Ohioans hoping to taste limited release Stone Brewing offerings are now in luck.
The Escondido, California-headquartered craft brewery has launched direct-to-consumer shipping to the Buckeye State through its One Batch Dispatch program — and more states will follow.
The specialty lineup launched in August with Orange Scream Hazy IPA, which was available through DTC shipping within California and at Stone taprooms. The series launched Spirit Shroud hazy double IPA in October. Stone “sold out of both online within a matter of days,” a brewery spokesperson told Brewbound.
Stone rolled out the third beer in the series — Mango Maya Milkshake IPA — on Wednesday, and with it, shipping to Ohio.
The beer is the result of a collaboration with Rusty Burrell, the winner of a homebrew competition Stone hosted with the American Homebrewers Association at its brewery in Richmond, Virginia in 2019. Burrell, a Richmond native who details his homebrewing on Instagram at @rustybarrelhomebrewing, first brewed it to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday. Mango Maya Milkshake IPA (8% ABV) is a hazy IPA brewed with mango, coconut, vanilla bean and lactose.
True to the series’ name, only one batch of Mango Maya Milkshake IPA has been made and, like its two predecessors, it will only be available at Stone taprooms and through direct shipments.
“Our One Batch Dispatch program was designed to offer our fans some of that exclusivity of dropping in on their local brewery and picking up something you can’t get anywhere else,” the Stone spokesperson said. “So fan engagement is at the heart of this program. It’s also another outlet for our brewers to really flex their creativity and you never know where that might lead.”
To ship beer to Ohio, brewers must obtain the state’s type S shipper license, which costs $25 and must be renewed annually, according to Sovos ShipCompliant. Shippers must track customer information, including the volume contained in each shipment, and file a report each year.
Other states that allow interstate DTC shipments include Alaska, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kentucky, Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C., according to a report published by Sovos ShipCompliant and the Brewers Association (BA). Stone is working to set up shipments to Virginia and Washington, D.C., the spokesperson said.
Oregon allows interstate DTC shipments “from breweries located in states that will license Oregon breweries to ship beer DTC to their residents,” Sovos ShipCompliant noted. In Pennsylvania, breweries must obtain a wholesaler or off-premise retail license in the state to ship DTC.
California has long allowed its nearly 1,000 craft breweries to ship directly to consumers within the state. Last month, Portland, Oregon-headquartered Great Notion Brewing opened a fulfillment center in Sacramento to take advantage of the in-state shipping privilege. Many other states allow DTC shipping within their borders, but few offer a market large enough to warrant opening new locations the way California does.
Other leading craft breweries dabbling in interstate DTC shipping include Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Firestone Walker, and Deschutes (only to Washington, D.C.). Currently, only licensed private carriers, such as UPS and FedEx, are allowed to ship alcoholic beverages.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) Shipping Equity Act, which has been introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, would allow the USPS to carry alcohol. The bill is a legislative priority for the BA, which says it would grant breweries in rural areas without UPS or FedEx service the ability to ship their products.
“The USPS Shipping Equity Act supports consumer choice and offers producers – many of whom are in rural or remote areas – the opportunity to reach their adult customers that may otherwise be unable to purchase the product locally or travel to acquire it,” the BA wrote. “Direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping serves as an important complement to the traditional three-tier system of beverage alcohol distribution. Allowing the USPS to compete in this market would be beneficial to breweries and consumers by supporting consumer choice.”
Opposing the bill is a top priority for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, which argues that granting USPS this privilege would undermine the 21st Amendment, which gives states the authority over the manufacture and sale of alcohol within their borders.
“This allows states to establish an alcohol regulatory framework that appropriately balances the demands of the marketplace with consumer protection, revenue collection, and public safety concerns, including the improper sale, mishandling, misuse, and abuse of alcohol,” the NBWA wrote in its policy position piece on the bill. “Legislation to allow the USPS to ship beverage alcohol undermines nearly 90 years of well-established state alcohol regulatory authority while threatening the public health and safety benefits fundamental to the current alcohol regulatory structure.