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Beer drinkers and makers have an extra reason to raise a glass this week, as Matt Galka tells us, the Governor’s signing of a bill benefiting brewers was the climax of a multi-year beer battle.

Say hello to the 64 ounce beer container called a growler.  The bottle which holds about four craft beers was illegal in the state until the Governor signed a beer bill Thursday.

Proof Brewing Company owner Byron Burroughs says the 64 ounce size is used almost everywhere else.

“I think it’s fantastic. It’s been a long time coming we’ve been trying to rectify the growler language and sell 64s like 47 other states which is the national standard,” he said.

The 64 ounce container had been banned in the state even though the 128 ounce and 32 ounce containers were both allowed.

Legalizing the growler was a bipartisan mission from legislators in 2015, but the bill that was signed was about more than bottles.

Burroughs says that the big names in the beer industry had fought to keep upstart breweries from cutting into profits.  The bill ended up cleaning up beer language in the state that allows breweries to sell directly to drinkers. Brewers also had to limit their vendor licenses to eight.

“If nothing else, what this does, this clears up a lot of things that allows us to be on more of an even footing. If a liquor distributor or wine distributor is able to do a sampling, a brewery should be able to do that same type of sampling,” said Burroughs.

Beer drinkers can officially start saying cheers on July 1^st when the law takes effect. The growler jug itself can be sold right now, but customers will have to wait about another month and a half to start filling it up.