A task force is meeting to study Iowa’s old and complicated alcohol laws which some say need to be revamped. Garrett Burchett, of LeClaire, represents a dozen “micro-distilleries” on the panel. Burchett runs a vodka distillery near Davenport that opened six years ago and now, his Mississippi River Distilling attracts nearly 60-thousand people a year.
The LeClaire distillery is growing, selling vodka, gin and whiskey to customers in 26 states and three foreign countries. Unfortunately for Burchett, Iowa code requires small distilleries to stop producing liquor once they reach a certain limit.
In addition to the production limit, Burchett says another problem is the company is only allowed to sell two bottles of liquor per day to a customer and they can’t sell any by the glass. Also, free samples are limited to two ounces per person per day. The Iowa Alcohol Policy Task Force is expected to make recommendations to the next legislature. The group’s co-chairs are the directors of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division and Economic Development Authority. The other members represent Iowa’s beer, wine and liquor industries.
