Liberate beer sales in Pennsylvania please (Philadelphia, Reading: buy, taxes, to live)

[PeeAye Native]

Originally Posted by The_Outsider

You guys have given me a wealth of info on this subject, thanks.

I always assumed it was the distributors holding up this archaic law. I often wondered (especially after getting to the distributor too late and having to pay $9.00 for a 6 pack at a bar) how a few distributors could keep the laws in place against hundreds of thousands of beer consumers.

Now I see it goes far beyond the licensed distributors. Hopefully it changes soon. When I moved here in 2007 a 30 pack was $19.50, in '08 it was $20.50, in early '09 it was $21.75, now it's at $23.00 for a 30 pack.

Wish I had the talent to brew my own.

If you like beers other than the usual Yuengling and Coors, go to Emmaus, south of Allentown, and find Shangy's (that is the name of it).

Measured by brands and flavors, they are one of top 2 or 3 biggest distributor in the Mid Atlantic and New England region. And are the regional distributor (wholesale to bars and beer other distributors) for many higher end imports, Hoeggarden, for example. Prices pretty reasonable. But you can only purchase by the case, no six packs. If you call, they will tell you price and availability, and even expiration date over the phone.

Edit: I didn't see you are in Jefferson County. Other end of the state from Allentown.

[BPP1999]

[/quote]I just signed an online petition supporting the sale of beer at grocery and convenience stores in PA. I won’t advertise the convenience store supporting it but you can Google “Beer Petition Pennsylvania” if you would like to sign it [/quote]

Another suggestion is to write your PA house and senate reps. I've heard that there's a hierarchy to feedback from constituents. A petition is lowest, then, an email, then a phone call, then a letter, or something like that. Supposedly, it's said that if one person writes a letter, there's a thousand others who feel the same way.

This is a fairly interesting thread on this topic and I agree with you 100% that it's long overdue for a rule change in PA. I think most people agree with us but the minority is more vocal because they feel threatened by any change.

[The_Outsider]

Originally Posted by PeeAye Native

If you like beers other than the usual Yuengling and Coors, go to Emmaus, south of Allentown, and find Shangy's (that is the name of it).

Measured by brands and flavors, they are one of top 2 or 3 biggest distributor in the Mid Atlantic and New England region. And are the regional distributor (wholesale to bars and beer other distributors) for many higher end imports, Hoeggarden, for example. Prices pretty reasonable. But you can only purchase by the case, no six packs. If you call, they will tell you price and availability, and even expiration date over the phone.

Edit: I didn't see you are in Jefferson County. Other end of the state from Allentown.

Thanks for the tip, I will check em out, I travel to Philly at least once a month
Maybe they can get me some Caffrey's Irish Ale.

[Honest Bob]

The Sheetz corporation in Altoona is going to spend $1,000,000 to try to get the laws changed for six pack sales in their convenience stores.

They already had a liquor license for at least 2 stores that I know of, but the LCB requires them to have a separate room from the store - where they sell the beer and their license was revoked because the stores did not allow the people to consume the beer on the premises..

If Sheets gets the laws changed, you are going to see the price of a six pack of beer go way down until they run off all the competition.

It's a lot like the .99 cent hot dogs they sold when they first opened the stores 20 + years ago. People get used to getting two full sized death dogs for .99 cents. Once you get them hooked, you can double the price and either they will pay it or go elsewhere. ONLY when you run all the other gas stations out of town, you can charge as much as you wish and you will get it.

My buddy Shawn McGarvey liked Sheetz food so much, that was his nickname and is probably on his tombstone.

http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2009/11/12/recent_news/recent257.txt (broken link)

http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/co...1.html?nav=742

http://www.csnews.com/csn/cat_manage..._id=1004051743

http://www.freemybeer.com/

[Ohiogirl81]

Any outrage about corrupting our innocent youth, eliminating jobs, and/or crushing competition is nothing but bull. It ain't gonna happen.

Convenience store and grocery store clerks have the capability of asking for ID just the same as bartenders and pizza store clerks.

The beer distributors will survive; grocery stores aren't going to want to mess with full cases of beer, and there still will be a market for cases.

New specialty stores will open up, creating jobs. If existing stores don't survive, they weren't doing a good job in the first place.

I just don't understand the opposition. It's asinine.

[PeeAye Native]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Any outrage about corrupting our innocent youth, eliminating jobs, and/or crushing competition is nothing but bull. It ain't gonna happen.

Convenience store and grocery store clerks have the capability of asking for ID just the same as bartenders and pizza store clerks.

The beer distributors will survive; grocery stores aren't going to want to mess with full cases of beer, and there still will be a market for cases.

New specialty stores will open up, creating jobs. If existing stores don't survive, they weren't doing a good job in the first place.

I just don't understand the opposition. It's asinine.

I agree. But on a humurous side of this, the State Stores, (officially Wine & Spirits Shoppes), if you're under age, you'll never be able to purchase anything, ever.

Every small town in PA has one of these State stores, (some in the smaller towns only open one or two days a week). And every high school kid in a small town in PA can attest, it doesn't happen. All the kids have all tried at one time or another. The stories are legendary about how the employees there somehow know the kids aren't old enough.

In all the huff and puff surrounding changing the PA alcohol sales laws, the state store employees union always comes up with this (state stores don't sell to underage) as a reason why the system shouldn't be changed. And on the surface it sounds like someone trying to feather bed their jobs. But it is true. The state store employees have some kind of magical power (to teenagers anyway) to sniff out under-21s who attempt to purchase alcohol.

Ask any of the millions of teenagers who grew up in small town in PA, they all know this as a given.

[otters21]

Originally Posted by The_Outsider

You guys have given me a wealth of info on this subject, thanks.

I always assumed it was the distributors holding up this archaic law. I often wondered (especially after getting to the distributor too late and having to pay $9.00 for a 6 pack at a bar) how a few distributors could keep the laws in place against hundreds of thousands of beer consumers.

Now I see it goes far beyond the licensed distributors. Hopefully it changes soon. When I moved here in 2007 a 30 pack was $19.50, in '08 it was $20.50, in early '09 it was $21.75, now it's at $23.00 for a 30 pack.

Wish I had the talent to brew my own.

IMO that is highway robbery - 23 dollars for a 30 pack! . Here in Ohio you can pick up a 30 pack depending what brand it is for 14 or 15 bucks.

[bnepler]

It's politics and corruption, that's all. The people have spoken...

[Honest Bob]

When I was 21 years old, my grandfather asked me to pick him up a bottle of Sam Thompson Rye whiskey and when I walked up to the counter, they did not card me.

I was kind of depressed, but I know of people who did walk up to the counter and the people behind the counter called the police and the people were arrested for being underage and trying to buy alcohol.

So I think that it was better that they didn't serve me before I was 21.

I bought beer from the time I was 15 years old and had no trouble buying beer, even on graduation day. Me and some friends got really drunk on some Stroh's I bought at the local restaurant and I ended up throwing up all over the place and passing out and my mom was crying - because she waited 18 years for me to graduate and on graduation day I was drunk as a monkey.

I ended up sleeping it off and sobering up in time for graduation that night and have not drank any Stroh's since.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by otters21

Here in Ohio you can pick up a 30 pack depending what brand it is for 14 or 15 bucks.

Even cheaper across the bridge in Kentucky!

The state store employees have some kind of magical power (to teenagers anyway) to sniff out under-21s who attempt to purchase alcohol.

Oh, I managed ... but I was a teenager more than 30 years ago. And that was when most of the liquor was behind the counter, and you had to ask for it.