Worst Beer/Liquor Laws By State

To further clarify, Freetail is allowed to sell bottles on-site & not off-site because they are a brewpub. They're also allowed to fill growlers because they do not serve liquor. No establishment that sells or serves liquor (bar or grocery store) can fill growlers, but any growler can be used.

I'm not sure many Texans know this, but any place that can fill a growler is also BYOB, which is why places like Petrol Station and Hay Merchant can host bottle shares. I love BYOB laws.

In contrast to Texas, I lived in Oklahoma for college and, while only 21+ for a year, was subjected to such laws as (as of 2006):
1) beer above 4% ABV cannot be purchased cold, and can only be purchased at a liquor store (which close at 21:00)
2) cannot purchase liquor on Sundays
3) cannot advertise happy hours

 

Grocery stores are allowed to sell alcohol, but only 3 locations per chain. But a bill has already passed to up that number to 6 eventually I believe.

Bars closing at 2AM in MA is the law that annoys me the most.

 

This from New York: paraphrasing Jimmy McMillen, a recent candidate for NYC mayor: The price of beer is too damn high!

 

I live in South Eastern PA and have no problem securing singles and six packs. You just need to do your homework on where to go. I've lived here my whole life and have no problem going to more than one store to get food, liquor and beer. I've never understood people who complain that we can't buy liquor and beer in a grocery store. Rarely do I ever feel the need to buy all three on the same day. That's usually reserved for holidays or parties. It's not like "case of beer" is on my weekly grocery list.

 

Well it looks like Oklahoma was just mentioned. We are in need of some SERIOUS alcohol law reform as our laws are extremely antiquated. I believe only one state has it worse than we do, Utah.

 

Yeah no carry out on Sundays sucks...... at least I only live 40 minutes from the state line though so its not that bad if I really want something to drink.

 

What is the law about if a beer has an ABV above 5% the bottle/can cannot say "beer" on it. It has to be called Malt Liquor or Ale ? Something like that.

 

You're in SEPA, of course you don't have a problem. I can get a six pack, case, and liquor in the same shopping center. The rest of the state is not so lucky. PA as a whole is not littered with Whole Foods and Wegmans like the Philly area is, and due to sparse populations, only have one liquor store and case distributor in a 30 mile radius. It's a silly law that severely limits options for anyone not living in a highly-populated urban/suburban area.

 

CALIFORNIA GROWLER LAWS.

 

I'm not sure if this has already changed, or is one of the things they're working on getting changed, but according to the TABC web site:



Alcoholic Beverage – a beverage with MORE than a half percent alcohol by volume. Anything with less than a half percent of alcohol is non-alcoholic and not regulated by TABC, e.g. “near beer” or “nonalcoholic beer.” Alcoholic beverages, and the alcoholic beverage industry and regulations, are broken down into two categories: beer or liquor.

• Ale/Malt Liquor – malt beverages with MORE than 4% alcohol by weight (a type of liquor)
• Beer – malt beverages with more than a half percent alcohol by volume, but NOT more than 4% alcohol by weight (5% alcohol by volume).

 

Exactly this!

 

Only two things that I like about Utah's beer laws 1) that the price is the same in each store. Since the state has a monopoly, I am never tempted to try another store to see if the price is better. 2) The price is listed for each bottle, has the effect of everything being a mix-a-six. (These only apply to over 4 ABV beers in the state stores)

The worst is the 4 ABV cap on draft beers. Until that changes I will never be able to have an Epic beer on tap (unless I go elsewhere).

Cheers

 

However, they did change the law awhile back to allow carryouts from brewpubs though, right?

 

Also the anti-happy hour law.

Also, I'd like growler fills at places other than the breweries into their proper growlers, but that's pushing it I guess.

 

The limit was at 6% into the 90's, so it used to be worse!

 

I haven't been to Myrtle Beach, SC in a while but I remember them as having some pretty screwy laws. I remember going to buy both beer and liquor and while I went to the same store, they had a glass wall partition between each side and I had to walk out of one side to get to the other and make a separate purchase. I also remember going to bars and they were only allowed to serve mixed drinks using those little 1oz. airline bottles. If you wanted a stronger drink, you paid for them to add another little bottle to your drink.

Also, I've been to Killington, VT and I recall them not allowing anyone to have more than one drink in front of them at a time. If you ordered your next drink, you better finish the one you are on before the waitress was able to put it on the table in front of you.

 

To buy a keg larger than 5 gal you must go to distributor . Which in the case of MOST all of the better craft beers are in Columbus & Cincinnati only . And they know it $$$$$

7hrs away

 

This is the one that really grinds my gears. Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, a Lager, brewed at a facility with over a hundred years of history, magically becomes an ale when it crosses the border into Texas. It just blows my mind that the people making those decisions have absolutely no understanding of the history and naming of beer. Obviously the history and naming of beer are ripe with discrepancies, half truths and urban legends but there are some things that are universally agreed upon.

Same sentiment goes for the discussions of homebrewing in Alabama, it amazes me how out of touch the people making the rules are to the people that would actually be affected by the rules.

 

As a (somewhat) new resident in New York state, I've realized that we're pretty lucky when it comes to distribution laws (the comments in this thread from people in other states make me scoff at the notion that the United States is "the land of the free"), but beer sure isn't cheap here. For example, I've seen Brooklyn six packs for $1-2 cheaper in New Jersey. Whenever I go to New Jersey, I try to stock up on beer. Can any New Yorkers explain why this is? Is it a tax thing?

 

Just to bragg, i found a grocery store in Myrtle Beach where you can fill a growler, 3 different craft beers to choose from. I love my South Carolina. GO COCKS.