From this week government liquor stores will be able to sell up to a dozen craft beers from their local microbreweries, over and above those already supplied to them by the BC Liquor Distribution Branch.

The move should help break up a logjam in the province’s liquor distribution system that essentially bars most locally brewed beers from getting space on store shelves, according to Ken Beattie, president of the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild.

Government liquor stores in B.C. carry around 650 beer labels, with 143 B.C. microbrewery products listed right now, said April Kemick, communications manager for B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch. She said that over the last year BCLS had listed around 375 labels from local microbreweries, including some seasonal and time-limited ones.

Beattie said if each of the 196 government liquor stores chooses 12 more local labels, hundreds more labels could be on display across the province. Earning a distribution listing had become akin to a lottery win for new brewers, he said.

“This is something we’ve been discussing with the government for some time,” said Beattie. “We are thrilled that government stores can support local business and pride of place.”

Some store managers have made the effort to bring in local beers in response to customer requests — by taking direct delivery from the brewers — but the products were not supposed to be given shelf space.

“It was kind of a grey area where they could bring in the beers as a temporary spec listing, but this really formalizes that approach and allows them to put the beers out in the store,” said Beattie.

The program is open to breweries that produce less than 1.5 million litres of beer annually, and the six closest breweries qualify as local for any one store. The liquor branch estimates that 102 breweries could qualify for the program, up from 57 that would have been eligible five years ago.

Craft brewers have complained for years that it is too difficult to get the liquor branch to carry their products as full time listings.

“The challenge is that the distribution network is full, there is no room at the inn,” said Beatty. “No one really envisioned how fast craft beer would grow in B.C. The stores haven’t got any bigger and the warehouses aren’t any bigger, so they literally don’t have room.”

Two-year-old Four Winds Brewing — named brewery of the year at the 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards — has only one beer in B.C. government liquor stores, their Four Winds India Pale Ale.

“We made applications for four beers and one was accepted,” said co-owner Greg Mills. “We didn’t get any explanation for why the other three were turned down.”

The program will give a real boost to small brewers who want to stay small, according to Evan Quinn, sales manager at Powell Street Brewing.

“This is huge for us,” he said. “It allows us to be creative and brew great beer without committing to the quantities required to support a provincewide distribution listing.”

rshore@vancouversun.com

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