There’s quite a bit of debate about this bill, some people say it’s unfair that only liquor stores can sell full strength beer, others say this is one of the things that makes Colorado craft beer so great. Personally as a beer geek I like the way things are, I can find a good craft beer at any of the liquor stores in Durango. In California where I could buy beer at any grocery store or convenience store it was easy to find the big heavier hitter craft beers, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium’s major beers (but not their limited release or more unique beers) were available all over the place, but to find anything out of the ordinary one would have to find a liquor store with a good selection (most liquor stores out there don’t have a great selection).

One thing I don’t understand about HB 1186 is that family owned liquor stores, that only have one location could apply for and receive a liquor license to sell full strength beer as far as I understand. The problem comes in when a single company owns more than one convenience store, as Colorado law allows for only one liquor license per owner. (I’m not an expert on Colorado beer law, so please leave a comment if you feel something I’ve said is incorrect).

If this bill was defeated today Colorado liquor stores and brewers can’t rest yet, there is a possibility of another bill being introduced (or even put on the ballot in November for voters to decide) that would allow grocery stores to sell full strength beer.

Here’s a Denver Post article from when this bill passed committee. I’ll try to update this post tomorrow with any press coverage it gets this time around.

UPDATE: The Durango Herald had an article on this in today’s paper.

Post from: Beer N Bikes

Colorado House Bill 1186

To buy full alcohol percentage beer one has to go to a special liquor store (although they’re not state run like I believe they are in Utah). When grocery shopping a few weeks ago I started looking at the beer selection. There were some craft-looking beers from some breweries in Boulder, big brewery “wannabe craft beers” like Blue Moon and of course, all the usual suspects from Millers, Coors and Budweiser. I look at a few of the craft beers and moved on, not buying anything.

It wasn’t until a day later that I started wondering about that. “Wait a minute, I thought grocery stores could only sell 3.2% beer?” I thought to myself. The next time I was at the grocery store I looked at most of the beer on the shelf, they were all 3.2%, even the beer that appeared to be craft brews. I can’t remember the brewery, so I’m not sure if it’s just bigger breweries trying to look like craft beers, or if some of the craft brewers are trying to get in on the grocery store crowd, but they were all 3.2%. According to a friend of mine that lived in Utah for a while, the 3.2% beers taste uncannily similar to full alcohol brews (at least the big three, Bud, Coors and Miller).

I was a little annoyed with the fact that you couldn’t buy real beer at the grocery store at first, until I realized that Colorado has the most craft breweries in the country, and that this could be the reason for it. All of the liquor stores that I’ve come across appear to be independent businesses, and most of them have an amazing selection of local and smaller craft breweries. When large national-chain grocery stores are allowed to sell beer they can negotiate with large suppliers to get better prices. The smaller craft breweries can’t afford to sell for those lower prices and won’t be carried at the grocery stores. Sure the liquor stores have a monopoly on selling real beer, but it’s not such a bad thing. I’d rather have to go to a special store to buy good beer than be forced to buy crap while buying my groceries. The liquor stores here have an amazing selection of beer compared to liquor stores in California.

There’s a bill bouncing around the local legislature in Colorado that would allow grocery stores to sell real beer. I think this is a bad idea. So do the majority of microbreweries in the state. You can read more about it here.

Post from: Beer N Bikes

3.2 Beer and Pending CO Beer Laws