Expansion of serve yourself bars, breweries proposed in New Hampshire
A New Hampshire lawmaker wants more bars and breweries to have the option of offering self-serve beer and wine to customers.
For the past three years, Leah Bellemore has been pouring glasses of wine like no one else in New Hampshire. Her business, Vine 32 Wine in Bedford, uses self-serve machines from Italy that let the customer determine whether they want a taste, half-serving or full glass of wine.
Bellemore got approval for the business model thanks to a New Hampshire "industry rule" that allowed it.
How it works
"Once they [customers] get walked through the process and they understand how it works, they're blown away, they're like, 'Actually this is brilliant, this is nothing like I thought it would be,'" said Bellemore. "Guests can try different things, make everything a little bit more accessible."
Customers at Vine 32 Wine are given a card when they walk in. They use it to activate the wall of 32 taps but it also tracks how much wine each customer has consumed along with their tab.
"I have actually never seen anything like this before," said customer Nicole Cacciola of Concord, New Hampshire.
"I think this concept is great. It's inviting, it's welcoming. We can go and choose what we want to drink and also try new things which, I think, is great because I am stuck to my one type of thing," said customer Lindsey Dutton of Ware.
Self pour legislation
New Hampshire State Senator Tim Lang is looking to make self-pouring more common and regulated. The idea came to him during a trip to the Republican National Convention last summer in Wisconsin.
"I was waiting on my food and I was able to go up and get my beer without waiting for the waitress to come over and say, 'Can I get you anything else," he said.
Lang says his bill is likely weeks away from becoming law and it has provisions. In his legislation, customers would use a Radio Frequency Identification Device like a card or wristband, just like at Vine 32, to track consumption.
After they reach 32 ounces of beer, or ten ounces of wine, the cards would stop working and customers would have to check-in with an employee to reset it. Lang said this step would ensure customers are not over serving themselves.
"Because it's based on the ounces of pour, I could go take an ounce of a beer if I want to try it and if I don't like it, then I don't have to pay for a whole pint," Lang said.
No hard liquor, mixed drinks
The bill, which has made its way out of the State Senate and into the House for review, would not allow for liquor or mixed drinks to be included.
"We might expand that, but for now let's take a baby step and legalize this," said Lang.
In Massachusetts, bars in Plymouth, Mashpee and Attleboro already have this type of system.
But Lang said it could be a game changer for breweries, with more than 80 of them in New Hampshire alone.
