Dry Counties

I was really confused the first time I was informed of this. Especially considering how casually the people refer to it. "They only sell three-two." What?

 

The good town = good people logic breaks down a little for tourist destinations like Ocean City. Tourists tend to not treat the place they are in as if it's their home, because it's not. There are many many NJ shore towns tourist flock to in the summer, but Ocean City has carved out a niche for themselves as a more family-friendly destination that seems to work well for them. Jersey shore towns tend to be small too, so traveling 1-3 miles to the next town for booze is a very minor inconvenience for them.

 

OK is changing all that back,
Senate Bill 424 that went into effect August 25th allows breweries to sell full strength beer along with take home beer also.
Question 792 was approved this past week that allows grocery stores to sell full strength beer beginning in 2018.
But your point is valid, every low abv beer I have had at a OK brewery had a great mouthfeel, they tuned that shit in. Every time I had a beer it reminded me of the Seinfeld episode "The Non-Fat Yogurt"

 

The county I grew up in, Alexander in NC, is still dry. Detractors continually bring up DUI and associated deaths as a result of legalizing sales. Guess which county in the area has the highest DUI rate? Alexander. Because people have to drive out of county to obtain alcohol. Makes no sense. Plus, they are losing all the tax revenue to neighboring counties.

 

Not defending the 3.2 madness but having grown up in Oklahoma, a few corrections to your post:

- The limit for grocery stores to sell beer is actually 3.2% abw, not abv. 3.2 alcohol by weight is 4.1 abv so beers such as Guinness draught can be sold.

- Breweries are not constrained to the 3.2 abw limit, consider the many fine (and potent) selections from Prairie. These beers just cannot be sold in grocery or convenience stores.

- Liquor stores can sell pretty much any beer they want, unfortunately they can't keep it cold for some crazy reason. I knew people who would drive around with coolers in the backs of their vehicles because of this.

 

One word: religion

 

Legally they can't keep it cold? Curious to know what in the world justifies that. The only thing I can think of is 1) it deters people from cracking open a beer they just purchased in the parking lot or alley and 2) the homeless don't have refrigerators, so it's kind of an "eff you" to them. Bizarre

 

Not a dry county, but I live near a dry borough (Wilkinsburg) in Pittsburgh. You get into situations where you can drink on this side of the street but not that side. Ridiculous.

Glad I don't live there as the liquor laws here in PA are some of the worst in the country (but slowly getting better). I will be able to buy a six pack at a beer distributor soon! Woo-Hoo! Could only buy an entire case there not long ago.... sorry for the rant.... makes me nuts.

 

There are a few dry counties in Arkansas. Several are considering changing those laws. However, there is a big campaign to keep the counties dry. Those campaigns are run by the owners of the county-line liquor stores who would lose business. It's all about money now.

 

I dont think i've ever been in a "dry" town, and I surely hope I never have to be. I'm guessing it's mostly a religious/rural type thing.

 

All the communist countries I visited had freely available alcohol.

 

Hmm...I'm thinking there was more to it than that. There are plenty of restaurants around that serve no alcohol and seem to be doing OK. And also plenty of thriving malls that have alcohol-free restaurants.

 

The 220 express.

Remember how that story played out in NC well--local spins on Smokey and the Bandit. Funny thing how the moonshiners didn't mind those laws.

 

T

Only my conjecture but the not keeping cold meant that it was not consumed right away--i.e. not in a vehicle. Contrast with New Orleans with drive through daiquiri joints of the early 90s-driver's drink had to have the paper on the straw.

Two silly extremes.

 

I live in a dry county. It can be annoying because it's about a 20 minute drive for me to the nearest liquor store.
I also went to college in a dry county, but that didn't slow us down any

 

Not always in the most convenient form, mind. We bought a bucket of beer for my wedding after party. The pub was out of bottles, so what could we do? Go thirsty?

 

The (rather stupid) idea is the first one, basically you have to be enough of a forward thinking individual to buy alcohol, chill it down and then drink it. Indiana has a similar law for grocery stores, gas stations etc. I always found it amusing that I can buy a styrofoam cooler, ice and beer at an Indiana gas station, but not cold beer, spin the can for two minutes and it's plenty cold and the rest are nice and cold by the time you finish the first.

I actually grew up in the temperance capital of the world, Westerville, Ohio. My family has never been big fans of alcohol, so me working with beer has gets some snide comments every Thanksgiving (coffee stouts look and smell enough like coffee to make these events tolerable). Of course right across the border in Columbus beer was completely legal. When Westerville voted themselves wet, it was actually a huge deal to people who wanted to "maintain the history of the temperance movement" as well as saying there would be drunk people driving through town all the time. It's a silly sentiment, but oh well.

 

The Bible Belt is like a gerrymandered congressional district, with its tentacles spread far and wide. It really isn't just a Southern phenomenon. Oh, and warm beer will stop no one from drinking warm beer, if need be.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm from Lima myself and went to OSU, so I understand the mentality (Allen County isn't dry or anything). What are you going to do....

 

The anecdote about NO is hilarious. What could go wrong? I remember reports of teenage drunk driving in NW Ohio where I grew up. The sheriffs would look the other way because that's how it was done in the rural towns when they were growing up. Tradition is a powerful thing