Local brewery wants to deliver as restaurants, other establishments ordered to do drive-thru, take-out and delivery only

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – At Wanderlinger Brewing Company, life lately has been anything, but normal.

“People are quarantined. They’re not wanting to go out if they don’t have to. We have lost 95 percent of our revenue and it’s basically a means of any little that helps us keep the doors open,” Wanderlinger Co-Owner Chris Dial said.

They’ve had to temporarily shutdown their taproom.

Instead, they’re taking to-go orders through a window they’ve opened out back.

“We have laid-off a majority of our staff, but theres still bills that have to be paid and if theres are no cash coming in how do you pay for anything,” Dial said.

Amid coronavirus concerns, Governor Bill Lee signed has signed an order requiring restaurants, bars and other establishments to go to drive-thru, take-out and delivery only.

Places can sell alcohol through take-out or delivery with the purchase of food.

“The purpose of helping them liquidate beer that is ultimately, possibly going to go bad, but it excluded breweries who don’t have a food option to be able to sell,” Dial said.

Dial said he’s hoping the Governor will change his stance.

“Make it something that breweries would be able to deliver beer product to some of these homes in the county that they produce the product,” he said.

Dial said he’s reached out to the Chattanooga Beer Board to see about make a temporary change.

“What we would like to see is what was passed in Nashville and is slowly going across the state to other counties where if you’re a manufacturer of the product and you have a  taproom you can send that product direct to a consumer by delivering it,” he said.