heavy drinking

[erial]

This was the state news blurb for West Virgina in yesterday's USA Today:

Friday, November 24
Charleston - The Department of Health and Human Resources says West Virginia ranks 49th when it comes to heavy drinking. Only Utah, which has a large population of Mormons, drinks less. As in Utah, religion may play a role in the West Virginians' attitudes toward unhealthy drinking.

***

If I lived In Utah I reckon I'd drink less. Can't aspire to heavy drinking if the beer's so light?

I suppose all the real beer is on ice out at campsites awaiting return of canyoneers, hikers, hunters, etc, and out of sight of all the data collectors.

[stefan]

contrary to popular belief, utah beer ain't SUPER restrictive, at least when it comes to lagers and shite beer.

of course it's important to realize 3.2 is a percentage by weight which roughly equals 4.05% by volume, the measure most commonly used on bottles.

note: most utah microbrewed beer is brewed right to 4%.

now browsing the following websites http://www.realbeer.com/edu/health/calories.php & http://www.beer100.com/beercalories.htm & http://www.brewery.org/library/AlClbinger.html
reveals that well known beers have the following alcohol content. what you see is that 4% really isn't THAT much less, certainly not that much less than people portray ... unless, of course, you REALLY are considering REAL ales ... then yes i CERTAINLY agree, it's highly restrictive.

my BIGGEST gripe about the utah situation is that while a bar/club can have a liquor license to serve "real" wine and "real" liquor, and "real" beer in a can ... it CANNOT serve "REAL" beer on draught only ≤4% by vol... what inane fool decided this law?




COMPANY ~ BEER ~ PERCENTAGE BY VOL.
Amstel Amstel Light 3.5
Asahi Draft Beer 5.21
Beck's Beck's 5.0
Bass & Co's Bale Ale Bass 5.51
Blue Moon Blue Moon White 5.4
Budweiser (U.S) Budweiser 5.0
Budweiser Bud Light 4.2
Budweiser Bud Ice 5.5
Coors Coors Original 5.0
Coors Coors Light 4.2
Dos Equis Dos Equis XX 4.8
Foster's Foster's Lager 5.1
Guinness Guinness Draught 4.0
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout 7.5
Harp Lager 4.55
Heineken Heineken 5.4
Keystone Keystone Premium 4.4
Keystone Keystone Light 4.2
Keystone Keystone Ice 5.9
Killian's Killian's 4.9
Michelob Michelob 5.0
Michelob Michelob Light 4.3
Michelob Michelob Ultra 4.1
Miller Miller Genuine Draft 5
Miller Miller Genuine Draft Lite 4.2
Miller Miller High Life 5.5
Miller Miller Lite 4.2
Murphy's Murphy's Stout 4.0
Old Milwaukee Old Milwaukee 5.0
Pabst Pabst 5.0
Pilsner Urquell Pilsner Uruqell 4.3
Rolling Rock Premium Beer 4.5
St. Pauli Girl St. Pauli Girl 4.9
Sam Adams Sam Adams Light 4.05
Sam Adams Sam Adams Boston Lager 4.8
Sapporo Sapporo Reserve 5.2
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 5.6
Tsingtao Tsingtao 4.7

[TreeHugger]

Beer aside, you definately cant get a GOOD drink around here!! :-)
Ever have a Utah marguerita? A vodka/tonic? Forget about it.

Definately, the religion plays into that statistic, if it's not acceptable to drink for more than half the population, it will affect the stats for sure. What bugs me about the stupid, idiotic liquor laws is that they vary so much from establishment to establishment and even within one establishment. For example, at Desert Edge you can sit at the bar and drink a beer without food, but at the tables right next to the bar you cant, you have to eat with it, and then, you cant get liquor at those tables, but at the other side of the place you can get liquor served. What kind of ridiculous crap is that?

Oh, and I would really really really lilke to be able to grab a bottle of wine to go with dinner when I'm shopping for groceries. geez.

[asdf]

Dont forget, the key making a beer "light" is to put less alcohol in it.

[Iceaxe]

Back in my younger days I used to win a lot of money with a similar bet. I probably earned several thousand dollars because of the by volume by weight deal.

The bet usually went like this..... someone would say they couldn't stand the watered down Utah Bud or Coors. I'd tell them it was the same beer and the big companies only brew one beer. They would tell me I was an idiot, I'd bet them a hundred bucks, we would call Coors and Coors would kindly inform my latest victim that they only brew one beer for the entire US and not for specific markets. Back in my bar hopping days I made this bet often enough that I carried the Coors Brewery phone number in my wallet.

Now you do have to be careful with this bet, because a couple of beers are specifically brewed for the 3.2 market. Corona and Heineken are two that I know of. The Corona cases are stamped 3.2%. The 3.2 Heinekin bottles have a red ring around the border instead of the usual black ring. Coors brews seasonal beers that are not legal in Utah. I'm sure there are many others.

And one other tid-bit.... the Utah beers have to average 4% by volume. This means some are stronger and some are weaker. It matters where the beer was drawn from the vat because the alcohol content at the top of a vat is different from that at the bottom. yada, yada....

Anyhoo.... you can add that info to your useless junk knowledge.

Damn.... now I'm thristy for a beer

[DickHead]

Damn.... now I'm thristy for a beer

Me too....I've got one-glass worth of Hefe in a growler in the fridge....drinkin that with dinner tonight from a frosty mug

[DiscGo]

While we are bad mouthing the Utah Liquor laws, can anyone explain to me why liquor stores are closed on election day? I don't drink, but if I did I really would have wanted a drink during this last election.

[Mtnman1830]

Oh boy, on my last birthday, I ended up drinking a fifth of tequilla, with some beer to end it all off. I was stll drunk the next day.

No wonder I don't drink that often.

[Reedus]

And closed on Sunday in Provo for that matter. I am LDS and can't understand that one.

[stefan]

While we are bad mouthing the Utah Liquor laws, can anyone explain to me why liquor stores are closed on election day? I don't drink, but if I did I really would have wanted a drink during this last election.

i believe the main reason is that they don't want liquor to influence the decisions one makes during the election. in particular the law specifically states

"(iii) on any day on which any regular general election, regular primary election, or statewide special election is held until after the polls are closed"

http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE32A/htm/32A03007.htm



another recent article ....

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_4565375

[asdf]

And closed on Sunday in Provo for that matter. I am LDS and can't understand that one.

Whats worse is how the liquor stores are so over priced.
Some 6 packs are 12 bucks. Pretty sad we you can get the same beer at TraderJoes (out of state) for 6 bucks.
When I was in Sactown last year Yellow Tail Shiraz was 3.50 a bottle at TJ's. Same wine here is $8.

The liquor laws are what are keeping Trader Joes from coming to utah
--- Anyone been there? That place rules, Best fozen wings ever.

[stefan]

And closed on Sunday in Provo for that matter. I am LDS and can't understand that one.

Whats worse is how the liquor stores are so over priced.

yup, beer more than wine ... wine more than liquor. and guess where the alcohol tax dollars go ...

The liquor laws are what are keeping Trader Joes from coming to utah

this may or may not be true. i have heard other issues related to proximity to distribution centers.

in mass., for example, there is a law which states that chain stores may ONLY sell alcohol at a maximum of 3 stores (statewide). yet trader joes has 17 stores in mass ... and only 3 selling wine and beer. [note to remove this law was on the ballot this year ... and it was left unchanged]

[donny h]

While no brewery brews lighter for certain markets, the LA (light-alcohol) beer sold in Utah is achieved by only one method: water.

That' right, they take an allready watery domestic brew, and add water to achieve LA beer.

LA beer isn't just for Utah, most stadium beer in the US is LA beer, a dirty little secret at the stadiums, if I charged you $8 for a watered down coorsbudmiller I too would keep it secret.

Remember when discussing the amount drank in Utah, only booze sold IN Utah will be counted, I'm a medium drinker and I buy very little booze here, so I'm slipping under the radar on the per-capita consumption numbers, and I know I'm not alone on this.

Why do I buy my booze out of state? That brings me to my least favorite part of the Utah laws: Price.

The markup in the state stores is outrageous, around 80%, I often wonder if Utahns realize how bad they are getting ripped off at the state stores.

$1.75 for a 12oz Sierra Nevada Pale Ale? I buy 12packs in Ca on sale for $10.

$40 for a 1.75 liter of Jack Daniels? $25 at Costco in Ca.

$9 for .75 liters of Woodbridge Cabernet? $13 for a 1.75 is more like it.

Folks bitch about the private clubs here, but to cheapo me, price is the bigger issue.

The state also has the option of whether or not to pass along sale prices given by the man./dist., so when JD knocks $8 off that big bottle, Utah may pass along the savings to you, OR NOT, and just pocket the difference.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big believer in state rights, if Utah wants to run their state a certain way, it is their right, but make no mistake about it, the liquor laws hurts the image of this state both on a national and international level, which directly affects tourism and the marketability of Utah to attract business.

Yum. I just got a Sam Adams out of the fridge, it is tasty, and it cost me $9 for 12 instead of $1.75 each.

Edit: Summit42 was posting while I typed, so I'm not the only one who hates the prices, and not the only Traders smuggler.

Like Glenn Frey says:
"It's a losing proposition, but one you can't refuse
It's the politics of contraband, it's the smugglers' blues"

[DickHead]

While we are bad mouthing the Utah Liquor laws, can anyone explain to me why liquor stores are closed on election day? I don't drink, but if I did I really would have wanted a drink during this last election.

i believe the main reason is that they don't want liquor to influence the decisions one makes during the election. in particular the law specifically states

"(iii) on any day on which any regular general election, regular primary election, or statewide special election is held until after the polls are closed"

http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE32A/htm/32A03007.htm




another recent article ....

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_4565375

Actually, the practice of buying votes with drinks is why. Last Prez. election a bunch of Demorat activists were buying homeless people cartons of cigarettes and having them vote.

[asdf]

Traders smuggler

My last run...

[stefan]

While we are bad mouthing the Utah Liquor laws, can anyone explain to me why liquor stores are closed on election day? I don't drink, but if I did I really would have wanted a drink during this last election.

i believe the main reason is that they don't want liquor to influence the decisions one makes during the election. in particular the law specifically states

Actually, the practice of buying votes with drinks is why. Last Prez. election a bunch of Demorat activists were buying homeless people cartons of cigarettes and having them vote.

wouldn't that fall directly under "liquor to influence the decision one makes?"

[Iceaxe]

To help keep the cost down I think everyone who consumes alcohol in Utah stocks up whenever they visit out of state.

That is tradition