Alcohol content by state

[AbRew]

I heard that alcohol contents of beers change from state to state. I was told that Oklahoma's beer (budweiser and the like) has a lower alocohol content than in other states. And I also heard that Texas beer has more alcohol than in other states. Is this the truth or just a myth?

 

[Christian]

Here in Utah no store can sell beer with a higher alcohol content than 3.2% by weight (which is 4.0% by volume). This keeps most beer styles and brewers from being sold in the state. The state run liquor stores (which only so many allowed per area based on population) do carry higher alcohol percentage beers but the selection sucks and none of the state run stores are allowed to have refrigeration. Our ABC board is full of religious non-drinkers.

 

[Clayton]

in oklahoma all beer sold in the stores ( non liquore store witch can only sale alcohol, not even salt or shot glasses- 9am to 9pm mon-sat) we can buy "normal" beer in teh liquore stores but thay cant cool it,, so any beer that has too be kept cool from brewey to dislpay shelve , has to have a 3.2 ver or thay dont sale it,,, all BMC has house rules to keep there beer cool , so there is no 6 point ver here we can buy.

there have been a few beers i could not buy any more becase there distrobution company had or thay switch to one that did , temp rules,, the one i can remeber off hand is Grolsch , thay have to keep there beer cold and there is no 3.2 ver so i cant get it anymore..

as far as i know some stuff is 3.2 everywhere like bud light ,, but in oklahoma it has to be certifide 3.2 be cause here 3.2% alcohol is consiterd a "non intoxacating substance"
so it can be sold out side a liqure store.
wich was a funny deal that people used to get out of DUIs for years till thay fixed the law.

 

[jmo88]

in oklahoma all beer sold in the stores ( non liquore store witch can only sale alcohol, not even salt or shot glasses- 9am to 9pm mon-sat) we can buy "normal" beer in teh liquore stores but thay cant cool it,, so any beer that has too be kept cool from brewey to dislpay shelve , has to have a 3.2 ver or thay dont sale it,,, all BMC has house rules to keep there beer cool , so there is no 6 point ver here we can buy.

there have been a few beers i could not buy any more becase there distrobution company had or thay switch to one that did , temp rules,, the one i can remeber off hand is Grolsch , thay have to keep there beer cold and there is no 3.2 ver so i cant get it anymore..

as far as i know some stuff is 3.2 everywhere like bud light ,, but in oklahoma it has to be certifide 3.2 be cause here 3.2% alcohol is consiterd a "non intoxacating substance"
so it can be sold out side a liqure store.

wich was a funny deal that people used to get out of DUIs for years till thay fixed the law.

Crazy! You write like those Nigerian scam emails I get. No disrespect...

 

[Stef1966]

This is funny from a Canadian's point of view...

In Canada, i don't believe there is any beer restriction laws anywhere...

You can get cold refrigerated beer of many brands on every street corner store as easily as milk or Pepsi... a common item here really.

Unless you're under 18, then you cant buy anything with alcohol in it.

Seems like there is still a great fear of alcohol in the states in order to have such laws that seemingly are an attempt at taming the whole thing?

Good luck for you guys, looks like you're gonna need it.

 

[DeutscheMaster]

Seems like there is still a great fear of alcohol in the states in order to have such laws that seemingly are an attempt at taming the whole thing?

Good luck for you guys, looks like you're gonna need it.

USA, founded by people so uptight the British kicked them out.

 

[remilard]

This is funny from a Canadian's point of view...

In Canada, i don't believe there is any beer restriction laws anywhere...

You can get cold refrigerated beer of many brands on every street corner store as easily as milk or Pepsi... a common item here really.

Unless you're under 18, then you cant buy anything with alcohol in it.

Seems like there is still a great fear of alcohol in the states in order to have such laws that seemingly are an attempt at taming the whole thing?

Good luck for you guys, looks like you're gonna need it.

Alcohol laws in the US vary by State, as they vary by Province and Territory in Canada.

Beer is not sold in privately owned stores in British Columbia, for example.

In Missouri, I can buy alcohol in every grocery store and gas station. I can even drink it while riding in a car (in most parts of the state).

Sorry to burst your superiority bubble.

 

[camiller]

... all BMC has house rules to keep there beer cool ...

? what? BMC's products (except kegs) are pasteurized and do not have to be kept cool. Around here the bottled/caned products are delivered in non refrigerated trucks and are typically warehoused at room temp (I've had to pick stuff up from the AB distributor before). Kegs, on the other hand, are not pasteurized and must be kept cool. Kegs are delivered in refrigerated trucks and warehoused in a cooler big enough to drive into (although I've only seen forklifts driving in there)

 

[Pangea]

In Louisiana, there are very lax laws about alcoholic beverages. For example, we have drive through daquiris everywhere. They just dont put the straw in, so its not an "open container". I used to work at one and we even had cops pull through to pick up a couple roadies on the way home. People from out of town always get a kick out of the drive thrus.

Another interesting note about louisiana is the lack of open container law enforcement for pedestrians. I can walk all the way around town with by beer if I want. If you've ever been to mardi gras, you know what I mean.

 

[chenwood]

Vermont allows beer up to 16% and you can buy at any gas station or corner store. I go to PA a lot and their beer laws drive me insane. Why can't they sell friggin six packs from the beer store?!!L:KDJSFLKJ SLFJK


smiley face not intentional

 

[Ol' Grog]

The Oklahoma law is you can't purchase beer from 0200 to 0600. They do sell brews higher than 3.2% but it is at the liquor stores and is non-refrigerated.

 

[Stef1966]

Alcohol laws in the US vary by State, as they vary by Province and Territory in Canada.

Beer is not sold in privately owned stores in British Columbia, for example.

In Missouri, I can buy alcohol in every grocery store and gas station. I can even drink it while riding in a car (in most parts of the state).

Sorry to burst your superiority bubble.

My post wasn't meant to appear superior in any way... *LOL* *rolling eyes*

And i didn't know the laws varied from province to province, so you see, i can even admit i have learned something from your post.

So I'll just stick to the province of Quebec since it's the only one i know well, and we have strict law enforcing against drunk driving here, and we cannot walk the street openly with beer in hand or any other alcohol beverages.

(sometimes it's tolerated in parks if you do not start disturbing other people or look like a Gang of street Gansgtas or bikers that are about to start stirring some ****.
But like if you an your wife and kids brought lunch and are having a glass of wine on the picnic table, you're not likely to be bothered at all.)

We can buy it (refrigerated) in every grocery, gas station or corner store in cases of 6 to 24 from a **** load of various brands, well known and local ones too, has to be bought before 11pm.

There are not ABV laws either on store bought beer or home brewing either, i could brew 2000 gallons of it a year and nobody would bother me with anything, (not that i could produce such a huge amount).

The main thing here is :"Produce all you want, drink all you want, but forget your car or other vehicle as long as you're under the influence".

The local bars close at 3Am here, while in Ontario they close at 2 am.

Thats about all i know about the laws on Alcohol here.

 

[sean102385]

In texas here as far as i know anything goes.

I know in alabama they dont sell anything above 6% and it is illegal to make your own beer at home.

also in alabama they have home brew stores...but they just cant sell kits but they can sell all the ingredients individually

 

[adfirmus]

In West Virginia the ABV restriction used to be 6%, but a month or two ago they passed a bill that allowed up to 12% alcohol beer. It will probably take until July or later before we start seeing anything above 6%. Apparently the distributors in West Virginia's are kind of ******** with what they will distribute where. I've read about many business owners complaining about it, but I think they are starting to increase what they will distribute. Just last week, we can finally get Yeungling. Everyone is excited for it. I'm not that thrilled because I always thought it was okay. Takes like water to me...

Although before the bill passed there were a couple of beers that were being sold above 6%. Rogue's Chocolate Stout is 6.2% I think. And they sold Witches Brew, or something like that, which is a 7.8% Belgian Golden Ale. But both were only sold in bombers (or 750ml for the Belgian).

 

[BobOscarBob]

Restrictions vary from county to county, and even within the county when considering city limits here in South Carolina. Columbia (city proper) passed Sunday off-site beer sales before the rest of Richland county passed it. Now I don't have to go on post on Sundays just to restock...

Also - +1 for anything goes in Tejas - well in West-By-God-Texas by my experience. The Drive-Thru Party Barns were quite convenient - especially with those tapped kegs on ice and plastic cups...

 

[MMW]

Also - +1 for anything goes in Tejas - well in West-By-God-Texas by my experience. The Drive-Thru Party Barns were quite convenient - especially with those tapped kegs on ice and plastic cups...

Try to open a microbrewery here, though...there's a reason we only have a handful

 

[viking999]

Yeah, PA was a pain when I lived there. You can only get full cases of beer at the beer stores. So I ended up building up a pipeline to get some variety, just like I do with my homebrew. Fortunately, I worked in NJ and passed a monstrous liquor store on the way home.

 

[johntangus]

Crazy! You write like those Nigerian scam emails I get. No disrespect...

i just got in trouble at work from laughing at this post.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Florida used to have pretty ridiculous laws on alcohol sales, but most of those are a thing of the past (except those stupid Sunday sales laws).

Specifically (according to http://www.alcohollaws.org/floridaalcohollaws.html):

Beer, wine, and liqueurs can be purchased in retail stores, grocery, and convenient stores in Florida. Spirits are available in retail package stores. Bars and restaurants stop serving alcohol between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. Alcohol is not sold on Sunday, although a few counties are licensed to sell alcohol seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

 

[deepsouth]

mississippi's laws still suck. we get nearly zero craft beers and nothing over 6%.

 

[Guildenstern]

Ohio has a limit of 12% ABV which sucks cause I wants me some Dogfish Head 120min IPA.

Before 2002 it was like 6% and had goofy definitions of what was "BEER" I still think the definition sucks. I don't have that big of a problem with limiting Grocerystores to 20% ABV alcohol.

But to be able to go to a Liquor store and buy Everclear, but not a 120 IPA which is only at the strength of most strong wine and crappy Liquor is stupid. Just because it's labeled as Beer but Ohio doesn't recognise Beer in excess of 12%abv.

 

[CATFISHER74]

mississippi's laws still suck. we get nearly zero craft beers and nothing over 6%.

My family lives in Caledonia,MS and the bars are weird there they all close by 11pm and no hard booze, but you can bring your own and they serve it to you.

 

[hopsoda]

? what? BMC's products (except kegs) are pasteurized and do not have to be kept cool. Around here the bottled/caned products are delivered in non refrigerated trucks and are typically warehoused at room temp (I've had to pick stuff up from the AB distributor before). Kegs, on the other hand, are not pasteurized and must be kept cool. Kegs are delivered in refrigerated trucks and warehoused in a cooler big enough to drive into (although I've only seen forklifts driving in there)

So is there active yeast in a keg of bud?

 

[Christian]

in oklahoma all beer sold in the stores ( non liquore store witch can only sale alcohol, not even salt or shot glasses- 9am to 9pm mon-sat) we can buy "normal" beer in teh liquore stores but thay cant cool it,, so any beer that has too be kept cool from brewey to dislpay shelve , has to have a 3.2 ver or thay dont sale it,,, all BMC has house rules to keep there beer cool , so there is no 6 point ver here we can buy.

there have been a few beers i could not buy any more becase there distrobution company had or thay switch to one that did , temp rules,, the one i can remeber off hand is Grolsch , thay have to keep there beer cold and there is no 3.2 ver so i cant get it anymore..

as far as i know some stuff is 3.2 everywhere like bud light ,, but in oklahoma it has to be certifide 3.2 be cause here 3.2% alcohol is consiterd a "non intoxacating substance"
so it can be sold out side a liqure store.
wich was a funny deal that people used to get out of DUIs for years till thay fixed the law.

Sounds like Oklahoma has the same beer laws as Utah.

Oh and i forgot to mention here in Utah you can not buy or posses kegs.

 

[ChadS99SVT]

not sure what if any restrictions we have here in vegas...

I can buy booze just about everywhere, anytime, anyday. Oh and everyplace sells cold stuff

 

[flyangler18]

PA has the most draconian laws concerning beer sales. Beer distributors are privately owned - there are case minimums (though craft beer may be offered in highly priced 12 packs), and your usual BMC 6er crowd is served by bars that may have an off-premises ABC license. Wine & spirits operations are run by the state. I know of one bar/restaurant near me that has off-premises ABC for craft beer, so I patronize them as often as I can. Most of my commercial beer purchases happen in MD, as I'm a mere 10 miles from the state line and 20 miles from my favorite bottle shop.

 

[CATFISHER74]

not sure what if any restrictions we have here in vegas...

I can buy booze just about everywhere, anytime, anyday. Oh and everyplace sells cold stuff

Same in IL.
I shocked when visiting in-laws in Lansing,MI i went to go get a six pack on Christmas day and the people at the had the coolers locked.

 

[cvstrat]

I had to do a business proposal for a micro-brewery about 6 months ago for one of my business classes. The varying beer laws by state were sort of something to consider depending on your point of origin and how widely distributed you wanted to go.

Fortunately here in Virginia the laws aren't bad. We can buy beer 7 days a week, 6am until midnight. We can buy all types of beer, 120min IPA is sold at a wine store down the road, although I've never tried one. Liquor stores close at 9, and are closed on Sunday.

There seems to be a pretty good beer culture here as compared to some states. Look at the beer menu from the bar down the road from my house:

Ale & Lager Menu

They have over 50 beers on tap, and hundreds more in the bottle. Pretty sweet.

 

[CBBaron]

The patch work laws defining what is beer, wine and liquor and what can be sold, when and by whom is a confusing mess. And the laws on distribution and pricing make even less sense.

Ohio's laws are better than some but still make no sense and are confusing.
No "beer" over 12%. Liquor over 20% only available in state liquor stores and you have to buy that with cash (or debit card). Sunday sales are a separate license and i don't think you can sell before noon on Sunday. Then all alcohol has to go through independent distributors with fixed minimum markups for both the distributor and retailer.
Also 1/2 barrel kegs are only available from the distributor.

PAs laws make even less sense. Its much easier to buy kegs of a wider variety of beer but 6-packs are either unavailable or extremely expensive. And don't bother looking in your grocery store for beer.



Craig

 

[Wikipeteia]

A friend showed this to me a few months back, when we were looking for some of the higher gravity beers you can't get in Ohio.

List of alcohol laws of the United States by state - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[joety]

Ohio has a limit of 12% ABV which sucks cause I wants me some Dogfish Head 120min IPA.

You're really not missing much, and I love the 60 and 90. It's really more of a gimmick.

I split a bottle with three friends and won't be buying another.

 

[camiller]

So is there active yeast in a keg of bud?

No, they filter with a fine enough filter to get the yeast (and most of the [very little] flavor) out.

 

[bamadoh]

I know the laws in Alabama are about the worst in the country. There is a cap on beer at 6%ABV and no containers over 16oz. So even some of the specialty beers under the alcohol cap are only sold in 22oz bombers which means no go for a lot of rougue and other great craft brews under 6%. There is a bill before the state senate to raise the alcohol limits to 13% but there is one senator opposed and instead of allowing it to go to vote he fillibusters every time the bill is brought up for consideration. Very infuriating. Only two days of session left before the senate is dismissed and the issue is left out in the cold til next year, again.

 

[bkov]

nj beer laws arent bad, bud here is 5%. only thing is you have to go to the liquor store to get your liquor/beer, you cant pick up a 6pack at the gas station

 

[SmugMug]

I know the laws in Alabama are about the worst in the country. There is a cap on beer at 6%ABV and no containers over 16oz. So even some of the specialty beers under the alcohol cap are only sold in 22oz bombers which means no go for a lot of rougue and other great craft brews under 6%. There is a bill before the state senate to raise the alcohol limits to 13% but there is one senator opposed and instead of allowing it to go to vote he fillibusters every time the bill is brought up for consideration. Very infuriating. Only two days of session left before the senate is dismissed and the issue is left out in the cold til next year, again.

I haven't checked the FTH site yet, but since no one in my office is cheering I assume it got tabled or filibustered again. Bite me Senator *****

 

[Guildenstern]

A friend showed this to me a few months back, when we were looking for some of the higher gravity beers you can't get in Ohio.

List of alcohol laws of the United States by state - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That friend was me.

 

[joety]

I love Nevada's laws. 24/7 bar time, and public intoxication is not only legal, the state forbids municipalities from regulating it.