Ship it USPS (Maybe)

The Brewers Association recently announced news of legislation that would (finally) allow the United States Postal Service to ship beer. Now this wouldn’t be a blanket across the US thing. Here are the details:

“On Monday, May 17, Representatives Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the United States Postal Service (USPS) Shipping Equity ActOpens in new window, bipartisan legislation that would allow the USPS to ship alcohol in states where it is currently legal to do so.

Through the COVID-19 pandemic and government-mandated business closures and restrictions, small and independent breweries have seen consumer demand increase for products delivered directly to their front door. A consumer survey by SOVOS Ship Compliant and Harris Poll found that 84% of regular craft beer drinkers – defined as those who drink craft beer at least once per month – want to be able to legally purchase beer via direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping to their homes. Additionally, the survey found that more than 73% say the pandemic has increased their interest in purchasing craft beer via DtC shipping.

To meet that demand, we have seen state laws expanding to allow shipping and delivery of alcohol products, as well as allowing alcohol “to-go” at restaurant and bars. The USPS Shipping Equity Act would help small and independent breweries, wineries, and distilleries meet that demand by allowing the postal service to provide another method of getting their product to market.”

The TL:DR of it, is that rules that have been bent for Covid should stay this way so that shipping beer can become a standard business right.

Your Beer, at the Door

After a, shall we say, interesting exchange between myself and UPS in regards to a beer delivery, it was serendipitous to see an article about shipping beer on Facebook. The vibrant and off-putting trading market sprung up as a response to a lack of shipment options from favored breweries.

This piece from Joe Stange has a lot of nuggets of interest about the convoluted process of beer shipments and how it is not a priority but may become one if say national retailers like BevMo and Total Wine were to push for it.

The tidbit that caught my eye was this, “… Congresswoman Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, introduced a bill (HR 2517) in May that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to ship alcoholic beverages to legal adults, wherever state laws allow it.”

Beer Shipments Future?

Airways_Kent_Logo-300x253

While most breweries seem to be shying away from sending their beer in the mail due to legal hassles on a state and Federal level.  It looks like a brewery from Kent, Washington is bucking that trend!

Airways Brewing is shipping bottles and eventually cans of their beers including an anniversary ale (as I type this).  Now you can get their stuff online via Let’s Pour too but maybe this will make other breweries think about selling via the interwebs.