Last week, the North Carolina Senate passed S.B. 290 by a margin of 31 to 10, sending the bill to the governor’s office for a final signature. The 20-page bill, “An Act To Make Various Revisions To The Alcoholic Beverage Control Laws Of This State,” makes changes to the law that ranges from distilleries selling mixed beverages to ABC stores hosting in-store tastings.

Many of these changes have been pushed for by the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association and Representative Chuck McGrady. The bill is expected to be signed into law soon.

“We applaud the passage of Senate Bill 290 and want to express our gratitude to the bill’s sponsors Sen. Rick Gunn and Rep. Chuck McGrady for leading the charge on this reform as the bill moves to the governor for his signature,” Lynn Minges, president of the NCRLA said in a statement. “S.B. 290 brings much-needed reform to our state’s outdated and inefficient Alcohol Beverage Control laws, creating greater convenience and choice for North Carolina’s businesses and consumers. While we believe there is still much work left to be done, we celebrate this impactful milestone and look forward to continuing the discussion on modernizing the state’s ABC system.”

Here’s what you need to know about the changes.

Distilleries can sell beer, wine, and mixed beverages. This was previously not allowed. Great Wagon Road, for example, has a separate cocktail bar called Broken Spoke that could now be integrated into the distillery.

One person can buy two drinks. Wasn’t it fun making an entire group of people stand in line at sporting events to make sure everyone gets a beer? Now, one person can purchase two drinks, so not everyone has to wait in line.

Dogs will be allowed in breweries again. If a brewery doesn’t prepare food on premises, they’re exempt from the health code regulations that say no dogs allowed.

You can special order a single bottle. If a product wasn’t part of the ABC catalogue, restaurants were forced to buy an entire case of a product and pre-pay in full for it, with no idea of when it might arrive. This new law allows for the purchase of a single bottle, and even gives local ABC boards the ability to buy a bottle directly from a distillery on behalf of a restaurant if the warehouse would take too long.

Distilleries can sell you their products without a tour. Old regulations meant that you couldn’t purchase a product from a distillery without touring it, and even then, you could only purchase one bottle per tour, up to five times. These changes mean you can buy products at a distillery without needing a tour, and can buy as many as you’d like.

ABC stores and farmer’s markets can offer tastings. There will be a limit on when and how often tastings are held and how much can be tasted, but shoppers will soon see tastings pop up in ABC liquor stores. At farmer’s markets, malt beverage tastings will now be allowed.

Other changes include changes to requirements in food halls, such as glassware that identifies where the beverage came from and restrictions on common areas, and forcing ABC boards to accept credit card (they previously required restaurants to pay by cash or check). Read the full bill text here. —Kristen Wile