HB 524 easily passed the Montana House of Representatives Friday on a 95-2 final vote and should be transmitted to the Senate for it’s consideration soon. HB 524 would remove the grocery store/pharmacy requirement for off-premise retail licenses for beer and wine. Sort of. As originally proposed, HB 524 merely eliminated the grocery store/pharmacy requirement. …
You may recall our earlier discussions about a bill introduced to the Montana Legislature in January which would create a new “boutique” beer/wine shop license category. The previous bill would have allowed true bottle shops, but restricted their hours to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. It did, however, allow such shops to have up to…
House Bill 204, to create a new license for beer and wine bottle shops, came before the House Business and Labor Committee this morning. But before anything could happen with the bill, the sponsor, Representative Christy Clark, asked the Committee to table it without a hearing. Given the huge workload during the session, they readily…
Here’s a brief update on beer related items at the Montana Legislature for Tuesday, January 22, 2013. HB 58, creating a brew-on-premise license, easily passed the House by a 70 to 29 vote and has been transmitted to the Senate for its consideration. Along the way, the bill was amended to clarify that a licensee…
True beer and wine bottle shops will be allowed in Montana for the first time if House Bill 204 finds favor with the 63rd Montana Legislature. The bill, sponsored by Representative Christy Clark, would create a new license category for retail sales and also permit limited tasting events for such shops. Presently, only “bona fide”…
Travel north of I-90 for a mile on Argonne Road into Millwood, WA, a small town sandwiched between Spokane and the City of Spokane Valley, and you’ll come across a wine and beer shop that, frankly, isn’t much to look at from the outside. But what they haven’t spent on sprucing up the exterior, they’ve…
On a recent weekend trip over to Spokane, WA, we took a quick exit off I-90 to stop and have a look at Enoteca, a wine and beer store in Post Falls, ID. It sits in a small strip mall on busy Seltice Way. When I stopped in, I was fresh off a visit to…
As a craft beer drinker I am most definitely not stuck in a rut. Sure, I have my favorite year-rounders and seasonals that frequently inhabit the fridge, but I’m always on the hunt for something new. Getting to hunt in new territory is one of the great parts of vacations. My most recent vacation took…
If you live in Helena and love good beer and wine then you already know this. If you don’t live there, but find yourself in Helena for a visit, head over to Topper’s Cellar for one of the best retail selections of wine and beer anywhere in Montana, and many places beyond. When I lived…