Amy Haneline

amy.haneline@indystar.com

Action at the Indiana General Assembly this year brought another round of changes to Indiana's complex liquor laws. Here are three that go into effect July 1.

1. Growler fills for farm wineries

Dust off those New Day Meadery growlers. An amended law allows the meadery, and other farm wineries, to refill growlers. As it turns out, the popular Indianapolis mead and cider maker had been unknowingly but illegally refilling growlers for customers at its Fountain Square tasting room. Oops.

Excise police kindly but firmly put an end to it in October. They realized that state law prohibited a retailer from refilling containers with alcoholic products unless that retailer held a small brewer's permit. Because New Day Meadery’s products are fermented honey and fruit, not grains, they are licensed as a farm winery, not a small brewer. That will change July 1, when farm wineries will officially be added as an exception for refilling containers.

No more refills at New Day Craft

2. Sunday carry-out sales for artisan distillers

Add your local distillery to a place you can buy alcohol on Sunday despite the state's long-standing ban on sales from liquor stores and groceries. Artisan distilleries will now be allowed to sell their products (vodka, rum, gin, whiskey, etc.) for carry-out on Sundays, a privilege breweries and wineries already have. Wineries were granted permission to sell on Sundays in the early 1980s and breweries in 2010.

Artisan distilling is a new industry to Indiana. Permits were first made available in 2013, and today there are about a dozen in the state including Hotel Tango Whiskey in Fletcher Place, Cardinal Spirits in Bloomington and Starlight Distillery, connected to Huber Winery in Borden. Many of these distilleries are marketed as tourist attractions, and owners say Sunday sales are necessary to complete a visitor’s experience.

Hoosiers have new way to buy alcohol on Sunday

3. Alcohol permits at state parks

Another law going into effect will allow the Department of Natural Resources to apply for a three-way alcohol permit for a state park, bypassing approval from a county’s alcoholic beverage board. This controversial measure had some lawmakers crying foul. They sided with an Indiana Dunes State Park action committee that was formed to fight the measure. The committee said that the provision directly benefits a private company that has a planned beachfront development — restaurant, rooftop bar and banquet center — in the park along Lake Michigan without regard to the community’s opposition. Regardless, the bill passed, possibly opening the door for alcohol sales at Indiana Dunes and other state parks.

Indiana Dunes liquor license denied

Follow IndyStar reporter Amy Haneline on Twitter and Instagram @amybhaneline, and Facebook. Call her at (317) 444-6281.