Duluth Allows Sunday Liquor Sales in Taprooms

DULUTH - Thanks to a new Minnesota law, local breweries and distilleries are gearing up to pour drinks in their taprooms on Sundays.

Monday, the Duluth City Council passed an ordinance allowing local breweries and distilleries with tap-rooms to serve beer and liquor on Sundays.

"I think it's pretty exciting,” said Duluth city Councilor Howie Hanson. “It's what people want out of our community."

The ordinance passed is Duluth following what the state legislature passed last session.

A Sunday tap-room sale was part of Senator Roger Reinert's Sunday liquor sales bill that didn't go through.

The state is allowing breweries and distilleries with tap rooms to sample and sell their drinks.

Dale Kleinschmidt with Lake Superior Brewing sees the law as a compromise to start the conversation, and allow some type of liquor sale on Sundays.

"We always try to catch the Sunday tourist train as they're heading back to the cities,” Kleinschmidt said. “Maybe they're up doing something up north or out of town, they can stop by the brewery and can check that out."

Breweries and distilleries in Duluth mainly get visitors on Fridays and Saturdays, and they're hoping the extra day will bring in more traffic and essentially more money.

"It's an attraction,” said councilor Hanson. “Anything that builds tourism in this town and helps lower our tax base has my support."

This new ordinance will only affect Minnesota breweries and distilleries with taprooms.

The only places affected in Duluth are Bent Paddle, Lake Superior Brewing, and Vikre Distillery in Canal Park.

The new law does allow breweries to pour drinks on Sundays, but visitors still can't bring home a six-pack, growlers, or bottles of liquor.

Brewers are hoping for the growler law to pass next year.

The next step for the brewers is to apply for a license to sell on Sunday, and they should be up and running by next month.