New Jersey officials limiting activities at microbreweries

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey has issued new rules limiting the amount of events microbreweries can host.

David Rible, director of the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, signed a special ruling Friday that limits microbreweries to 25 on-site activities each year, such as trivia nights and live performances.

They also can't provide take-out menus from restaurants, host more than 52 private parties each year or show sports on television unless it counts as one of their 25 special events.

Rible says the ruling clarifies a 2012 law allowing microbreweries to serve their products on-site. He says that law was meant to create demand for craft beers at liquor stores, bars and restaurants, not create new "consumption venues at breweries.

Some microbrewery owners say this hurts the industry's efforts to be community gathering site.