Utah..

[Crayfish]

Hello,
My wife and I are going to Utah in a few weeks. Can you buy wine and full strength beer readily in stores? Sorry of this has been discussed, but a search on the iPad app did not reveal anything obvious in the first few pages. Thanks.

 

[AaronWayne8]

I do not live in Utah but have been there several times to visit family. Beer I believe is watered down with lower alcohol percentages. Best bet is to drive to Nevada or Wyoming depending on where in Utah you'll be.

 

[olz431]

Utah is a very beautiful state, but also a BYOB state.

 

[Beernik]

4.0% ABV beer in stores only. You have to find a State Liquor Store or go to a brewery/brewpub/winery to purchase bottles of higher strength beer or wine.

We almost got rid of the Zion Curtain this legislative session. It's a wall that all drinks must be opened, poured, or mixed behind.

The thing about Utah liquor laws is that they are like James Bond theme songs: don't try to understand them, they don't make sense.

 

[Tinga]

We almost got rid of the Zion Curtain this legislative session. It's a wall that all drinks must be opened, poured, or mixed behind.

seriously?

 

[JLem]

I was in salt lake city this past summer and was able to find all sorts of local craft beer at Whole Foods. Bought a bunch, on a Sunday even, before driving out to Yellowstone. I didn't notice the ABV of the beer, but wouldn't have thought it was 4% or less...but maybe it was.

We weren't looking for wine, so can't help you there.

 

[Beernik]

seriously?

Very. One State Senator has a fantasy about what makes a restaurant a restaurant and what makes a bar a bar. He thinks witnessing a drink being mixed turns a restaurant into a bar.

But wait... It gets better.

How this applies to beer: if a restaurant is not grandfathered in, beer taps must be hidden from view. If beer is bottled, the bottles must be opened out of view. However, if I order a beer with a glass, I can pour the beer from the opened bottle to the glass in full view of all the other customers.

Like I said, don't try to make sense of it.

 

[Crayfish]

Thanks for the responses. Do craft breweries even sell in the stores if they are limited to 4%? I imagine that would seriously restrict decent representations of many styles.

 

[Beernik]

Some of Uinta, Squatters, Wasatch, & Zion's Canyon beers can be found at grocery stores. I'm not sure who else is selling in the grocery stores downtown anymore. Moab Brewery may still be in Whole Foods.

The thing is that until about 7 years ago, most of the breweries only made 4.0% Beer because the only options were selling in grocery stores or at liquor stores. Gov. Huntsman pushed through the law allowing breweries to sell direct to the public. After that they all started producing bigger beers.

Also, if you want to be served on tap, the beer still has to be 4.0.

To buy direct from the breweries:

Uinta's brewery is on the west side of SLC (1722 Fremont Drive). I think it has limited hours of being open to the public. At least it used to.

Wasatch & Squatters share a brewery on 1763 South and 300 West. There are also some bottled Squatters beers available at their brewpub at 147 West 300 South.

My opinion is that Epic is doing the best & most interesting beers right now. You can only pick theirs up at the brewery or a State Liquor Store. The brewery is 825 South State Street. They are also the only brewery that is open to the public for Sunday sales because they opened a "restaurant" inside it.

All the State Liquor Stores should have a good selection of local beers. The generally agreed upon Liquor Store with the best beer selection is 1615 South Foothill Drive. State Liquor Stores are not open on Sunday or Holidays.

 

[JLem]

Some of Uinta, Squatters, Wasatch, & Zion's Canyon beers can be found at grocery stores. I'm not sure who else is selling in the grocery stores downtown anymore. Moab Brewery may still be in Whole Foods.

this was my experience last summer at a Whole Foods in SLC. I don't remember if Moab was there or not, but the others definitely were. I also feel like I found some Descutes and Big Sky at some random camp store outside of SLC, but that may have been in WY or MT...can't remember exactly where we were at that point.

 

[Beernik]

A camp store may have had a Packing Agency license. That's kind of like a privately owned State Liquor store for the more remote areas & resorts.