Growlers in Eden Prairie

Mr Neal- I am a resident of St. Louis Park, MN, and I frequently shop, do business and dine in Eden Prairie. I am also a home brewer and a member of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association, and I appreciate good beer, specifically the fine brewpub beer at Hops restaurant in Eden Prairie. I was disappointed to learn that the city of Eden Prairie opted not to allow the sales of sealed, off-sale "growlers" of beer from brewpubs, following the passage of the state law that makes such sales possible. I'm sure that you have considered the pro's and con's of allowing such sales, just as our representatives in the state legislature did. I was informed that two issues in particular concerned you: 1) That people would act irresponsibly with growlers As I understand it, the growlers would be sealed at the point of sale with a shrink-wrap band. Breaking this shrink wrap while in a vehicle would, of course, violate open bottle laws, just as cracking a flip-top on a can of beer from a liquor store would. I don't believe that people who would never think of breaking the tab on a can of beer would for some reason break the shrink wrap on a growler. I don't believe this argument has merit. 2) That selling growlers would cause competition for city-owned liquor stores This may or may not be the case, but I believe that it is a conflict-of-interest for the city council to refuse to allow the sale of growlers for this reason, and a disservice to your community. In any case, you currently have ONE brewpub that could profit from your allowing the sale of growlers. It seems unlikely that the thousands of Bud, Miller, Busch, etc fans who purchase cases of beer for their events are for some reason going to switch to growlers instead. You may think that since I am not a resident of Eden Prairie that my opinion doesn't count. But the Twin Cities metropolitan area is a very small place, and my dollars do count. For the time being, I will be patronizing businesses in other cities that have passed ordinances allowing off-sale growlers, and I am encouraging my friends and members of my Association to do the same. I hope that Eden Prairie will soon rethink their position on this, and we can begin to enjoy fine Eden Prairie-brewed craft beers in the comfort of our homes. Thanks for your consideration Al Boyce member, Minnesota Home Brewers Association