Winona opens up for small breweries

Brewers will now be able to sell directly to customer

Small breweries are well known in places like La Crosse, and thanks to some changes in the state’s alcohol sales laws, towns in Minnesota could see more sprouting up, as well. 

Winona changed city statutes to match the state at this week’s city council meeting that would allow small breweries, in-house brewing and micro-distilleries to sell directly to customers.

City Clerk Monica Hennessey Mohan describes the changes in the law.

“Minnesota is now allowing (small breweries) to sell their product for consumption on the premises,” she said. “In the past, it was a brewery that would make the beer, a distributor that would sell it to the retailers and the retailers that would sell it to the public.”

Mohan says, so far, no one has come forward with an idea to create a micro-brewery in Winona, but she anticipates there will be interest.

“The bottom line is we’re just updating our city code to reflect some of those statute changes,” she said. “We’re just positioning the city to be more open.”