As me and a ton of others posted last week, Pennsylvennia regulators have asked Iron Hill Brewery to amend its mug club practices to conform with state regulations. And even though PA is so far the only state asking for changes, Iron Hill has decided to realign its mug club in all locations, including those in Delaware.
I sent emails to two prominent establishments in the Delaware craft beer scene to ask for their input on this change, keeping in mind that this is at the moment, squarely a PA issue and not a Delaware one.
Michael Stiglitz from Two Stones Pub was the first to weight in with the following
“Certainly if DE goes the route of PA we will adhere to any regulation changes.”
I recently received an email from Al Stewart from Stewart’s Brewing who echoed
“I am unaware of any PA or DE pressure to change mug club requirements but I will be meeting with the Iron Hill folks later this month.”
I am one to believe that our local establishments did their due diligence when setting up their mug clubs, so I don’t fear any involvement from Delaware regulators. If anything I hope that this issue with Iron Hill does nothing more than to affirm that our Delaware watering holes have their ducks in a row. Because I can’t say anything better than what Al said himself,
“We originally started the mug club to reward the local, frequent diner/drinker for their loyal support. It is a fun group of folks that feel that they are a great part of the atmosphere of Stewarts and I would hate to see the government take a stand for no good reason.”
Thanks to both Michael and Al for taking the time to respond to my email and weighing in on this topic.
The Dogs of Beer 
So I wonder if iron Hill will formulate another reward program
Yes. Iron Hill is currently not accepting new members until they make the necessary changes to comply with PA regulations. They’ll have the revamped program up and running in a month or two, and then start accepting new members again.