And to be fair, I think Wisconsin and Utah are "bookends" when it comes to alcohol laws. Wisconsin is about as liberal as it gets (although Missouri is pretty close) and Utah is as restrictive as it gets. States in the middle probably look at us and think we're nuts. "What? A child can drink in a bar if he/she is with a parent?"
Is kegging legal in Utah?
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If you really dig into your own states laws, you'd find many laws on the books that are equally BS.
Utah also has a higher percentage of Hard Line kids.
there was a law in Rapid City, SD that stayed on the books until the 1990's that stated that if you were in a covered wagon and spotted a group of 3 or more Indians, you could shoot & kill all of them as they were considered a war party. it's scary what laws are still hiding in plain sight.
Genghis
... and the banned played on.
I just got back to Ontario after a few days in Rochester, NY.
Beers of the World is a real "Beer Store" as far as I'm concerned. I want one up here. Ontario's "Beer Store" is only interested in selling product from the breweries that own it (Molson/Labatt/Sleeman), and charges craft brewers ridiculous fees to even get their brew on the shelf.
The LCBO has a much better selection, but it varies widely from store to store. I could go on a slightly different rant about the LCBO, but that's another story.
Beers of the World is a real "Beer Store" as far as I'm concerned. I want one up here. Ontario's "Beer Store" is only interested in selling product from the breweries that own it (Molson/Labatt/Sleeman), and charges craft brewers ridiculous fees to even get their brew on the shelf.
The LCBO has a much better selection, but it varies widely from store to store. I could go on a slightly different rant about the LCBO, but that's another story.
I hear you. Earlier this summer I was visting friends in Ottawa for a couple weeks and we lamented the Beer Store situation often and at length. It was very surprising to find that, legislation aside, the Beer Store itself is a privately owned Anheuser-Busch-InBev/Molson-Coors/Sapporo/Sleeman venture. Had to go into Québec for good beer...
...and as an off-topic aside (possibly for its own post), I was pretty blown away by the current state of the craft beer scene in Québec. I went to college in Montréal in the early 90s and last visited maybe 10 years ago. I was pleasantly surprised by the current surfeit of good craft brews and breweries. Even little grocery stores in cottage country were stocking Le Trou du Diable, Dieu du Ciel, etc.
Here we go again....
Chitter, chatter and mis-information about Utah laws. Some clarifications. Anything on tap has to be under 4%. Meaning only keg poured beer can be sold in large vessels. Plenty of beer sold above 4% in bottles (including 20 oz). The zion curtain making its second appearance, 80's first time. No, you can't have multiple drinks in front of you in a restaurant. In know strange but workable and easy to manage.
One bonus is wine. Utah law prohibits marking up wine after initial pricing. Say wine of the year or any other highly regarded wine or beer. Also you can bring your own un-opened bottle of wine into a restaurant.
Yes you can keg legally, it is the total number of gallons a year not the vessel it is stored in. You can't sell your homebrew.
Chitter, chatter and mis-information about Utah laws. Some clarifications. Anything on tap has to be under 4%. Meaning only keg poured beer can be sold in large vessels. Plenty of beer sold above 4% in bottles (including 20 oz). The zion curtain making its second appearance, 80's first time. No, you can't have multiple drinks in front of you in a restaurant. In know strange but workable and easy to manage.
One bonus is wine. Utah law prohibits marking up wine after initial pricing. Say wine of the year or any other highly regarded wine or beer. Also you can bring your own un-opened bottle of wine into a restaurant.
Yes you can keg legally, it is the total number of gallons a year not the vessel it is stored in. You can't sell your homebrew.
Beernik
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The I-80 bootlegging trap is one that has been around for a long, long time. UHP used to have an undercover park in the liquor store parking lot and radio a patrol car that would snag people right as they crossed the border.
Don't ask me how I know. I will deny everything.
I'm going to flip my rational on kegging in Utah again. 32B-4-406.1.b does say it is illegal for an individual to possess beer in a container larger than 2 liters even though 32B-4-406 is a section of the code that deals with retail of beer.
The lesson to be learned is when visiting Wyoming is to drive south on 150 to Kamas (probably closed this time of year) or north on 89 to Bear Lake / Garden City.
Again, don't ask me how I know this. I will deny everything.
Don't ask me how I know. I will deny everything.
I'm going to flip my rational on kegging in Utah again. 32B-4-406.1.b does say it is illegal for an individual to possess beer in a container larger than 2 liters even though 32B-4-406 is a section of the code that deals with retail of beer.
The lesson to be learned is when visiting Wyoming is to drive south on 150 to Kamas (probably closed this time of year) or north on 89 to Bear Lake / Garden City.
Again, don't ask me how I know this. I will deny everything.
seigex
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How do you know this?
Beernik
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It wasn't me. It was the two-armed man.
I worked at Lake Powell in the late '80s and we used to send someone to Durango to get a keg whenever we wanted to have a big party. Luckily no one ever got caught. A lot of the tourists brought "party balls" with them for their houseboats, at the time I was told they were legal but they're definitely above the 2L limit.
Utah is an incredibly beautiful state, especially the Moab/Lake Powell/Canyonlands/Zion areas.
Side note, grocery stores and gas stations in Colorado can only sell 3.2% beer. Until a few years ago all liquor stores were closed on Sunday.
Utah is an incredibly beautiful state, especially the Moab/Lake Powell/Canyonlands/Zion areas.
Side note, grocery stores and gas stations in Colorado can only sell 3.2% beer. Until a few years ago all liquor stores were closed on Sunday.
Gameface
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The keg ban was enacted sometime in the 80s, not sure exactly when. The ban on "mini kegs" only happened a few years ago right after a local micro brewery purchased a bunch of new packaging equipment and started offering them.
Not to nitpick, but it's 4% beer. Using a different scale with a lower number and comparing it to percentages using the standard scale for everything else is intellectually dishonest. Not saying you're being dishonest, but calling "utah beer" 3.2% simply isn't accurate. 99.9% of the time we describe alcohol percentage using abv.
alewhatcuresyou
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So a 5 gallon keg has 640 ounces and if I had 8 wives.... no...nope no thanks one is plenty.
hunter_le five
Sheriff Underscore
Fascists!!! Who are *they* to tell someone they can't knock back a few cold ones with their toddler after a long day at pre-school?
It's a slippery slope, man.... A slippery slope.
grizzly2378
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I've visited Utah a few times and, as has been mentioned, it's a beautiful place. And really, the liquor laws weren't as pervasive as I'd feared. Another quirky one I found was that when you buy "heavy beer" in a liquor store, none of it is refrigerated. It's all at room temp, presumably so you won't consume it immediately. Also, they priced everything by the bottle, not by the 6 pack. You could buy a 6 pack of beer, but they charged you for 6 individual bottles. Makes building your own custom sixer pretty easy, actually.
Wyoming and North Dakota are both "liquor store states", in that you can only get >4% beer at a liquor store. Meanwhile, in South Dakota, you can buy hard liquor (and any manner of beer) at Walmart. But, until recently, you couldn't buy any alcohol on Memorial Day (or was it Labor Day...or both....maybe the 4th of July too).
In Montana, breweries that produce over 10,000 bbl of beer per year can't sell beer for on-site consumption. So, for example, if you visit Big Sky Brewing in Missoula you can't buy a pint, but you can get up to 4 free 4 ounce samples and buy some cans or bottles or growlers to go. Smaller breweries can sell beer, but only 48 oz per person per day (how strictly the breweries adhere to this is hit or miss).
Amazing how the liquor laws differ from state to state with little rhyme or reason.
Wyoming and North Dakota are both "liquor store states", in that you can only get >4% beer at a liquor store. Meanwhile, in South Dakota, you can buy hard liquor (and any manner of beer) at Walmart. But, until recently, you couldn't buy any alcohol on Memorial Day (or was it Labor Day...or both....maybe the 4th of July too).
In Montana, breweries that produce over 10,000 bbl of beer per year can't sell beer for on-site consumption. So, for example, if you visit Big Sky Brewing in Missoula you can't buy a pint, but you can get up to 4 free 4 ounce samples and buy some cans or bottles or growlers to go. Smaller breweries can sell beer, but only 48 oz per person per day (how strictly the breweries adhere to this is hit or miss).
Amazing how the liquor laws differ from state to state with little rhyme or reason.
Gameface
Well-Known Member
Right, I know you weren't talking about Utah beer and I wasn't trying to call you out. But there's no such thing as 3.2 beer. It's just a pet peeve of mine.
Carry on.
Beernik
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The state law calls it out as 3.2% ABW.
It's a hold over from the repeal of the Volstead Act. The first alcohol that was made legal prior to the full repeal of Prohibition was "small beer". Small beer was defined as 3.2% ABW. It's in the years since Prohibition that ABV became used more than ABW.
The thing that frustrates me about the kegging law is if they want to make it illegal for individuals, fine. But make it legal for restaurants and bars to serve greater than 4% ABV beer from.
It's a hold over from the repeal of the Volstead Act. The first alcohol that was made legal prior to the full repeal of Prohibition was "small beer". Small beer was defined as 3.2% ABW. It's in the years since Prohibition that ABV became used more than ABW.
The thing that frustrates me about the kegging law is if they want to make it illegal for individuals, fine. But make it legal for restaurants and bars to serve greater than 4% ABV beer from.
oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer
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Oklahoma has 3.2 beer and that is what it is called. It is sold at bars gas stations and so o Beer that is above 3.2 has to come from the liquor store and is not sold cold.
RachmaelBenApplebaum
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Can't even buy it COLD? What a drag. I love AZ, Liquor sales only stop for 4 hours out of the day (2am-6am) every day, and you can get just about anything you'd want from grocery, gas station, or specialty store. We also have Drive-thru liquor stores! Some of which not only sell liquor but groceries, tackle, bait, hunting/fishing licenses, and ammunition! Blessed are we.
Yeah it isn't cold from the liquor stores but two of the local breweries, Wasatch and Squatters, teamed up and opened The Beer Store where you can get growlers filled and buy COLD beer and merch. They will even tell you if any beer was bottled that day. Getting their Double IPA the day it was bottled was one of the best days of my life haha.
Gameface
Well-Known Member
The thing about "3.2" that bugs me the most is that it is used to directly compare liquor store beer to non-liquor store beer and to compare out of state beer to "Utah" beer.
People here actually drive to Evanston, Wy so they can buy Bud Lite at full strength, which happens to be 4.2% abv, a whopping 0.2% stronger than the Bud Light they could buy at their local gas station. But because everyone calls it "3.2" beer they think they are getting much more bang for their buck than they are actually getting.
Utah laws for home brewing are pretty liberal. It became offically legal in 2009. Although there has been home brewing stores here for decades. There is no limit on ABV. Not sure of definition on spirits, that is illegal. It is legal to make wine. One person can "legally" make 100 gallons of beer per year. A couple can make 200 gallons of beer a year.
The laws that are screwy deal with purchasing beer in a retail setting. I don't know anyone that have driven to Wyoming to purchase beer, unless it is a keg, since high school.
I keg beer so no need. If I purchase beer it is usually a wide variety. I don't need 16 gallons of Budweiser. I purchased 2 small kegs for my wedding. The restaurant purchased them for me from a local micrebrewery.
In my opinion, Utah is a pretty good place to be a home brewer or wine maker. No dry counties :cross:
The laws that are screwy deal with purchasing beer in a retail setting. I don't know anyone that have driven to Wyoming to purchase beer, unless it is a keg, since high school.
I keg beer so no need. If I purchase beer it is usually a wide variety. I don't need 16 gallons of Budweiser. I purchased 2 small kegs for my wedding. The restaurant purchased them for me from a local micrebrewery.
In my opinion, Utah is a pretty good place to be a home brewer or wine maker. No dry counties :cross:
