New NC law impacts local ice cream shop in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Today, more than two dozen laws are going into effect in North Carolina, and one law is impacting a local ice cream shop. The change took them by surprise, and it involves new alcohol regulations.

House Bill 890,  signed by Governor Cooper in September regulates alcohol found in food items such as ice cream, ice pops, gum-based, or gelatin-based foods containing at least 0.5% of alcohol by volume.

Boombalatti’s owner Wes Bechtel said a friend with the Cape Fear Craft Beer Alliance made him aware of the new regulation, which caught him off guard.

In order to continue selling his alcohol-infused ice cream, the shop would need a permit from the ABC Commission .

“We do a lot of local breweries ice cream, so we’ve done at least 15 breweries in North Carolina, we’ve turned their beer into ice cream, and we can’t do that anymore. So, it’s just one little piece of the whole puzzle that makes Boombalatti’s Ice Cream, and that piece is gone now,” said Wes Bechtel, Boombalatti’s owner.

The ice cream shop will be losing out on partnering with other local businesses like breweries and distilleries due to the new regulations.

“So we do a lot of creativity through that, and now that part of its gone, so we’ll have to find another way to use some local businesses products and make ice cream out of it,” said Bechtel.

Bechtel said Boombalatti’s will be experimenting to substitute some of their bestselling  alcoholic flavors with non-alcoholic alternatives.

“We have been known for making eggnog with bourbon in it, every winter, about the middle of December. So we’re still going to do an eggnog, it will be a bourbon flavor, instead of actual bourbon.  So, a little bit different. We’re thinking about experimenting with malt to get the flavor of beer, without actually any of the alcohol. So there’s still going to be a little bit of experimentation,” said Bechtel.

Other laws that went into effect December 1, 2021 are if you steal a catalytic converter from a car, it’s now a felony. Also, the minimum age to prosecute a child increased from six to eight. Another huge law concerns the Carolina Squat, that’s where the front of a truck is raised and the rear is lowered. Violating the law means you can eventually lose your license.