In terms of alcohol sales, Sunday has historically been the state’s most restricted day of the week. But a new cluster of laws that come into effect Friday will close the gap between craft distillers’ rules and wineries’ and breweries’ more permissive standards.
As a part of Indiana House Bill 1386, signed by Gov. Mike Pence in March, artisan distilleries can provide carry-out liquor to patrons on Sundays starting this Fourth of July weekend. The new Sunday carry-out law brings artisan and craft distilleries in line with the allowances microbreweries and wineries were afforded more than five years ago.
In the past year, Jeff Wuslich, co-owner of Cardinal Spirits, worked with Ted Huber, owner of Starlight Distillery in Borden, to encourage the change in Sunday sales practices.
“One difficult thing to wrap your head around is that laws in Indiana are written to limit alcohol consumption. They don’t say, ‘Everybody drink everything, and we’ll back it off.’ It starts with, ‘Nobody drink anything until we give you permission,’” Wuslich said. “I think when you’re in the alcohol industry — a highly regulated industry — you can’t keep your head in the sand. You’ve got to be up there making sure, as laws are going through, that they don’t affect your business in a negative way.”
In addition to Huber, Wuslich worked with state Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, and lobbyist Mike O’Brien to tout Cardinal Spirits’ $2 million economic infusion over two years as a reason for lawmakers to relax Sunday regulations.
“Even though we have this — I don’t know if you want to call it — an awkward relationship when it comes to alcohol in Indiana, the legislators always have seen craft producers’ value. A legislator has thousands of issues each session, and to somebody, each of those issues is the most important thing. What you have to do is try to get some of their mindshare,” Wuslich said. “In our case, Rep. Ed Clere has been very good for distilleries. He was kind of our sherpa; he took our bills around and helped us get it through committee.”
As a representative of Indiana’s House District 72, Clere has been writing bills to create greater alcohol sales freedoms since 2009. In 2013, he succeeded, and the term “artisan distilleries” came to signify a growing industry across the state. To qualify, businesses that had held a valid winery, brewery or distillery permit could apply for an artisan distillery permit. That permit allows such distilleries to produce no more than 10,000 gallons of liquor per calendar year for retail sale and forbids a distiller from selling spirits to a retailer or dealer.