Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Blog

Weeks after state liquor regulators banned the sale of caffeine-packed alcoholic drinks, two other liquor concoctions are making their way onto store shelves.
"Cream" is an alcohol-infused whipped cream that comes in a five flavors including chocolate, caramel, raspberry, vanilla and cherry. The product contains 15 percent alcohol by volume, three times the amount found in most beers and wines.

Cream has already arrived on the shelves of some Massachusetts' liquor stores.
"You definitely know that there's alcohol in it," Max Pendolari, general manager of the Wine Emporium in Boston's South End, told WCBV-Channel 5. "Most bottles of wine would have the same alcoholic content."

A similar product, Whipped Lightning, is being sold in at least a dozen other states.
Pendolari said he's had Cream in stock for about a month and it has been flying off the shelves. The $12.99 product is most popular with men and women between the ages of 25 and 35."You could use it to top off your cocktail, you could use it to top off your hot chocolate," said Pendolari.

Pendolari didn't think the product would be a problem in the homes of consumers with small children because Cream cannot be refrigerated. "The alcohol separates from the cream," said Pendolari. "You're more apt to keep this in a liquor cabinet as opposed to your refrigerator."

The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, which banned popular stimulant-packed alcoholic drinks a few weeks ago, including Four Loko, has not commented on whether any kind of regulations would be taken on the new alcohol-infused whipped creams.

Falmouth Selectmen reduced its suspension of the Cape Verdean Club's liquor license this week from 60 days to two weeks after conducting its second hearing related to several parties that have taken place there leading to noise complaints, fights, a stabbing, and a police officer being injured, according to the Cape Cod News.

At the beginning of November, the board voted to suspend the license for two months, but the action became nullified after it was discovered representatives from the Cape Verdean Club had not picked up the certified letter until after the hearing.
"You have to show they had notice of the hearing before you can go forward," Falmouth Town Counsel Frank K. Duffy Jr. said. Before this week's hearing was conducted, he said, Constable James M. Crossen delivered the hearing notice by hand to Cape Verdean Club representatives.

"This doesn't happen very often," Mr. Duffy said, noting that if selectmen did not re-hear the case this week, the Cape Verdean Club could have appealed the decision to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission because they were not given proper notice.

At the root of the problem, Falmouth Police Chief Anthony J. Riello said, have been incidents that have occurred over the past two years, which his department has responded to and which have gotten increasingly worse. Since February, he said, there have been four parties that stood out that he briefly highlighted. The last took place in October, he said, in which Officer Andrew Loewen suffered a broken nose while apprehending a suspect who was involved in a fight outside the club.

Patrons can now order alcohol at the Ramada Inn and DiParma Italian Tables Restaurant, according to patch.com, an online local newspaper. After the Board of Selectmen suspended the liquor license of Seekonk Hospitality Group Inc. in November for not filing correct paperwork and failing to rectify legal requirements, business has been tough.

But board members last week reinstated a temporary liquor license until the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) will approve updated paperwork. DiParma owner Teddy Zemolous said he was thrilled the liquor license was reinstated.

A new Massachusetts law has dropped the age for getting a state-issued identification card from 16 to 14, allowing everyone old enough to get a worker's permit to also get an ID establishing their name, address and date of birth. It also provides official information to police enforcing curfew laws.

The law change was pushed by Rep. John Fresolo, D-Worcester. He initially was told teens needed an ID to get a worker's permit. He later found out that wasn't the case, but believed offering the cards to teens as soon as they can legally work made sense. Worker's permits, which are issued by schools, can be granted starting at 14.

Massachusetts charges $25 for official identification cards, which are issued by the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Those issued to people under 21 are printed vertically, so they cannot be used for illegal liquor purchases. The rest are printed horizontally, just like a driver's license.

Applicants can obtain the cards only after meeting the same requirements for a driver's license: a birth certificate and Social Security card, as well as a parental signature on the applications forms of those under age 18.

People lacking a Social Security number must bring in a denial letter from the federal government, as well as a valid visa, I-94 form or a noncurrent U.S. passport.

Successful applicants then have their picture taken, introducing their personal information into the Registry database two years earlier than previously allowed.

"This new eligibility requirement fills a void that has long been needed," said MassDOT Registrar Rachel Kaprielian. "We've had to turn away a number of adolescents under age 16 hoping to acquire an official photo ID because they are looking for summer work or were involved in an intern program."

Fresolo, who sponsored the change, said: "You go in with a picture ID as opposed to some other form of identification, it's a lot easier for the person issuing a work permit."

At the Nov. 3 Seekonk (MA) Board of Selectmen meeting, members suspended Seekonk Hospitality Group's liquor license until they filed updated paperwork with the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC). The snag forced The Ramada Inn and the adjacent Di Parma Restaurant - which uses the license to serve patrons - to remove all alcohol from the premises.

After the announcement was announced, Di Parma owner Teddy Zembolous said that he wanted to make the situation right.

Di Parma opened in July and is still trying to build its business. "It's like you trying to work without a pen," a bartender at Di Parma told the website patch.com. "I'm a bartender with no booze."

The Selectmen maintain that their actions were warranted and necessary.

"It was a difficult decision, but it wasn't made lightly," said Chairman Bob Richardson. "They had six months to get it right."

"It was more like nine months," said selectman David Parker. "They submitted paperwork three or four times and each time it was wrong," Parker continued, "Somebody could have come after us for giving them too much slack."

Di Parma owners now must bring their latest set of paperwork before the board on the Wednesday, Nov. 24, meeting, for approval. If the paperwork passes the board's inspection, it will go to the ABCC.

The state will restrict sales of the popular and potent alcoholic beverage Four Loko, as Boston city councilors consider their own ban of the controversial drink, the Boston Herald reports.

Available in nine flavors and for the student-friendly price of $3 for a 23.5-ounce can, Loko contains 12 percent alcohol by volume, about the same amount as a bottle of wine. But what has convinced critics that it is bad news is its other ingredient: caffeine.

The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission said yesterday it will file an emergency regulation next Monday to control sales of caffeinated alcoholic drinks that are classified as malt beverages, WBZ-TV reported.

Meanwhile, City Councilor John Connolly told the Herald he will call for a hearing to explore a city ban of such drinks. "You look at how many college kids we have in Boston," said Connolly, who is leading the charge along with colleague Mark Ciommo. "Somebody is going to die here."

Four Loko said in a statement it is "disappointed" by the proposed city ban "because we know curbing alcohol abuse will not be accomplished by singling out a lone product."

Mayor Thomas M. Menino supports banning the beverage statewide, said his spokeswoman. Michigan, Oklahoma, Utah and Washington have banned sales of the drink, and Connecticut liquor wholesalers have agreed to voluntarily suspend shipments.

Student-run newspapers at Tufts and Northeastern universities have reported on students being hospitalized after drinking the concoction.

The Patriot Ledger reports that the Norwell police department has gotten all but two of the liquor license holders in town to agree to participate in its new designated driver program, which it hopes to launch before Thanksgiving.

Officer Tim O'Brien, who has spearheaded the effort, told the Ledger that nine of Norwell's bars and restaurants have joined the program and will offer free non-alcoholic beverages to people who volunteer to be a group's designated driver. "If someone designates themselves as the driver, they can't have even a beer or a glass of wine," O'Brien said.

Hingham police have run such a program for the last eight years and built up a 100 percent participation rate.

Most of Norwell's liquor license holders are on Route 53, but at least one is on Route 123. The move to establish an official designated driver program comes as Norwell police report an increase in the number of drunken-driving arrests.

Police Chief Theodore Ross did not offer statistics but he said arrests are on the rise due to a few factors.

"One is the vigilance of citizens who have cell phone and report erratic drivers, cars that almost hit a pole or are speeding," Ross said.

His officers have also stepped up enforcement, tapping grant funding aimed solely at catching drunken drivers.

Ross said the suspected drunken drivers caught in Norwell are not all coming from local bars and restaurants. Some are adults and underage drinkers who were at private parties.

O'Brien hopes to, before Thanksgiving, publicize the bars and restaurants that are participating in the designated driver program. Alcohol-related car crashes killed 108 people in Massachusetts in 2009, down from 148 in 2005, according to statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The town of Reading, at Town Meeting earlier this week, voted 93 to 44 to petition the State Legislature) to grant the town the ability to grant a sixth license to sell all alcoholic beverages. Town Manager Peter Hechenbleiker told Wicked Local Reading: "We have had indications that a developer will bring a grocery store to the Downtown Smart Growth District if a liquor license were available. That is the rationale behind this request. Selectman Rich Hubert added, "This will help us develop the downtown area that we have been working hard to improve."

A half dozen members spoke against another liquor store in the community, arguing that it wasn't needed and wasn't wanted. Concern was expressed that once the license was granted to a company, it would be difficult to control what kind of store was built.

In a close vote, Massachusetts voters decided Tuesday to repeal the 6.25 percent tax on alcohol and restore the sales tax exemption liquor enjoyed until last year. Package store owners near the New Hampshire border argued that the tax had resulted in the loss of business to the tax-free Granite State.

Many in the liquor industry, which raised more than $2.5 million for the repeal effort, also noted that alcohol was already subject to an excise tax.

"The voters supported Question One because it's unfair to double tax one product and because it was putting too many local businesses at a competitive disadvantage," said P.J. Foster, a spokeswoman for the Yes on One Committee, in a statement.

However, repeal opponents said alcohol wasn't deserving of a sales tax exemption and warned that repealing the tax would result in the loss of more than $100 million in state revenue, much of which is earmarked for community-based alcohol treatment programs. Proponents of the repeal promised to work to maintain funding for substance abuse services, but it may be difficult to do so.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that the Price Chopper supermarket chain returned its liquor license to the town of Lee, about two weeks after it stopped selling beer and wine at its store on West Park Street. The 128-store chain decided to relinquish its license in Lee in order to sell beer and wine at a much larger supermarket that has opened in Shrewsbury on Tuesday.

The Schenectady. N.Y.-based chain operates five of its nine Massachusetts stores in Berkshire County, and also sells beer and wine at its supermarkets in Pittsfield and Lenox.

But state law prohibits an individual or business from holding more than three "off-premises" liquor licenses in Massachusetts, meaning a supermarket or liquor store (where alcohol is not consumed on the premises). Restaurants are not subject to the three-license limit.

The Shrewsbury supermarket is significantly larger than the Price Chopper in Lee, which is the fifth smallest store in the entire chain. Price Chopper currently operates the only supermarket in Lee. Big Y Foods is building a 48,000 square foot supermarket at the former Diesel Dan's Truck Stop on Route 102 that is expected to open by the end of next year.