Westfield's Lions Roar Brewing Faces Restrictions Amid New State Rules

WESTFIELD, NJ — With the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) cracking down on microbreweries throughout the state, Westfield's own Lion Roars Brewing Co. is facing a myriad of restrictions.

The new rules, which went into effect July 1, significantly limit the number events that local breweries can hold on-site, which Lions Roar General Manager and Events Coordinator Maddie Bowen said will have the most significant impact on the business.

As a result of the ABC's new rules, microbreweries can only hold up to 25 on-site events and 52 private parties per year. Each business can attend up to 12 off-site events.

Read more: New Restrictions Could 'Squash' Local Breweries: Westfield Mayor

Bowen said the brewery has loved hosting trivia nights, yoga events, live music and Octoberfest at the taproom, but with the new restrictions, they are limited to how many of these events — which bring in a lot of revenue — they can hold each year.

"It's very restrictive," Bowen said. "And I think at a town like Westfield, people love our live music nights. We know that there's a market for these special events, [but] we have to be so careful with how we place them throughout the year because we're trying to scatter 25 events over 52 weeks of operation."

"It just really holds us back from making more money, therefore growing more and therefore being able to offer more," Bowen added.

The Westfield Town Council met Tuesday night and voted on a resolution to approve "person-to-person transfer of liquor licenses," as well as a resolution in opposition of the NJ Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control's special conditions on Limited Brewery Licenses. The council passed these resolutions unanimously.

Mayor Shelley Brindle was absent from this week's meeting, but Councilman Mark Parmelee relayed a message from the mayor, saying that she believes these new restrictions put an unnecessary burden on small breweries like Lions Roar, who are still digging out from the pandemic.

"Dictating terms such as limiting the number and size of TVs they can have, how many events a brewery can host, etc, is a deflection from what really needs to change, and that is New Jersey’s archaic liquor license laws which should be immediately addressed by the State Legislature," Parmelee said on Brindle's behalf.

The Mayor is a member of the NJ League of Municipalities Liquor License Reform Task Force, and she plans to collaborate on potential legislation that modernizes liquor license laws in order to drive economic development, while mitigating any potential impact to current license holders, Parmelee said.

The new restrictions from the ABC aim to distinguish microbreweries from traditional bars, and thus limit the full capabilities of small breweries.

Bowen said, in her understanding, it all "boils down to money."

"Liquor licenses in the state of New Jersey are a lot more expensive than these limited brewing licenses that we hold, and pub licenses are even more expensive," Bowen said.

Bowen explained that a brew pub is a place that can make and sell their own beer but also as have a restaurant where they serve food. Lions does not have its own kitchen, and Bowen said it has no intentions of becoming a brew pub.

"We were never really fighting for a full kitchen or [to sell] liquor. We're a microbrewery. Other bigger breweries might love to have a full kitchen if they have the space for it, but ... I would love to just be able to partner with local restaurants," Bowen said.

"I think a lot of the restriction comes from making sure that there's fair competition, but I think they almost overcorrected, and now there's unfair competition," Bowen said.

The new restrictions prevent microbreweries from selling food on the premises or collaborating with local food vendors. Microbreweries may provide menus from local restaurants, but they can't have an exclusive relationship with them. Microbreweries can only serve "de minimis" types of foods, such as nuts or packaged crackers.

Lions encourages people to "BYOF" (Bring Your Own Food) and Bowen said people often order food from local restaurants to eat at the brewery.

You can learn more about the brewery on their about page and check out their wide variety of IPAs, hard seltzers and ales on their taplist.

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