New law permits free beer and wine samples at Ohio retailers

Written by on May 13, 2014 in News - 4 Comments

beer sampleIf you’re at a bar and you ask to sample a beer, the bartender will pour you a small sip for free, but if you go to a grocery store or wine shop that’s hosting a tasting, the same small sample will cost you – usually 25 or 50 cents. It’s not necessarily because the retailer is cheap, it’s just been the law in Ohio that off-premise shops have to charge for tastings.

Recently passed legislation will permit off-premise retailers with a D-8 permit to offer samples of beer and wine for free – liquor samples will still require a mimimum 50 cent sample fee. Don’t get too excited about “free beer” though – the retailer can only give you a two-ounce sample. Still, this change will likely encourage more retailers to host tastings to get their portfolio of products in front of a new audience.

Inexplicably, in order to obtain a D-8 permit a retailer must have at least 60% of its inventory be wine, rendering beer-only shops like Crafted Drafts ineligible to get the permit and thus unable to offer tastings.

The bill was passed on April 29 and will go into effect July 10. The full bill can be viewed online.

About the Author

Cheryl Harrison. Editor of Drink Up Columbus. Co-Founder of the Columbus Ale Trail.

4 Comments on "New law permits free beer and wine samples at Ohio retailers"

  1. Andre Vatke May 14, 2014 at 10:45 AM · Reply

    What’s the logic of just making this permit available to those retailers that primarily carry wine? Plus 2oz of wine has more alcohol than is typically found in beer.

    • Cheryl Harrison May 14, 2014 at 10:47 AM · Reply

      Exactly. Hence, “inexplicably.” Write someone a letter or something.

  2. Jim Moriarty February 8, 2015 at 3:54 PM · Reply

    This is another example of the complex and confusing alcohol laws in Ohio that need to be scraped and start over again with new laws that are sensible. Deregulate these laws like the airlines were several decade ago. Bureaucracy rules here!!! So stupid.

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