LANSING — The folks at Short's Brewery must have breathed a sigh of relief this week.

Michigan lawmakers nearly unanimously approved a proposal that allows them to brew more beer under their microbrewer license.

The northern Michigan beer maker is expanding its Bellaire brewpub and Elk Rapids production facilities, and expects to produce 35,000 to 40,000 barrels this year, a figure that would push them beyond the current limit of 30,000 barrels for microbrewers.

But a law change would allow microbrewers to produce up to 60,000 barrels per year. Larger operations must be licensed as brewers, a designation that comes with different restrictions. There are only two brewers in Michigan - Bell's Brewery and Founders Brewing Co.

It's among several beer and liquor law bills that received bipartisan support in the Legislature this week and are heading to Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature.

"The package of bills really just helps take away some red tape," said Short's partner Scott Newman-Bale.

Supporters say the moves will boost Michigan's craft beer industry and promote economic growth. They amend state rules that were put in place before the market exploded with some 140 microbreweries.

The legislation allows brewpubs to have an interest in five other brewpubs instead of two if the combined production doesn't exceed 18,000 barrels of beer per year. It also lets brewers and microbrewers sell their beer for on-premise consumption at multiple brewery locations, depending on their size.

Small, startup microbrewers could self-distribute their beer under certain circumstances under another bill.

The changes are a result of more than two years of discussions and debate over Michigan's liquor laws. Several other measures have already been signed into law, including wine tastings at farmers markets, growler sales at bars, BYOB wine regulations and conditional liquor licenses.

Disagreement over whether bar owners should be allowed to use branded barware delayed passage of the recently approved bill package. Both sides recently agreed to a compromise that allows bars and restaurants to purchase glasses, coasters and other items with beer, wine and liquor logos from third-party retailers. They cannot buy them directly from the producer or wholesaler.

"We're glad the Legislature could work out a compromise with both sides," said Scott Ellis, Executive Director of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association. "It's not ideal from what we wanted, but it's very good now that our bar owners can use these secondary use items in their establishments."

Beer and wine wholesalers originally pushed for a ban on the items, arguing restrictions are necessary to prevent large companies from giving a bar free items in exchange for favoring those particular brands.

"Nobody's totally happy with it, but it's going to allow broader use of those things but it still maintains some restrictions that should be able to keep the integrity of a level playing field going forward," said Mike Lashbrook, president of the Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association.

Bell's Brewery founder Larry Bell said he think it's "silly" that bars have to purchase the logoed items from separate retailers rather than his wholesaler like he does in other states.

"In anything like this there's a lot of compromise and lord knows this took a long time to get this far," Bell said. "I think overall it's good in updating the laws that we have."

While one of the recently passed bills allows brewers to sell their beer for on-premise consumption at two brewery locations instead of one, the state's two breweries don't have plans to do so at this point.

Bell is building a new brewery in Escanaba, but said he doesn't plan to sell beer there and isn't looking to open a second bar for his Kalamazoo-based company. A new Bell's pub at the Grand Rapids airport is owned and operated by a separate company as a licensed facility so it wouldn't fall under the restrictions.

Grand Rapids-based Founders Brewing Co., Michigan's only other licensed brewer, doesn't plan to open a second retail spot either.

"Looking into the future, it's not what we're planning on," CEO Mike Stevens said last year.

Email Melissa Anders at manders@mlive.com. Follow her on Google+ and Twitter: @MelissaDAnders. Download the MLive app for iPhone and Android.