Crazy Liquor Laws

It's Enough to Drive You to Drink!

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A Dry Week

When we lived in Harrison, Arkansas, Boone county was “dry”. We had to drive an hour north to Missouri to by beer, wine, or liquor of any kind. But some jurisdictions are dryer than others. In Plano and Allen, Texas, we have been able to enjoy adult beverages with our meals and purchase beer and wine in grocery and convenience stores for as long as we have lived in the area. But if we wanted a bottle of anything stronger, we had to travel. But in the spring of 2013, Plano voters decided to allow liquor stores in their city. And this past spring, Allen decided to join the party. This was all after Boone county Arkansas uncorked a wet vote in November of 2010.

This post started out to be an apology for not having anything for you today. But it’s turned out to be not quite as dry as I had expected. I’m in my third week of a new job that has required travel and long hours. So I haven’t had much time for blog research and writing. My travels have taken me to new jurisdictions which include both a Whole Foods with a growler bar and state run liquor stores. I hope to do some research and crank out some fresh content over the next few weeks. So please stick around.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Is your area wet or dry? Or moist? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!

Mark

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Growler Bars at Whole Foods

I was first introduced to the concept of a “growler bar” in a grocery store at the Whole Foods Market in Chattanooga, Tennessee when I was on a contract assignment at Volkswagen about three years ago. In the cheese section, they have a small bar with four beers on tap. You can actually buy a pint and drink it while you shop for your organic grass fed beef and free range eggs. You can also get a “growler” of your beer choice to go.

For those of you unfamiliar with growlers, a growler is a jug of beer to-go. You purchase the jug the first time and take it back to have it refilled, paying only for the beer on the refills. (Well, that’s the theory anyway. I seem to be collecting jugs from various venues that I don’t have with me when I need a refill.) Growlers have long been a staple at brew pubs in most states. (I understand Florida has an issue with growlers. I will research and report back for a later post.) I have recently run across growlers at a few Whole Foods stores in several states and at a liquor store in Arkansas.

Finally, A Growler Bar Close to Home

My wife Tracy and I recently checked out the new Whole Foods Market Cityline in Richardson, Texas, about ten miles from our home in Allen. I was really there to investigate the rumors that this new Whole Foods had a growler bar. Rumor confirmed! They actually have a pretty nice bar they call the Taproom. It appears to also be the cafe area for the deli and offers sixteen beers/ciders on tap.

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Of course the name of this blog is Crazy Liquor Laws, so there has to be a story here. I was talking with the bartender and learned some interesting twists about our newfound beer-vana. The Taproom is a unique venue legally separated from the rest of the store by two half walls. These walls are really purely decorative. Tracy was admiring their spaced two by four design as we were entering the bar. But they are required to be there to demark the space. And there is a specially marked exit door for growlers, as featured in the photo above. Tasting is allowed. (No more than one ounce at a time by law.) Unlike Chattanooga, all beer must be consumed in the Taproom. Packaged beer and wine may be purchased in the store and consumed in the Taproom. This beer or wine must be served by the bartender and must be left behind the bar until you leave, at which point you may take any remainder with you; no special rules or restrictions. Crazy.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Have you enjoyed your favorite IPA while you shopped? What are the rules for growlers where you live? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!

Mark

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Drive Thru Daiquiris and Margaritas To-Go?!

Have you ever found yourself at home on a Thursday night looking forward to relaxing on the couch and watching the latest episode of Scandle and thought “A margarita sure would taste good right now”; but you don’t feel like dragging out the blender and making a mess? So you hop in the car and run down to the corner drive thru margarita bar and pick up a couple of margaritas on the rocks… To go. Wait… Say again?

Would you like fries with that?

I was listening to a comedian (I wish I could remember his name. He was funny!) on XM radio talk about his experiences with drive through daiquiri bars in Louisiana.

It depends on what the definition of Is is

He said as long as the straw hasn’t punctured the plastic lid, or if the straw is inserted into the lid but the paper still covers the top end of the straw, the cup is not considered an “open container”. Well alright then.

RANT WARNING

Personally, I think open container and drinking while driving laws are silly. These are “nanny” laws. They say that if passengers in a motor vehicle are drinking alcoholic beverages that the driver cannot be trusted to not partake themselves. (Sorry Duncan and Christopher, themselves is perfectly fine.) And if a guy does happen to get thirsty after a long day of construction work in the 110° Texas heat and wants to stop at 7-Eleven and grab a cold beer to drink on the way home, so what?! Now if they’ve had a twelve pack they have no business being behind the wheel. But it shouldn’t make any difference whether that twelve pack was consumed at the job site or in his pickup truck. If he’s drunk, he’s drunk. Lock him up. But if he’s not drunk, leave him alone. There, I got that off my chest.

End of rant

It’s not just for Louisiana any more

So while searching for the name of the comedian talking about the drive through daiquiri bars, I discovered that they are not just a Louisiana phenomenon. We appearantly have them in Texas too. (I think I need to investigate this. You know; as a service to my readers.) There’s the W grill in Houston with drive thru margaritas to-go. It seems in Texas that if you put a piece of tape over the straw hole on the cup lid, you’re good… to-go. Eskimo Hut has locations across Texas serving daiquiris, margaritas, and Jello shots to-go. The good folks at Eskimo Hut seem to be a little more serious about the “sealed container” rules though. Most of their products come in gallon jugs like milk jugs with a “sealed” lid or plastic cups with a heat sealed cellophane lid. However, the Jello shots are shown in little plastic condement cups with normal plastic lids.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Do you have a Crazy Liquor Law story? Have you ever ordered adult beverages to-go at a drive thru? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!
Mark

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Homebrew

Last weekend, I attended an open house at TheLab.ms makerspace in Plano, Texas. This is a cool place that I’ve been hanging out at on Fridays since I discovered it through attending a podcast talk they hosted in May. I have now officially joined the community and will be using it more as a work at home away from home office, if that makes any sense. One of the activities that TheLab has is a monthly “brew night”. At the open house, they had refreshments available including soft drinks and beer. Beer… including several varieties of traditional beer purchased from local vendors as well as two examples of beer brewed at the monthly brew nights. But there was a catch. The “home brew” was only to be consumed by those who actually participated in the brewing. Why? You guessed it… A crazy liquor law.

Post Prohibition Homebrew History

When the 21st amendment repealed prohibition in the U.S. in 1933, although home wine making was legalized, it mistakenly left out the legalization of home beer making. This wasn’t remedied until 1978 with the passage of legislation creating an exemption from taxation of beer brewed at home for personal or family use making homebrewing legal on a federal level in the U.S.

Of course this simply turned regulation of home brewing over to the individual states, whose implementation varies widely. Some states actually allow for transportation of homebrew to events such as competitions and club meetings. Mississippi and Alabama were the last two states to legalize home brewing in 2013.

Texas Home Brew Regulations

According to Texas statute Title 4, Chapter 109, Subchapter B, §109.21:

“The head of a family or an unmarried adult may produce for the use of his family or himself not more than 200 gallons of wine, ale, malt liquor, or beer, per year. No license or permit is required.”

So I guess the catch is “for the use of his family or himself”. I have discovered there is a loophole, but it’s a bit of a hassle and probably not practical (or even possible) for this situation.

Delivery of Home-Produced Wine, Ale, Malt Liquor, or Beer for Certain Purposes

For the purpose of participating in an organized tasting, evaluation, competition, or literary review, a person to whom this section applies may deliver wine, ale, malt liquor, or beer produced and manufactured by the person to locations that are not licensed under this code for the purpose of submitting those products to an evaluation at an organized tasting competition that is closed to the general public or by a reviewer whose reviews are published if:

(1) no charge of any kind is made for the wine, ale, malt liquor, or beer, for its delivery, or for attendance at the event; and

(2) the commission consents in writing to the delivery.

The brewers could possibly “deliver” their beer to the open house for an “organized tasting”. Since there was no charge for attending the open house or for drinking the beer, qualification (1) would be satisfied. The problem would probably be qualification (2). They would need to obtain consent of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. I have no idea how difficult that process would be.

For more details on home-brew regulations for your state, take a look at American Homebrewers Association where you can get an overview of home-brew legislation by state.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Do you have a Crazy Liquor Law story? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!
Mark

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Welcome to Crazy Liquor Laws!

It’s been an interesting journey…

I didn’t realize it until relatively recently, but I have been preparing for this day for most of my adult life.

Spring break 1977 (my Freshman year):

I drove from Little Rock, Arkansas to Emporia, Kansas to visit my good friend Lynnette. Her spring break was a different week so she was in classes, but we still had the evenings for her to initiate me into the wonderful world of legal drinking. You see, at that time, the legal drinking age in Kansas was 18… for “Three-Two Beer”; beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% by volume or lower. In Arkansas, the drinking age was already 21 for everything. So I learned the fine art of playing drinking games… and projectile vomiting and not eating for 24 hours. Also, I could buy Coors! (3.2 Coors, but still…) In 1977, Coors was not available west of a line along Kansas/Oklahoma/Texas. This wasn’t the “law” per se, just marketing.

1984:

My wife, Tracy, and I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma from the time of our marriage in 1980 until 1984. We were accustomed to some of the strange Oklahoma liquor laws (much more to come on these pages over the coming weeks) but some of the craziest goings on accomanied the fight in 1984 over so-called “liquor by the drink”. The hypocrisy prior to 1984 effectionatly known as “liquor by the wink” was highlighted by a local restaurant being closed down on a regular basis and finally resulting in a public relations disaster when patrons of another Tulsa restaurant arrested for having a glass of wine with their meal were found to be out of state guests… in town for a funeral.

1988:

I was on an IT consulting assignment (my first) in Marion, Indiana when we discovered that we could not buy beer at a convenience store between 3:00 and 6:00 am. (Don’t ask.)

2002 or 2003:

On another consulting assignment in the Seattle, Washington area, I visited a brew pub and decided to purchase a growler to take with me back to my apartment. Instead of just dropping the growler off at my table with my check as I was accustomed to, the waitress informed me that, due to local liquor laws, when I was ready to leave, she would have to meet me in the vestibule and hand the growler to me there. This was one of the first times I thought, “I need to write a book!” about strange liquor laws around the country.

2015:

I was listening to a comedian on XM radio talk about his experiences with drive through daiquiri bars in Louisiana. As long as the straw hasn’t punctured the plastic lid, or if the straw is inserted into the lid but the paper still covers the top end of the straw, the cup is not considered an “open container”. I need to write a book!

2016:

While enduring an extended period of unemployment (or “bench time” as we euphemistically call it in the consulting world) I have been looking for an online business involving some combination of blog, podcast, and/or newsletter. CrazyLiquorLaws.com is born!

And here we are…

I still need to write a book. The plan is for CrazyLiquorLaws.com to be my research tool for Crazy Liquor Laws – The Book.

Those of you who travel a lot or those of you who live in mostly southern states (or Utah) know that there are some strange laws out there pertaining to the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. And they vary from state to state, county to county, sometimes city to city and even precinct to precinct within a city. This can be confusing even in your own home area. But if you travel a lot or move frequently it can make your head spin. It leaves you asking ” Where (and when) can I get a drink?”. Whether it be a beer or a glass of wine with dinner or a bottle of wine or a six pack to take to your hotel room or apartment.

For years I’ve been saying, “I need to write a book about this stuff!” Well, I think it’s time to get started. “The book” will probably be a while in coming, but in the meantime I want to start with a blog and maybe a podcast on the subject. This could lead to special localized eBooks and maybe an app. Then when I have all of the information compiled for all 50 states I could publish the book. I kind of see it as an entertaining travel guide.

Let’s do this together

Here’s where I need your help now. I need material fodder. What are some of the stranger laws that you have come across? I plan to actually catalog all information pertaining to liquor laws by jurisdiction including hours, types (beer, wine, “hard” liquor) and venue (liquor store, grocery store, club/restaurant, etc.) to be used as a reference. But I will highlight the more unusual as I come across them. I will also continue to share my own anecdotes gathered from my years of traveling around the country as a consultant.

I should probably also address DUI/”open container” laws. This could be a real issue for some of my consultant friends who travel a lot. The law’s definition of an “open container can vary from an empty, bone dry, obviously been in the back seat for a week beer can being considered an “open container” to being able to drive through and pick up a margarita and take it home with you as long as the straw hasn’t punctured the plastic lid.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Do you have a Crazy Liquor Law story? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!
Mark