The Florida Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would allow breweries to fill 64-ounce beer "growlers" — a long-discussed and heavily lobbied issue in the Capitol.

Senators approved the bill (SB 186), sponsored by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, after supporting an amendment aimed at trying to smooth negotiations with the House on reaching a final agreement. Latvala's bill originally was a straightforward proposal to end the state's prohibition on brewers being able to fill half-gallon growlers for off-site consumption.

Florida allows brewers to fill other size containers, but not the half-gallon size that is considered the most popular. But the bill grew to include other beer- and alcohol-related issues.

With the amendment Tuesday, those issues range from setting regulations for beer tastings to banning the use of electronic-benefits transfer cards to buy alcoholic beverages.

"It's beer bill 2015,'' Latvala said.

Craft brewers have sought the growler change in recent years, but the proposals were scuttled amid objections from large beer distributors.

The distributors pointed to a need to protect the state's Depression-era three-tier regulation system, which requires the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages to be separated.