Mar 6, 2015 3 min read

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s beer distributors received the go-ahead Friday to sell brew by the 12-pack.

In an advisory opinion, lawyers for Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said distributors may sell 12-packs if the manufacturer designates them for sale as such.

The opinion clarifies rules for the state’s brewers and beer distributors, which had to sell beer mainly by the case or keg for decades.

“This is the biggest thing to happen to beer since 1933,” when Prohibition ended, said Pittsburgh distributor Frank Pistella, a vice president of Pennsylvania Malt Beverage Distributors Association whose business was involved in seeking the legal opinion.

Pistella noted the price of specialty beers is now around $40 a case.

“That’s a big investment if you haven’t tried something,” he said.

“Now you can hand the (cashier) a $20 bill and get a little change back,” said Sean Casey, founder and owner of The Church Brew Works, a brew pub and microbrewery in Pittsburgh.

Local beer distributors like the ruling.

“It’s a good thing,” said Tim Byers, manager of Valley Brook Beer in Canonsburg, who thinks the move will give customers more choice. “There are some new beers and seasonal beers that someone’s never tried before and they don’t want to pay a lot for a case if they’re not sure they’re going to like. It might help small breweries because it will give people into the craft beers a chance to try different beers without throwing out a lot of money for a case.”

Taylor Haskins of Eighty Four Distributing Inc. said customers from out of state don’t realize they can only buy beer by the case from distributors.

“A lot of people who moved here from out of state because of the gas wells don’t know Pennsylvania beer laws and they get mad when they’re looking to buy a six-pack or a 12-pack and I tell them we only sell by the case. It’s going to bring more business in.”

He also said it will help distributors compete against some grocery stores that can sell six- and 12-packs to customers.

“It’s a win for us and for customers, I’d say. We have a lot of beer drinkers who like to buy 6-packs of different beers instead of having to buy a case of one brand of beer, but when they go to the store or the bar for a couple of 6-packs, they’re paying a lot more than they would if they come to the distributor for a 12-pack.”

The opinion bars distributors from breaking up a case consisting of two 12-packs and selling them separately, so they may have to sell down their current inventory before they order containers designated for sale as 12-packs.

Beer can be purchased in six-packs and 12-packs at some Pennsylvania bars, convenience stores and supermarkets, but usually at higher prices than distributors charge.

The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives is trying for the second time in as many years to privatize the operations of much of the state-controlled wine and liquor store system, but Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vowed to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.