microbusbrewery
Senior Member
Sorry for the long rant, but I'm pissed. As some of you know, Utah has some of the screwiest liquor laws in the nation. Here's a few I can think of off hand. Bottles for purchase must be 3.2 ABW/ 4.0 ABV or less to be sold in grocery stores or convenience stores. All alco-pops were removed from grocery stores a few years back because a Mormon legislator's daughter got a DUI after claiming she thought she was buying sparkling lemonade (I've seen them in stores again... Mike must have good lobbyists). Bottles greater than 3.2 are only available in state run liquor stores (room temp at best, not stored cold, not protected from heat or UV light) or state licensed brewery stores. No >3.2 beer on tap, but it's OK to have any ABV wine or hard cider on tap. No more than two tasters of beer in front of anyone at any given time, but wine flights are OK. If you want to have a tasting room at your brewery, you also have to open a kitchen that has the ability to prepare cooked food on site. In other words, if you want a tasting room, you also have to open a restaurant...not super friendly to brewery startups. Non-grandfathered restaurants have to install a Zion Curtain so children's minds aren't poisoned by the sight of a beer being poured from the tap. A bartender in a restaurant can't give you your beer across the bar, they have to walk around the bar and place it in front of you...on a coaster. You can't order a drink in a restaurant unless you've ordered food as well. In fact, they are not even supposed to take your drink order unless you have demonstrated an "intent to dine". At a bar, pub, restaurant, you can't get anything >3.2/4.0 on tap, but you can get any ABV in a bottle. A lot of times that means you have to order a bomber if you want >3.2 beer. You can't buy any alcohol in any store if someone in your party forgot their ID or someone under 21 that's with you isn't a member of your immediate family. The problem is all these laws are written by Mormons with the backing off Mormon Church leaders and they consider drinking a sin (at least since prohibition ended. Before that, not so much).
So the new one that's before the legislature right now is HB155 which lowers the legal limit from the standard .08 to .05. The bill sponsor keeps citing the fact that European countries and Japan have set a precedent for .05. While that may be true, these countries also have excellent public transportation; Utah's shuts down at midnight and they will kick you off the train even if you only want to go one more stop and the train is going by said stop (in order to head back to the depot). Oh, and they continue to stop at every station, even after they've kicked everyone off the train.
So if we adopt Europe's .05 limit, does that mean we'll follow suit and also lower the drinking age to 18, 16, or eliminate it altogether like they've done in Europe? Will we be able to have a neighborhood bar, pub, etc because they'll do away with the law preventing those types of establishments near churches and schools? If you've ever been to Utah, you know there is a Mormon Church on almost every corner so it kind of limits where you can get a drink.
The legislator that's sponsoring the bill is also flat out lying about how much one can drink in order to stay under the proposed limit. The stats he's quoting are essentially for someone that weighs about 285 pounds. F'ing ridiculous. The bill flew through the House and is before the Senate now. If you live in Utah, contact your state senator and urge them to vote against this bill. If you don't live in Utah, please do me a favor and contact a legislator or two and let them know you won't be risking the financial ruin of a .05 DUI by bringing your tourist dollars to Utah.
So the new one that's before the legislature right now is HB155 which lowers the legal limit from the standard .08 to .05. The bill sponsor keeps citing the fact that European countries and Japan have set a precedent for .05. While that may be true, these countries also have excellent public transportation; Utah's shuts down at midnight and they will kick you off the train even if you only want to go one more stop and the train is going by said stop (in order to head back to the depot). Oh, and they continue to stop at every station, even after they've kicked everyone off the train.
So if we adopt Europe's .05 limit, does that mean we'll follow suit and also lower the drinking age to 18, 16, or eliminate it altogether like they've done in Europe? Will we be able to have a neighborhood bar, pub, etc because they'll do away with the law preventing those types of establishments near churches and schools? If you've ever been to Utah, you know there is a Mormon Church on almost every corner so it kind of limits where you can get a drink.
The legislator that's sponsoring the bill is also flat out lying about how much one can drink in order to stay under the proposed limit. The stats he's quoting are essentially for someone that weighs about 285 pounds. F'ing ridiculous. The bill flew through the House and is before the Senate now. If you live in Utah, contact your state senator and urge them to vote against this bill. If you don't live in Utah, please do me a favor and contact a legislator or two and let them know you won't be risking the financial ruin of a .05 DUI by bringing your tourist dollars to Utah.