“Hopefully, it will be a rule that will satisfy both sides,” Rupe said.

The dispute boils down to two words: “at rest.”

State liquor rules require beer to come “at rest” with a distributor, so it can be taxed, before being shipped to a retailer.

Distributors argued that “at rest” meant that beer, both brewed in Nebraska and elsewhere, needed to be trucked to a warehouse and then on to retail locations. To treat in-state brewers differently than out-of-state beer, they argued, guaranteed a lawsuit for not complying with the federal Commerce Clause.

But craft brewers disagreed. They argued that state law was already clear that the “at rest” requirement was different for Nebraska brewers and that the provision was satisfied when their beer was picked up by a distributors’ truck.

Caleb Pollard, who brews beer in the central Nebraska community of Ord, said his Scratchtown beer would be priced out of the market if it had to be shipped 180 miles to his distributor in Omaha, and then back to his customers in central Nebraska and elsewhere.

Pollard said current rules provide some flexibility by allowing a distributor to pick up beer in Ord, then truck it to nearby outlets, without a trip back and forth from Omaha.