Hop Topic
Oct 25, 2019
Here’s a true, but scary, Halloween story: Any beer that remains on liquor store shelves at midnight on Oct. 31 — and is 5% alcohol by volume or less — will be poured down the drain.
Unless consumers get there first to snag a six-pack or three — and probably at a bargain price.
The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says it has no choice but to “destroy” the unsold brews after Nov. 1, when a new law takes effect changing where beer with an alcohol level up to 5% ABV is sold.
For nearly a century, Utah law has barred grocery and convenience stores from selling beer that was higher than 4% ABV (that’s 3.2% by weight). Higher-alcohol brews could be sold only in state-owned liquor stores.
The new law changes that, boosting the alcohol level for retail outlets to 5% ABV.
That means dozens of beers that fall between 4% and 5% ABV need to be moved out of liquor stores or dumped, DABC purchasing specialist Rob Southworth wrote in an email.