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I just want to let all of you know that SB-102, which is the legislation to codify into the Ohio Liquor Law what we as homebrewers are permitted to do pursuant to federal law has been passed by both houses of the Ohio Legislature and has been sent to Governor DeWine for his signature.
This opens the door to legally hosting competitions or a convention like Homebrew Con in Cleveland (or another Ohio city) without the need to obtain special permit, as was the case with the Cincinnati Homebrew Con in 2008.
The bill passed the Ohio Senate back in May and was sent to the Ohio House for consideration. The House added several amendments to the bill concerning things like Sunday liquor sales of intoxicating liquor in retail establishments and permitting things like charity events to legally raffle off alcoholic beverages. The Senate concurred with the amendments yesterday and passed the amended bill. The House vote was 88-7 in favor and the Senate vote was 30-1 in favor which makes a veto proof majority in the unlikely case that DeWine refuses to sign the bill.
The amended bill also requires places that hold a valid liquor permit to notify the Ohio Department of Liquor Control and the Ohio Department of Public Safety 10 days prior to the event basically they can keep track of these events which will be pretty easy as opposed to having to request a special permit. It also requires the suspension of the licensed permitee’s privileges in the area where the homebrew event is being held (which is something we already do with Son of Brewzilla and Wizard of SAAZ) so as to keep the untaxed alcohol away from the areas where beer, wine, or spirituous is being sold by the permittee.
I have been working on this for the last four years and have been working with my State Senator Kristina Roegner for the last two years to get the bill written and legislated (including testimony before both the House and Senate Committees as a supporter of the bill. I also want to thank Matt Cole at Fat Heads from writing a statement supporting this legislation and his support was very one of the keys to get the legislation passed.
I will be leaving for Florida before the next SAAZ meeting but will try to attend one when I return in April to answer any questions you may have.
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