An outcry over new regulations for New Jersey’s craft breweries could spur action by Gov. Phil Murphy and lawmakers, who say they are studying how best to help the state’s burgeoning craft beer industry.

Calling the industry "a growing and vibrant sector" of the economy, Murphy spokesman Dan Bryan said Wednesday that the governor was concerned about the "unintended consequences" of the rules issued by his own administration and had directed his staff to review "all options to alleviate unnecessary burdens on our state’s craft breweries."

Lawmakers are also clamoring to come to the aid of those businesses, which now number 88 in New Jersey. One lobbyist for beer makers said he had been contacted by lawmakers from every part of the state after many brewery owners and supporters reacted negatively this week to the new rules.

“It’s north, south, east, west. It’s both parties. It’s both houses,” said Eric Orlando, executive director of the Brewers Guild of New Jersey, describing those who had reached out. “The word has gotten out about the special ruling, and there are a lot of legislators who want to help.”

But any action by Murphy, a Democrat, or the Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, could negate months’ worth of negotiations among representatives from the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, craft breweries, restaurants, bars and other groups, who met repeatedly to discuss the new regulations before they were issued last Friday.

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Those regulations, published as a "special ruling" by the division, sought to clarify what breweries can and cannot do under a 2012 state law aimed at spurring the growth of New Jersey's craft beer industry. Previous guidance was murky or incomplete.

“I know that there are some people upset, but they were probably doing things they shouldn’t have been doing anyway,” said Marilou Halvorsen, president of the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association, which was involved in the negotiations. “A lot of them were operating outside of the intent of the original legislation in 2012.”

For example, Halvorsen said, some breweries were serving food and hosting weddings and banquets even though those activities were not explicitly authorized by the law.

Among the lawmakers critical of the new regulations is Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr., R-Union, who was a lead sponsor of the 2012 law credited with the rapid spread of craft breweries throughout the state.

“I think the ABC went too far,” Kean said, using the acronym for the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. “A section of government is trying to pull down or rein in a true area of economic opportunity.”

Kean said Wednesday that he had reached out to the Murphy administration to urge that the ABC reassess its position. Should that route fail, he said, he may introduce legislation to prevent the rules from having a “chilling effect” on the industry.

Another of the bill sponsors, now in Congress, urged state policymakers to reverse course.

"It’s disappointing that, after cutting through the red tape, the state is again putting up obstacles and over-regulating this fast-growing small-business sector," said Rep. Donald Norcross, D-Camden.

Many craft beer makers and their supporters have been up in arms this week as the full effects of the new regulations have come into focus. Breweries will now be limited to hosting 25 events and 52 private parties a year and will be restricted in terms of showing sports on TV or providing take-out menus from area restaurants, as just a few examples.

But they also gained new privileges.

“The current laws say you can’t sell food. The special ruling said you can sell snacks,” Orlando said. “There’s nothing in statute which allows a brewery to host an event off their premise on their own. The special ruling would allow that — 12 a year.”

Halvorsen, whose organization was concerned that breweries were acting too much like bars and restaurants, said breweries are actually “on the winning side of this.”

Yes, the new rules set some new boundaries, she said, but they also preserve breweries' special ability to bypass the state’s three-tiered system of alcohol distribution. That system distinguishes among manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.

“[Breweries] actually can do all three, and there’s no other group that can do that,” Halvorsen said. “So they have significantly more privileges than traditional bars and restaurants do.”

Michael Halfacre, executive director of the Beer Wholesalers’ Association of New Jersey, which works with many craft breweries, also expressed support Wednesday for the new regulations.

“We are proud of our role in the explosive growth of the New Jersey craft beer segment since the 2012 change in the law,” Halfacre said in a statement. “However, our members fully support the three-tier system, and believe in equality of opportunity across all three tiers.

“Since the craft brewers have privileges in all three tiers, their ‘most favored’ status includes greater responsibility,” he continued. “To the extent that this ruling emphasizes those responsibilities and brings clarity to the regulation of the alcohol beverage industry, we applaud the director’s efforts.”

Other sponsors of the 2012 law that spurred the growth of craft breweries included Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, who is now the speaker of the Assembly, and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union.

Coughlin spokeswoman Liza Acevedo said in a statement that the purpose of that legislation was to “help create small-business opportunities and foster a vibrant craft beer industry, which has proven successful in generating new jobs and growing our state’s economy."

She said the speaker had instructed his staff to "thoroughly and carefully" review the ruling to make sure it is consistent with goals of the legislation.

Bramnick did not respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, declined to comment.

Email: pugliese@northjersey.com