Beer delivery now legal in West Virginia

Thank you to everyone who contacted their state representatives, the governor, and the WVABCA. It worked. Governor Jim Justice issued an executive order today permitting limited home delivery of sealed beer and wine. The authorization applies to breweries, wineries, taverns, and private clubs, and private wine restaurant licensees for the duration of the COVID-19 state of emergency.

Bottles, cans, and sealed growlers/crowlers are legal for delivery from brewpubs, restaurants and bars to your home, as long as they are accompanied by food. Breweries may deliver their products to their customers’ homes without accompanying food. Wineries and cideries may also deliver their packaged product without delivering food.

Thank you to Governor Jim Justice and WVABCA Commissioner Fred Wooten for writing and approving this executive order.

A few more points. Un-licensed third parties, such as GrubHub or UberEats, are not permitted to deliver beer or wine. Age verification at the delivery point is required. Further, all parties are asked to maintain social distance during the delivery process.

The delivery of distilled spirits/liquor, whether in bottles or any other type of container, is not permitted. Licensed distilleries and mini-distilleries are not permitted to home deliver.

Brewers Guild hopes to make change permanent

Aaron Rote, president of the WV Craft Brewers Guild, wrote that the guild is working on a Best Practices Outline for Beer Delivery that will be submitted to the WVABCA. The guild will be following up with the ABCA next week to work out a few other issues. 

“This is a temporary mandate,” said Rote, “but we would obviously like to make it permanent and want it to lead to more flexibility in how we move our product once this whole mess is over.”