Beer here (in stores)... (neighborhood, horse, requirement)

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by Left-handed

Did you not notice that it took more beers to get you feeling inebriated? Or was there some sort of placebo effect in play?

I've not drank 3.2 beer myself. I'm genuinely curious if you can tell the different between, let's say, 3.2 Bud Platinum vs. regular Bud Platinum (6% ABV). I may need to do an experiment.

No, there's not a lot of difference in the drinking quality and I tend to space out my beers anyway - but over time I did notice some difference in the times I might have, say, three in 90 minutes or so. That, and noticing 3.2% marks on some of the other beers on the shelf, started me wondering, then looking.

I don't use ABV as any kind of benchmark for taste or quality - a brewpub back in CT made some very fine brews that were under 4% - but it's no secret that most good-to-better craft brews hit 5-6% or more.

I am just irritated enough at the whole thing to push a little, not that I expect any actual result from it. Just blow off a little steam at some local brewers and retailers.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by davidv

Personally, I like buying liquor in liquor stores better than grocery stores because the people working there are more knowledgeable and helpful about what they sell. I can't imagine asking a Safeway stock boy which wine I should buy with my Salmon.

A grocery store selling wines and liquors does not prevent you from going to a knowledgeable store to buy yours... but I bet you'd appreciate picking up a known vintage or bottle conveniently, at a better price.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by Quietude

Okay, well, back to the OP about "stealth" 3.2 being sold in grocery stores... in comparing two 12-packs of Fat Tire, I noticed that the difference is marked on the box... in the blurry machine-printed serial number string. The 5.2 from a liquor store just has the boring codes smeared across the box, while the box from KS includes a smeary ...3.2%BEER... in there.

And, of course, all craft/quality beer buyers carefully examine these routing codes to see if the six or box or case came from the hands of master brewer Angus McSwiney and not that pretender on the night shift...

Other than this effectively invisible marking (I honestly never noticed them until now; they're not for the mortal eyes of consumers) the only way to know what's in the boooooxxxx is to open it and look for the missing mark and the stealth 3.2 in the fine print. Some part of me still thinks this is unreasonable and even deceptive on the part of the brewers. But now, like the three million ahead of me, I know. After six months.

It is also marked on each individual bottle. I also believe I've seen it on both the grocery store doors/entry sidelights and on the shelves, cooler doors, or above beer sections in the grocery stores. Typically in these sections it accompanies the hours of permissible alcohol sales as well since those are regulated as well and not all grocery stores can lock up the alcohol.

I wouldn't say it is exactly deceptive, but rather, you may be casually unobservant and carry your previous domicile assumptions with you.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

I note that both Costco locations in COLO SPGS have a full liquor store "attached" to their buildings as they've found a loophole of some sort that allows this. Here in AZ it's all in the main store, no gimmicks to get around the mickey mouse laws in COLO.

Old joke about Baptists in those parts of KY where some counties are dry is that when they see their Baptist buddies at a liquor store in another county they do not recognize each other....having been a Baptist for a few years, way back, I retell that joke with a sense of BTDT as we one congregation in Northern Virginia that wouldn't let a guy be a Deacon because he drove a beer truck. True story. Our blue laws in many states are due just about 100% to the puritanism of the dominant religious cult in any given region. Cue my fan mail....

The Costco on Oxford and Santa Fe has an attached liquor store. I can see that disappearing in a year or two.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by TCHP

It is also marked on each individual bottle.

Actually, no - unless I missed it, an inspection of a couple of grocery store samples showed no ABV marking. (Avalanche comes to mind.) I could well be wrong and will look next time I'm there.

I also believe I've seen it on both the grocery store doors/entry sidelights and on the shelves, cooler doors, or above beer sections in the grocery stores. Typically in these sections it accompanies the hours of permissible alcohol sales as well since those are regulated as well and not all grocery stores can lock up the alcohol.

I will look, although I've stood around in various waiting modes and read the cheerfully archaic notices more than once. ("Whiskey, wine and beer...")

I wouldn't say it is exactly deceptive, but rather, you may be casually unobservant and carry your previous domicile assumptions with you.

I do think it's deceptive if what appears to be an identical product is sold in two or more variations with no meaningful manufacturer mark to indicate the difference. (I speak mostly of sealed 4/6 packs and 12-pack boxes, where you cannot examine the bottle itself. The Fat Tire box contains absolute no mark indicating a difference other than that blurry and "invisible" date/manufacture code.)

Okay, ColoNatives "know" this and I am an ignorant newcomer - no argument. But this is not a casual issue to me and I have looked at the bottles, carriers and cases, and still only slowly became aware of the issue. I don't think it's fair to say I should have researched CO liquor/retailing law on the point to make the discovery.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by davidv

I can't imagine asking a Safeway stock boy which wine I should buy with my Salmon.

You don't have to.
The correct answer is: dry rosé.
See how easy that was.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

You don't have to.
The correct answer is: dry rosé.
See how easy that was.

I'd be radical and go with a Gewurz.

Oh - and the only Safeway I shopped at in CA had a very knowledgeable wine and liquor manager. (I preferred other chains, some of which did even better at the job. It need not be like asking a 7-11 clerk for a recommendation on Night Train vs MD20-20... oh. Wait. That's right. Convenience stores don't sell that here.)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by davidv

Here is the history:

Colorado's laws allowing only one liquor license per person/business was written after Prohibition. It was meant to keep the mafia from gaining control of the liquor market. This law changed in 2016, but the changes will be phased in to minimize the impact on liquor store owners.

The 3.2% law was common 30 years ago. It allowed the sale of lower alcohol drinks to those 18-21. It was/is sold in the grocery stores because 18 year olds are allowed in there, but not in regular liquor stores. The 18 year old age limit was scrapped in 1987 when the Federal Government told us to change the drinking age to 21 or lose federal highway funding.

Personally, I like buying liquor in liquor stores better than grocery stores because the people working there are more knowledgeable and helpful about what they sell. I can't imagine asking a Safeway stock boy which wine I should buy with my Salmon.

In Illinois they sold liquor in the grocery stores, and there were still liquor stores when we lived there anyway. I liked the liquor stores better because they usually had more selection.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Left-handed

Did you not notice that it took more beers to get you feeling inebriated? Or was there some sort of placebo effect in play?

I've not drank 3.2 beer myself. I'm genuinely curious if you can tell the different between, let's say, 3.2 Bud Platinum vs. regular Bud Platinum (6% ABV). I may need to do an experiment.

Important to note, the 3.2 is ABW, not ABV.

3.2 ABW = 4.0 ABV

[Left-handed]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

Important to note, the 3.2 is ABW, not ABV.

3.2 ABW = 4.0 ABV

I didn't realize they did it by weight, and not volume. Why would they make it so confusing like that? Most beers measure and label their content by volume.

4% ABV doesn't sound nearly as bad as 3.2%. At the same time, I'm sure it has something to do with whatever the initial law enforced. 3.2% probably sounded more conservative, which is probably the whole point.