I own a growler fill station/tavern in Oregon and recently learned that I cannot serve more than 14% ABV per glass. I realize this is probably easy math and I do consider myself a fairly intelligent person but I cannot seem to wrap my head around this to figure out if I am over-serving on some beers. At this time I serve all beers in 18oz mugs (realistically this turns into about 16-17.5 ounces depending on the head). We have some beers/barley wines etc that are at 9-10.5 ABV. If I pour a full mug of say the Barley Browns Sled Wreck (10.5% ABV) what is the total ABV in that glass and what is the method used to get that? Well over 14% I assume but I have no idea how to accurately figure this out so that I make sure I am not breaking the OLCC regulations. I must admit I have found myself somewhat concerned when serving a person a full glass of these beers...I always think...wow that's alot of beer for how high the ABV is and I watch people pretty closely when they are drinking Sled Wreck or Green Bullet etc. I have been planning to get smaller glasses for these beers but my advertising is very clear that I offer 18 oz pints for all beers for $4.00 and when I mentioned changing things I had some pretty unhappy responses (for obvious reasons) but now due to OLCC regulations I think it is definitely out of my hands now...... Thanks for any help you can give me! Tara
ABV stands for Alcohol By Volume. It doesn't matter if you serve a 1oz pour or a trash can full, the ABV remains the same.
@cubbyswans is correct. Is your bar just getting into the craft scene? Did you used to offer 18oz pours of Coors/Miller/Bud Lights and now are just continuing the trend with craft stuff? Because I'll be honest, it's kind of frightening to imagine people drinking two 18 oz pours of Green Bullet and getting into a car. You need to seriously reconsider this policy, and purchase some smaller glasses. If you offered 12 oz of Green Bullet for $4 I'd be THRILLED. You'll make more money, your customers will be able to have more than 1 without being too worried, and everyone's happy.
If you stated the law accurately, I think the law is aimed at preventing mixed drinks/ cocktails from becoming too alcoholic. I assume the law defines glass in a certain way that is different from a shot glass or highball glass or martini glass, otherwise most shots would violate this law. Can you post the actual language of the law?
Ok update: finally got a call back from OLCC only to learn that the first person at OLCC I spoke to was confused!! She thought that the total alcohol limit in a serving could not total more than 14%. This is bad information and everyone is correct that ABV is ABV. I of course knew this and that is why I was so confused on how to convert the ABV into a TOTAL alcohol consumed formula. It turns out I don't need to do that but I do intend to pour smaller glasses of these beers anyway. Like someone said above $4.00 for 12oz of Green Bullet, Hairy Eyeball and XS Dead Guy are great deals....and I currently do 18 oz of those for $4.00. That ends today
