If you’re at a bar and you ask to sample a beer, the bartender will pour you a small sip for free, but if you go to a grocery store or wine shop that’s hosting a tasting, the same small sample will cost you – usually 25 or 50 cents. It’s not necessarily because the retailer is cheap, it’s just been the law in Ohio that off-premise shops have to charge for tastings.

Recently passed legislation will permit off-premise retailers with a D-8 permit to offer samples of beer and wine for free – liquor samples will still require a mimimum 50 cent sample fee. Don’t get too excited about “free beer” though – the retailer can only give you a two-ounce sample. Still, this change will likely encourage more retailers to host tastings to get their portfolio of products in front of a new audience.

Inexplicably, in order to obtain a D-8 permit a retailer must have at least 60% of its inventory be wine, rendering beer-only shops like Crafted Drafts ineligible to get the permit and thus unable to offer tastings.

The bill was passed on April 29 and will go into effect July 10. The full bill can be viewed online.