Southern Indiana bars, restaurants welcome carryout alcohol sales
Southern Indiana bars and restaurants say the opportunity to sell carryout alcohol will help bring in extra income and reduce inventory as they struggle to stay afloat during the coronavirus outbreak.
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed an executive order on Monday allowing the sales.
"That's going to be a huge help for this time," said Zach Ruoff, beverage director for The Exchange in downtown New Albany. "We're keeping the doors open. We're staying positive."
The order suspends the Indiana law requiring alcoholic beverages sold at bars and restaurants to be consumed on the premises and suspends the law prohibiting bars and restaurants from "the fill, refill and carryout of alcoholic beverages in bottle and containers.
The order does not mean Indiana residents can walk out of a bar with an open container.
But for a place like Pints and Union, it means they'll be able to sell their bottled, canned and draft inventory before all that beer goes bad.
"We have ten draft lines," said Roger Baylor, the beer director at Pints and Union. "Some places have 100, 50."
For all the opportunity it provides, the order also poses many questions.
Should pubs like Pints and Union buy growlers, those glass gallon jugs that can be filled with draft beer and sealed easily, to help unload their draft beer? If they do, what are the chances it will be a profitable investment, Baylor wondered. For now, he thinks, they will leave it up to customers to bring their own.
Then there are the conflicting rules about carryout food sales versus carryout alcohol sales. Restaurants are currently bringing food to the curb or parking lot, to avoid having customers inside. But Indiana law treats carryout alcohol sales, which typically occur at liquor stores, differently, Baylor said.
"We can't do the curbside and we can't leave the door with the alcoholic beverages," he said. "So if someone calls in and says they want to have a couple sandwiches and four beers, they're going to have to come inside. Therefore, we're going to have to arrange some things to comply with that because I suspect that, at least in Indiana, that's how we're going to be graded at this time."
Nevertheless, Baylor said he welcomes the executive order. The former owner of the New Albanian Brewing Company has seen downtown New Albany's revitalization over the past 20 years, progress he does not want to see reversed because businesses are forced to close during the outbreak.
"This is the segment that sort of came together, a lot of entrepreneurial spirit, a lot of investment," he said. "I think it's important to realize a lot of these buildings wouldn't have been in all likelihood reclaimed and refurbished if not for the businesses, many of which have been food and beverage."