{"id":178789,"date":"2020-09-03T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T07:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugeneweekly.com\/?p=178789"},"modified":"2020-09-03T00:00:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T07:00:02","slug":"beer-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/03\/beer-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Beer Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jamin Sangster is tapping along on the steering wheel as KDUK plays Top 40 hits over the radio. He\u2019s bopping in his seat, dancing to the beat while driving through Eugene and Springfield, delivering beers to customers of Ninkasi\u2019s Better Living Room restaurant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Driving in an unmarked white van through neighborhoods, he says he\u2019s aware of how it looks like he\u2019s driving the typical \u201cstranger danger\u201d van. He laughs because he says he remembers a time when a child on a bike once stopped and gestured with his fingers that he was watching him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When COVID-19 first hit the U.S., Sangster says, he had been working at Ninkasi for a few months, but the pandemic put him out of work. When the Oregon Liquor Control Commission temporarily OK\u2019d beer deliveries, he was back to work running beer and ready-to-cook meals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>At its Sept. 11 meeting the OLCC is considering making those delivery changes permanent. If OLCC commissioners approve the permanent change, people can continue buying booze as humans were intended to: half naked and in front of their computer or TV screens. Although allowing the alcohol industry to adapt to COVID-19 is partially the motivation for the rule change, this decision has been in the works for a while \u2014\u00a0ever since the gig economy got popular.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under current OLCC regulations, businesses have to apply to participate to have same-day delivery privileges. Because of COVID, the agency has had an increase in applications, so it is proposing to remove the application process, according to the notice of proposed rulemaking filed in July.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

OLCC spokesperson Bryant Haley says making alcohol deliveries permanent is a chance for the agency to help the industry while addressing a regulation that it has wanted to deal with even before the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ninkasi invited Eugene Weekly <\/i>to ride along with Sangster as he delivered beers to customers in Eugene-Springfield. Ninkasi delivers to the metro area and doesn\u2019t charge a delivery fee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sangster is the restaurant\u2019s sole full-time delivery person; it doesn\u2019t use any of the popular delivery apps. Like any server or bartender before the pandemic, he says he has his regulars, though that doesn\u2019t mean he doesn\u2019t check IDs (and no, he says he doesn\u2019t allow kids to accept beer for their parents). Sangster adds that although he\u2019s delivering alcohol, he still has the responsibilities of not over-serving customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The OLCC\u2019s proposed changes aren\u2019t the first time permanent alcohol delivery regulation has been proposed. State Rep. Margaret Doherty was the chief sponsor of House Bill 4117 during the 2020 Regular Session (before the pandemic). It would have authorized businesses to deliver malt beverages, wine or cider through a delivery person who would have had to undergo training. The OLCC would have also developed, implemented and maintained an electronic platform for ordering distilled liquor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Doherty was the lone speaker at the OLCC\u2019s Aug. 17 public hearing. She said at the meeting that her rationale for initially proposing legislation was that if cannabis could be delivered, so should alcohol. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the changes in the retail industry and with more people relying on home delivery, I thought it would be a good idea,\u201d Doherty said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She said the bill didn\u2019t get out of committee because of recovery advocates. Although there was opposition to her legislation because it would make alcohol access easier, she said if a consumer wants alcohol, they\u2019d get it regardless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Haley of the OLCC says Oregon has had rules on the books about delivery since the 1930s. Although the agency could make the delivery changes permanent, he says it could still unplug the changes if necessary. But addressing alcohol delivery was on the agency\u2019s horizon before COVID-19 because of the rise of app services like DoorDash and Uber Eats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot only has society moved toward this \u2018Uber\u2019 society, it also is forced to change by the social distance aspects of COVID,\u201d Haley says. \u201cOne day we were going to have to update delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should the OLCC accept the permanent changes, it would require orders to be received by 4 pm and delivered by 9 pm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The OLCC changes could impact other aspects of alcohol if commissioners approve it at their Sept. 11 meeting. One rule change would be to allow purchase of alcohol one hour earlier \u2014\u00a0pushing it back from 7 am to 6 am. This was influenced by grocery stores reserving times for vulnerable populations such as seniors. The OLCC could also OK liquor stores to hire carriers for same-day deliveries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Sangster delivered beer to a shirtless man in Springfield, he tells me he\u2019s seen a lot of skin as a delivery person. But whatever OLCC decides on Sept. 11, it\u2019s clear that there\u2019s a lot of skin in the game \u2014 from the alcohol industry to that shirtless man depending on his beer delivery.<\/p>\n

For more information about Ninkasi\u2019s Better Living Room and its delivery services, visit NinkasiBrewing.com.\u00a0 <\/span>Public comment for the 9 am Sept. 11 meeting is over; visit the OLCC\u2019s webpage for access.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamin Sangster is tapping along on the steering wheel as KDUK plays Top 40 hits over the radio. He\u2019s bopping in his seat, dancing to the beat while driving through Eugene and Springfield, delivering beers to customers of Ninkasi\u2019s Better Living Room restaurant.\u00a0 Driving in an unmarked white van through neighborhoods, he says he\u2019s aware […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}