Ohio dropping 12% law

I would imagine less than 1%

 

So to recap, I made an offhand comment about how there's way too much good beer over 12% ABV (to miss out on), and that I was excited for the potential you guys have on getting said beers in the new future, and two guys from Ohio start debating semantics on what "way too much" means? I can't help but take these responses as being defensive in nature ("we're not missing out on anything good, okay?!?"), but we're all on the same side here, so it's unnecessary.

And yes, those beers are definitely a very low percentage of those breweries' output, but are arguably some of the best beers in their lineups (I'm a huge Goose Island guy, but let's be honest, Bourbon County is easily the feather in their cap). If you guys don't want them/like them/whatever, that's cool, but I still think it'd be nice for Ohio if you could actually make the choice whether or not to purchase them in a store near you. I've passed on KBS plenty of times, but it's nice to have the option to buy it, were I to get the urge.

 

Not sure which posters you are reffering to, but my personal opinion is it's not that big of a deal to remove the cap and being defensive plays no part in that. I will be happy for Jackie O's, Fat Head's, JABF and others that can probably pull off good beers at a high abv, but beyond that it is a blip.

 

I was just talking about the guys quoting my posts who may have been misinterpreting my intentions, but no hard feelings either way, hopefully. And yeah, obviously how important said cap is would be entirely up to a person's individual palate. It doesn't sound like you like the huge, high ABV beers, so you're mostly set already. I'm split 50/50; I've had very few RIS under 12% that I haven't thought would be better above 10 or 12%. For an IPA/DIPA/German styles, etc., this cap won't do anything, really (although you still miss out on stuff like DFH's 120 Minute, like I mentioned. But that's really it's own thing).

 

Agreed, can't say this will change my life much, I hope local places release new stuff that doesn't restrict them, but I don't want a beer just for its percent. High percent and tasting good is complicated, so we'll see who can do what in Ohio with the freedom.

 

You guys have some talented brewers in Ohio, so I'd imagine a lot. I've never had a Jackie O stout, but from what I hear about them, my guess is they'd kill it with the added ABV. There was also a place I tried in Dayton that had some really solid heavier beers, and I'd be excited to see what they'd do.

Also this is making me want to go back to OH!

 

I'd imagine that this is likely to pass, in some way, shape or form. It's had broad, bi-partisan support in the Ohio House for several; years. Granted, that was for a 21% cap. But still, lots of Dems and Reps support raising the limit. And I'd imagine that the governor would sign whatever comes from the state legislature. He's been pretty supportive of other changes in state law that have encouraged development of craft breweries, wineries and distilleries. Fingers crossed.

That said, as much as I'll enjoy gaining access to a handful of big beers, this won't have much of an effect on my beer drinking.

 

My favorite quote from the Dispatch article:

Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said he is not concerned about Ohioans becoming blitzed on a couple of beers, given that some high-alcohol brews cost more than $10 a bottle.

 

I guess we'll chalk it up to you exaggerating wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much. But yeah, no hard feelings, just wanted to throw my thoughts out there which others seem to agree with.

 

I think this is a great thing, personally. I don't expect to see a ton of breweries go that high very often, but at least it reduces the limit and allows them to do what they want.

Not to mention we might finally get some BCBS.

 

It looks like ~20% of the top 100 beers on this site are above 12% (I didn't count the ones at exactly 12, since I assume those are legal in your state). If 20% of the "best" stuff isn't a significant amount to you, fine, but I think my description was warranted. I think I'm gonna rescind my statement about being happy for you guys, since you clearly don't want the stuff.

Honestly, while that sort of mindset always amuses me, non-beer people seem to have that opinion almost unanimously. I had a guy in Wisconsin ask me if I was "sure" I wanted one of Central Waters' anniversary beers because it was $20. I totally get why $20 is a shitload of cash for one bottle of beer (relative to the price of macro beer and the like), but I can't help but grin when non-craft drinkers' eyes bug out.

 

So that comes down to a handful of beers that are distributed - Bourbon County, some Prairie beers, and maybe some Bruery beers. I wouldn't consider 5-6 beers to be wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too many. But hey, that's like just my opinion, man. Like I said, I'll be happy if we can get some BCBS here so I'm all for it. I just think when you get down to the numbers, it doesn't make much difference to the beers we can get in the grand scheme of things.

 

I think the argument is that of those 20 beers, how many are actually distributable to this state? Outside of the Bourbon County variants, there aren't really beers over 12% that are distributed by a company that currently distributes to Ohio (or at all).

As much as I love Black Tuesday--I'm not going to go pick it up off a shelf in Columbus when this cap gets lifted.

That said, I am looking forward to having access to things like Bourbon County--even though I've had it plenty, and especially some more of the Prairie beers.

But like I said, I'm about 50 times more excited that our brewers can actually do some new and interesting things, and I'm also hopeful that it makes Ohio a more attractive location for breweries that might be expanding. I'm really happy BrewDog took a chance on Ohio, and I'm happy they can now brew their entire portfolio. Who knows what might have happened with Stone if we'd done this a year ago...

 

Haha, apparently we have all the same thoughts today

 

Yeah, I'm not sure why some people are defending our cap saying it won't matter because there is nothing good outside of 12% while at the same time also posting that they hope this bill passes. Seems pretty contradicting to me. I know that the amount of beers that falls outside our cap is not very high but as small as it may be, there are some absolutely fantastic beers in that group. It would be worth getting excited about for BCBS and the variants alone. I don't know how close we are to getting FW beers, but that BA lineup speaks for itself. I'm actually a pretty big fan of 120 Minute and WWS as well, even though they are a bit pricey for what they are.

 

I tried to make it clear from the get-go that I was speaking in general, not just about stuff you guys get (like I said, I don't know what does or doesn't come to you). Basic point is that hopefully this opens doors you guys didn't have before; there's some...Icelandic, I think, beer in my local stores that's like 66%. At $200+ a bottle, I'm not grabbing any (nor do I really want to drink beer that high abv), but it's cool that it's there!

 

This reminds me of last summer when I bought Enjoy After 7.4.16 at Caps and Corks and the guy was like "you know you're supposed to wait over a year to drink this beer right?"

 

Not a single person has defended the cap. I have been wanting the cap to be lifted for several years, but the more I think about it, the more I realize it will have little effect on me, personally. That is not contradicting of me to say. I just thought it was funny when someone mentioned the sheer amount of out of state beers that we'll be able to get now that there is no limit.

EDIT: Basically, I think it's more of a win for the spirit of the craft beer industry in Ohio, as opposed to a win in terms of access to beer.

 

I've never seen so many arguments on a nonissue. Everyone agrees lifting the cap is a good idea. A couple people point out the impact is really minimal. Sh!tstorm ensues

 

I get where you're coming from. For me its more of quality vs quantity. There might not be many more additions but some of the ones that could stem from this are very good.