Councilor wants to let Boston breweries sell other breweries' brews

Councilor Annissa Essaibi George will be asking other councilors to hop on a proposal to let the city's burgeoning crop of breweries expand their offerings to include products from their ostensible rivals.

Essaibi George said the idea could be a way to ensure the "sudden pop up of these very cool breweries" can survive.

"As great as [one brewery's] beer can be, it does often create a barrier for those breweries to be stable and successful over the long term," she said of the current limitation, set by the state for the specific licenses for breweries and distilleries.

She said her idea would be similar to restaurants that offer house wines - and also other wines for people not interested in the house offerings.

Essabi George hopes to bottle up her proposed change - which would require action by the state legislature - with a proposal by Councilor Ayanna Pressley (at large) to win at least 153 new liquor licenses for Boston. Pressley's proposal is aimed at restaurants and bars, in particular in outer neighborhoods; Essaibi George said she would codify her request in time for the required hearing on Pressley's proposal.

Three other councilors also suggested amendments to Pressley's proposal, but related specifically to bars and restaurants. Pressley's plan would set aside a bank of licenses for the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, East Boston and Hyde Park, which Pressley has argued have been particularly hard hit by the flight of liquor licenses to large restaurants with money to burn along the Waterfront and in the North End, Back Bay and downtown.

Councilor Lydia Edwards (Charlestown, East Boston, North End) said she would ask that some licenses be carved out specifically for Charlestown. Councilor Tim McCarthy (Roslindale, Hyde Park, Mattapan) said he would ask the same for Roslindale. And Councilor Matt O'Malley (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain) said he wants West Roxbury to be included. O'Malley recalled that when he first ran for his seat in 2010, people complained that West Roxbury had too many banks and not enough restaurants; he added that although the ratio has improved, West Roxbury could still deal with more restaurants.

Pressley's proposal would also create a dedicated pool of licenses for the city's 20 main-street districts, which include Roslindale Square and Centre and Spring streets in West Roxbury - but not areas along Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale and the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury where restaurants are also allowed.