine. The state controls liquor sales a different selection in Raleigh or with the state-run ABC stores. There Charlotte that you can’t buy locally. are currently 19,596 licensed locations Legally, retailers in Moore County in North Carolina where you can buy can only buy from the same set of booze. If you want to start a business wholesalers. This is the reason there isn’t BY JASON DICKINSON, in this industry, you will first need to much of a variety between the stores. CERTIFIED CICERONE® figure out what kind of alcohol sales you Everyone has access to the same brands. want. Triangle Wine, for example, has Breweries are the producer four ABC permits. Two allow you to tier. North Carolina breweries consume beer and wine inside the store that produce over 25,000 barrels, (on-premise), and two allow you to buy beer and wine to go equivalent to 50,000 large kegs, must enter into a contract (off-premise). with a wholesaler. If they fall below the 25,000 barrel Most of the 19,000 licensed retailers are on-premise bars/ limit, the brewery is legally allowed to distribute and sell restaurants. These licenses are not cheap. The state collected their own beer within the state. If they want to sell outside $22,998,308 in renewals and registration fees last year. of the state, or if a brewery from another state wants to Retailers like Triangle Wine can buy their beer from two sell inside North Carolina, they must enter into a contract groups, wholesalers (distributors) and producers (breweries). with a wholesaler. People are often in awe at the size of the beer selection at For a specific beer to be sold inside North Carolina, Triangle and assume they can get just about any brand of beer. two things have to align. The brewery must want to sell That’s not how things work. A retailer can only buy direct from inside North Carolina and pay North Carolina taxes, and a brewery, if the brewery is small enough to be considered a the wholesaler has to want to take on the added burden of self-distributing brewery. I’ll cover more of that later. The rest receiving, storing, selling and shipping another beer brand of the beer is purchased through the wholesaler tier. in an already crowded market. This is why you cannot find Of the three tiers, the wholesaler is the most unknown or Moose Drool Brown Ale sold in North Carolina. misunderstood. It is truly the thankless job within the alcohol The three-tier model is an ecosystem all to itself. One that industry. I’m willing to bet that 1 percent of people reading requires balance in an ever-changing landscape of beverage this article never once thought about how the beer they are offerings. While it’s easy to become frustrated that you cannot drinking made it to the point of sale. The delivery drivers always legally purchase the booze you want, it’s important usually get on the road before 5 a.m. to make the trek down to realize that without the three-tier system, the largest to Moore County, and their summer days are spent dripping companies could make it impossible for some of your local in sweat, hauling 165-pound kegs around. If you are drinking favorites to even exist.
Why can't I get that awesome beer from Montana?
30 | SAND& PINE MAGAZINE February/March 2020
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