An Alice Springs brewery will be allowed to continue selling takeaway alcohol on days other businesses in the town are banned following a months-long investigation by the Northern Territory Liquor Commission. 

Takeaway liquor sales have been prohibited on Mondays and Tuesdays in Alice Springs since January 2023, when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew into the town amid a storm of political pressure and media attention over crime rates.

The town was subsequently put under some of the toughest alcohol restrictions in the country, which also included restricting trading hours on other days to 3pm to 7pm and limiting alcohol sales to one transaction a person a day.

While all other outlets in the outback town stopped trading takeaway alcohol on Mondays and Tuesdays, the Alice Springs Brewing Co continued selling, under a special "producers authority" granted in 2019 that allows it to sell its products any day of the week.

The brewery was put under the microscope in May after an alcohol action group in Central Australia claimed its licence was "undermining" the government-imposed restrictions and called on the territory's liquor commission to vary its licence conditions.

"All licensees who are allowed to sell takeaway liquor, no matter where it is produced, should be subject to the same rules," the People's Alcohol Action Coalition (PAAC) said at the time. 

"To allow otherwise is to permit the undermining of restrictions that are intended to reduce the unacceptably high levels of alcohol misuse and the well-known consequences that plague the town."

In a submission to the commission, the Alice Springs Brewing Co, owned by Kyle Pearson, said its takeaway alcohol sales on Mondays and Tuesdays were not "substantial" and that any spikes were "skewed heavily by tourist sales from the surrounding caravan parks". 

The brewery said it opposed any changes to its licence conditions and "would vigorously challenge any adverse decision handed down".

However, it agreed to adopt the one takeaway sale a person a day rule, slightly vary its trading hours and take on stricter CCTV recording rules. 

The liquor commission handed down its determination into the Alice Springs Brewing Co on Wednesday afternoon. 

It found the average number of takeaway sales at the brewery was 44 per cent higher on Mondays and Tuesdays than on other days of the week, with an average of 70 takeaway liquor sales each day within a four-hour window. 

The investigation found it was "likely" some sales were leading to harmful alcohol consumption, and that some people had been detected engaging in the unlawful secondary supply of liquor.

However, the commission ultimately found most of the brewery's sales on Mondays and Tuesdays were "no doubt innocuous, and do not lead to alcohol-related harm".

It said it was satisfied it was in the public interest to allow the brewery to continue selling takeaway alcohol on those days and that would "not have a significant adverse impact on the community".

On Thursday, Mr Pearson said the brewery would continue to operate "to a high standard".

"We would like to highlight the fact that at no time were we accused of any wrongdoing … the commission's subsequent investigation based on evidence from licensing and the police also showed no evidence of wrongdoing," he said.

During the investigation, the NT Police Force submitted that it supported the brewery being stripped of its Monday and Tuesday privileges.

It told the commission officers had stepped up patrols at the brewery on Mondays and Tuesdays, though data showed the busiest days there for police were Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

PAAC member John Boffa said the decision was disappointing, and that the brewery had inflamed alcohol problems in Alice Springs. 

"The commissioner made it very clear they recognise the importance of the Monday and Tuesday takeaway-free days, but they are operating within legal constraints ... and the power they do have to change the conditions would be appealed," he said. 

"The government allowed this loophole and the government needs to change it."

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Lia Finocchairo cast doubt over Alice Springs's alcohol restrictions staying in place long-term. 

"We've always said it's not a long-term solution for that town, but in the interim, it's what's needed to do everything we can to keep that community safe," she said.