ROCKVILLE, Md. — Montgomery County business owners are trying to keep up with the demand for craft beers and fine wines, but an old law is making it tough to fill those drink orders.
County Council President George Leventhal discussed the issue at Friday’s Ad Hoc Committee on Liquor Control meeting. The county uses a prohibition-era system to keep a lock on alcohol distribution. That’s created headaches for bar and restaurant owners who have to funnel their orders through Montgomery’s bureaucracy.
“The problems that we are having with liquor distribution that are making it harder to run a restaurant here are becoming more acute,” council member Hans Riemer said.
Restaurant owners say they get deliveries of products they didn’t order. Or they get what they ordered long after submitting a request. That’s despite a recent update to the county liquor department’s software.
Demands are high: Between the booming craft beer industry and growth of local wineries, there’s an appetite for new and novel items. The county’s old-fashioned distribution can’t keep up. That means the potential loss of business to D.C. and neighboring counties.
“They will put it solely on your shoulders for not having it,” said Michael Jones, Operating Partner of American Tap Room in Bethesda. “And they’ll go elsewhere.”
The county’s liquor control department is working toward improvements by year’s end. Reimer is working with Montgomery County’s delegation to Annapolis to establish a state law that allows private distributors to fill orders for boutique wines and beers, while keeping the county’s monopoly on widely distributed national brands.
Jones hopes the legislation passes. He’s tired of apologizing to his customers for the county’s liquor inventory.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
