E-Malt.com News article: Canada, NS: Consultations begin on in-store beer brewing regulations in Nova Scotia

Consultations to develop regulations that would allow people in Nova Scotia to make wine or beer in stores will start this week, Globalnews.ca reported on January 14.

The provincial government says it will work with the beer brewing and winemaking industry to develop regulations and standards that are expected to be introduced in the next legislative session.

“I know people enjoy it as a hobby and I think that it is a service that is important and we should be able to provide it,” said Diana Whalen, the minister in charge of the province’s Liquor Control Act.

Wine Kitz owner Ross Harrington welcomed the news as “exciting.”

“We’ll have input to change our future,” he said.

The right to make beer and wine in so-called U-vint stores flared up a year ago, when the province’s Crown-owned liquor agency sought a court order to prevent the owners of Wine Kitz Halifax and Water ‘n’ Wine in New Glasgow from producing wine and beer in their shops.

“A government levy on every batch made in-store [is] really hard to justify if you’re not going to put the fee on a take-home customer,” said Harrington.

The previous NDP government later ordered Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. to drop the case in the face of a growing public backlash.

The deadline for input is February 10.


15 January, 2014