Friday, July 28, 2006

Weird beer laws

So, when the rest of the United States ended Prohibition, Oklahoma stuck to it's tommy guns...so to speak.
The sale of beer no stronger than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight was permitted because legislators classified it as a "nonintoxicating beverage."I'm a liquor lightweight, so I would beg to differ. Get me anywhere near drinking spirits of anykind and my asian blood throws a "histy fit."

Histamine that is.

Red blotches on my face, headache, blocked nasal passages -- the works.

Oh, I get immediately sleepy drunk as well, but that's a tale of a different beast.

Needless to say, I'm not a drinker.

However, I imagine most residents of my adopted state would wholly beg to differ with me and have adopted all sorts of names for the low cold beer alcohol content available in this state. My favorite among the popular nomenclature for trying to get drunk on 3.2 beer is "riding a rocking horse into battle,"
It's not just Oklahoma's faith-based roots that have kept prohibition-era laws on the books. Low-point beer distributors aren't interested in changing the laws because they would risk having to follow the more stringent ones imposed on liquor stores.

Oklahoma convenience and grocery stores cannot sell beer or wine coolers with more than 3.2 percent alcohol. Big-name domestic breweries, including Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors, brew lower-point beer for the Sooner State and five others. Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota and Utah also sell 3.2 beer.
Nice to know were not alone in this....for now.
Liquor stores in Oklahoma can sell beer with higher alcohol content, but they have more rules to follow. For one, they have to sell beer at room temperature. Also, liquor stores are allowed to be open only from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.I think Okies just need to learn to love a good Imperial pint of Guinness, or some good Belgian beer, which, people tell me, is so good you can drink at room temperature and it still tastes good.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I learned the story for beer in Utah while living there. The lowest of all state alcohol level was enacted with hopes the main beer companies would not brew anything special for Utah, thus creating a dry state. Which is what happened, victory? Not so fast. Small breweries sprung up to fill the void. They started to win beer awards since they could not cover up mistakes with stronger alcohol content. A beer Renaissance was started with a whole newly created "beer scene". The larger beer companies saw the interest and decided they wanted a piece, and started brewing the lower content beer.
So instead of forcing a alcohol out, there are now plenty more thriving micro-breweries in addition to all the big names. The moral is don't try and hide your intentions.

OKDad said...

Booze,, drugs, and porn.

The more you try to keep them out of your hood, the greater the likelihood they'll all come floating in by the truckload.