An Alaska Representative celebrated the effects of legislation Tuesday that expands business opportunities for the state’s distilleries. These opportunities include tours and product sampling. KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.
Alaska Democratic Representative Chris Tuck held a press conference Tuesday with the Distillers Guild of Alaska. The organization was celebrating the signing of House Bill 309, which became law on July 14th. According to Tuck, it expands business opportunities for the state’s distilleries, which were heavily restricted under previous statutes.
“The distillery laws in Alaska were a little bit archaic. They would not allow distilleries to do what breweries and wineries were already able to do, and that’s be able to invite the public in, take tours, and be able to have tastings and samples and be able to buy some of that products and people could take it home with them.”
Tuck says unlike distilleries in the lower 48, the inability to offer samples of their products as well as facility tours hurt their competitiveness and brand recognition both in and outside the state.
“It was really difficult for the local distilleries to get exposure, especially from Alaskans, and then be able to take advantage of the tourism industry where people come up to Alaska, want to experience some of the products we have here, and be able to take tours.”
House Bill 309 changed that by allowing tours, as well as certain amounts of spirits to be sold on site and sampled for free.
“So basically what the bill does, it allows for the sales of up to one gallon of the product directly to the public and then it allows for the sale of not more than 3 ounces for consumption while they’re here on the premises, and then allow a person to be able to sample a small portion of the product free of charge while on the premises. One thing that this bill does for the distillery industry that the wineries and the breweries don’t do is it requires for the servers to take an alcohol survey education course and require the postings of warning signs that alcohol has on pregnancies and so forth.”
According to Tuck, the bill had almost no opposition. He also added that limits are lower than those for breweries and wineries because of spirits’ higher alcohol content. Ultimately, he says the bill helps boost the sale of spirits as an Alaska product, as well as their local ingredients.
“So it’s kind of one of those Made in Alaska products that are using agriculture products grown here in Alaska, Alaska Barley, Alaska Fireweed, Alaska Birch, Alaska Honey, and if you even think about it, we even have Alaska Spruce Tip and Alaska Salmon. We have a smoked salmon vodka that is made in a distillery out in Wasilla.”
The state’s five distilleries include Ursa Major Distilling in Fairbanks, High Mark Distillery in Sterling, Alaska Distillery in Wasilla, Bare Distillery in Anchorage, and Port Chilkoot Distillery in Haines. Additional information can be found on each company’s website.