Visitors to the Outer Banks can experience the convenience and novelty of any one of five Brew Thru locations in the area, delighting in the fact that they can drive their Jeeps, SUVs and other vehicles literally through the store to pick up cold drinks from sodas to beer and more.

As Philip Foreman, the company president and owner, prepares to celebrate 50 years of Brew Thru next year, he said he’d like to be able to add some spirits-based ready-to-drink beverages to his coolers for folks to pick up instead of having to make a special trip to the ABC store.

It seems that many people are looking for seltzer-based beverages that contain spirits like vodka, not malt-based.

These beverages often have fewer calories and a lower alcohol content, but it’s the wrong kind of alcohol – spirits can only be sold in the state’s ABC stores.

“These canned cocktails are not hard liquor,” he explained, and he wants to be able to add them to the products that he can legally sell.

Foreman said he’s excited about the 50-year anniversary coming up, and he thinks it’s only fair that these ready-to-drink products find themselves on Brew Thru shelves along with their other choices, which range from beverages to t-shirts and other merchandise.

“Everybody comes through for the first time and then they’re hooked,” he said in a recent interview. “It’s a fun way to shop,” he said. “We work really hard to make sure our employees are super friendly – it’s an experience going to a Brew Thru versus going to a store.”

Foreman is advocating for passage of a bill which would allow these RTDs to be sold in retail locations and not just at ABC stores.

N.C. District 32 Rep. Bryan Cohn told WIZS that House Bill 921 would allow retailers who are licensed to sell beer and wine to carry canned cocktails that could contain up to 9.9 percent ABV, but that bill has not cleared the full House. The Senate’s version – Senate Bill 198 – does not include retail RTD access, Cohn said, but both bills remain active.

According to Cohn, State Sen. Tim Moffitt (R-Dist. 48) has said publicly that if the House bill clears, the Senate will take it up. “Until that happens, nothing changes,” Cohn said.

Moffit told NC Newsline (see link here) and reporter/writer Brandon Kingdollar of the publication in a Tuesday story (link here), “The Senate’s approach to alcohol legislation this biennium was more of a technical corrections type of bill where we were working directly with the ABC Commission on some of the hurdles that a lot of our ABC permittees have to deal with.” Sen. Moffitt told NC Newsline, “If the House can get their bill over to the Senate, then the Senate will consider it.”

Senate Bill 198 and House Bill 921 haven’t been passed yet and seem to be somewhat stuck. There’s some wording that has to be refined, Foreman said, but he’s hopeful that the omnibus bills will pass.

He said he’s not trying to take any business away from the ABC stores; rather, he contends that the drinks should be more accessible and convenient to purchase.

North Carolina is one of 17 states that emerged from the Prohibition era with controls over the sale of spirits. Of those 17 states, 12 already have revised their laws to allow for a low-beverage spirit-based RTD to be sold in retail outlets. And Foreman wants to add North Carolina to that list.

“That’s not fair,” Foreman said. “I just want to be treated fairly. It’s not only me upset about this.”

“It’s not getting rid of the ABC system,” Foreman said. “I’m just against controlled states competing with taxpaying retailers on a low alcohol beverage cocktail.”

Nothing in the bills change the way the alcohol is regulated – that part remains the same, he explained. But it would allow for wholesalers to deliver RTDs to restaurants and retail outlets along with the wine and beer they currently put on their trucks and which often have a higher ABV than the canned cocktails.

(This is not a paid ad. The text above and audio below explore social, business and legislative issues in NC. This is not a promotion of any kind or for alcohol consumption. “TownTalk” is a public affairs presentation of WIZS News.)

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