Will An Infamous 3.2 Beer Law Finally Die In Utah?

The infamous ‘3.2 Beer,’ that low alcohol relic of a post-prohibition mentality and state laws that prohibit anything but beer with drastically reduced alcohol level to be sold in grocery and convenience stores might finally come to an end in Utah. That’s if one state senator has his way…utah, Will An Infamous 3.2 Beer Law Finally Die In Utah?

Under current Utah law, only 3.2 percent beer can be sold in retail stores. Beer with higher-alcohol levels must be sold in state-run liquor stores.

But according to the Salt lake City Tribune Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, intends to introduce legislation to raise the alcohol content by weight from 3.2 percent to 4.8 percent for beer in stores.

Responding to Stevenson’s proposed 4.8 percent cap, the Utah Brewer’s Guild’s executive director Nicole Dicou, told Fox 13 that the bill did not go far enough and favored big beer mass marketers over smaller craft brewers….

“The proposed 4.8 ABW for grocery store beer is an arbitrary limit. If passed, it would make Utah only one of two states with that cap…The local craft brewers of the Utah Brewers Guild look forward to working with the bill sponsor to address our concerns.”

And don’t be confused by those numbers…

3.2 beer actually refers to “alcohol by weight” rather than the more commonly use alcohol by volume, or ABV designation, which has become the industry standard when referencing the strength of a beer.  The reality is that 3.2% beer is a 4% ABV brew when referenced by volume but still, it’s an increasingly rare commodity.

utah, Will An Infamous 3.2 Beer Law Finally Die In Utah?In the world of craft beer where higher alcohol beers are more the norm, the 3.2 beer is a diminishing relic. And whether Sen Stevenson’s bill is successful or not, the whole 3.2 beer concept is going away…

Oklahoma, the nation’s largest consumer of these low-buzz remnants, recently abandoned them. So have Kansas and Colorado, leaving Utah (along with Minnesota) as one of the last holdouts.

Only 1.8 percent of all beer brewed in the United States is 3.2 beer. Big brewers like Budweiser and Coors view the 3.2 beer as a specialty item nowadays and are producing less of it than ever before…

Utah, which consumes 29% of what 3.2 beer is currently produced, historically isn’t a heavy drinking state. Home to a large Mormon population, who abstain from alcohol all together, Utah represents less than a half a percent of all beer drinkers in America.

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