| There still is a 3 tier system... And the rules didn't just change... people that wanted to make changes had to lobby for years to make it happen... and then it took the right years to make it happen. I've been a part of this activism in New York State for wine, cideries, and to some extent homebrewing my entire life and belong to a number of organizations to help make it happen. There's also never a coincidence on timing and the economy. Governments love an excise tax and "sin" products are heavily taxed and a lot stays at the state level to where when the economy is in the dumps... they are much more willing to listen to lobbyists on ways to boost income for the state. It works every time. In the wake of the "Great Recession," we were able to pass the most amount of pro-winery laws in a generation in New York State, unfortunately, we still came up short for our biggest initiative: WIGS aka Wine in Grocery Stores do to illegal campaign financing from overseas and domestic liquor groups. Albany is still a very dirty space. But prior to the recession, it would cost you $20K to get a license to start a distillery... we got that down to about $600. Wineries can now have 5 outlets or mini-wineries to sell their wine. The list goes on and on and it's had a real impact on jobs in Upstate New York. You'll notice the big rule change for homebrewing happened in 1978... you had the oil crisis... Carter... inflation... and a Congress that was willing to literally let people start making beer in a super unregulated fashion to eventually boost income for the government... and of course create jobs and all that jazz along the way. When the economy tanks again, I expect there will be marijuana legalization at the federal level. |