Breweries, wineries win big in legislative session

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The Sunday sales bill may have failed in the legislature, but Governor Mike Pence recently signed two pieces of legislation aimed at helping Indiana’s microbreweries and wineries grow.

The first nearly triples the amount of beer microbreweries can brew. The second will make it easier for wineries to ship wine to your house.

The microbrewery bill was hard to come by; it originally died, and had to be resurrected mid-session. Last summer, Sun King announced plans to expand into Fishers. But those plans were put on hold when they thought the microbrewery bill was dead. But with Governor Pence’s signature those plans are back on, and bigger than ever.

“We want to create a destination brewery up there. Something that will bring in people from around the Midwest to check out what’s going on up there,” said Dave Colt, Co-Founder of Sun King Brewery.

The brewery’s downtown College Avenue location is growing every year, and is bursting at the seams.

“Really what we wanted to do and it has been our goal since the beginning, is to produce as much beer as we can for the great folks of Indiana,” said Colt.

But they say they were stunted by a state-mandated cap of 30,000 barrels of beer a year. The new law increases that cap to 90,000 barrels.

“Knowing that growth is still out there we can look at Fishers with a mind to say this is the size brewing system that we want, here’s how much room we’re going to need to expand to make that work,” said Colt.

Also eying expansion is Chateau Thomas Winery. Governor Pence signed a law Monday helping wineries by eliminating an initial face-to-face meeting before allowing customers to buy from their website.

“This law has been a real burden to us,” said Dr. Charles Thomas, the winery’s owner with locations in Plainfield and Nashville.

The burden Dr. Thomas is talking about is the card all customers must sign before they can buy from the winery’s website and have it shipped to their house. It makes customers swear under “penalties of perjury” that they are of age, and intend to use the wine for personal use.

“People would read this thing and say, ‘wait a minute, I just want to buy a bottle of wine,’” said Dr. Thomas.

With the requirement now gone, they’re hoping to increase sales by 25 percent.

So whether you prefer a Cabernet or a Cream Ale, both Sun King Brewery and Chateau Thomas Winery say its about getting their product to you.

“We can produce a lot in Indiana, and keep it at home,” said Colt.

Both of these laws take effect on July 1st.

As for the winery bill, customers will still have to prove they are of age by submitting a government issued ID.