DELAWARE — A new bill moving through the Delaware General Assembly could offer more flexibility to local brewers looking to grow their operations without increasing the total number of licenses they can hold.
House Bill 170 aims to amend Title 4 of the Delaware Code, which currently allows a business to operate one microbrewery and up to two brewpubs under common ownership. Brewpubs are microbreweries that also include a restaurant.
The proposed legislation would keep the three-license limit in place but allow businesses more choice in how they use those licenses. Under the change, a business could own two microbreweries and one brewpub, or stick with the existing structure of one microbrewery and two brewpubs. Operators could also choose to run just a single location.
In 1995 Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats in Rehoboth Beach became Delaware's first brewpub. Since that time, several more breweries and brewpubs have opened in Sussex County
The bill is assigned to the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance and Commerce Committee.