I'll be in SLC next month for business and was curious what I should expect if I order a beer or wine or something.

I know the beer content is lower than anywhere else, but what about liquor or wine?

Any suggestions?

Beer is 3.2 if you buy it in a grocery store or at a "beer bar" that only has a beer license. A fully licensed bar or restaurant serves the same stuff you get anywhere else. That's my understanding.

I'm not even sure beer bars still exist. I never hear the term anymore.

The taverns were (beer only bars) were traded in for more liquor content in mixed drinks several years ago. The bar I once worked now is serving everything from Jello-Shots to Long Islands in Provo.

It's an urban legend about the alcohol % of Utah beer- It's the same 3.2 you can get anywhere else. If you want a higher percentage, you can go to the state liquor stores.

Source: Had my liquor serving license in Utah, was a bartender, and lived there off and on for years.

Itzpapalotl NLI Wrote:
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> It's an urban legend about the alcohol % of Utah
> beer- It's the same 3.2 you can get anywhere else.

Having shopped for beer in my local (SoCal) supermarket just recently, I can assure you -- it's not an urban legend.
There isn't a single 3.2% beer to be found in my supermarket.
Even Bud says it's 4% on the can.

I can't buy a 3.2 beer here if I want to. In Utah, you have to go to a State Liquor store to get anything else.

3.2 is found in nearly every gas station. C-store, and supermarket in all the states I've visited and lived.

But why would you drink session beer, add all the extra calories to get a the same buzz when you can buy 5% or higher? Not me, I live in NM, where the only weird rule we have is beer cannot be sold before noon on Sunday so people don't show up drunk to church.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2016 07:34PM by Itzpapalotl.

I was wrong -- regular Bud is 5% (just looked it up).
Bud light is 4.1%. Coors light is 4.2%. Corona is 4.6%. Most of the stuff I drink is 5-7%.

Seriously -- there isn't a single beer for sale here that's 3.2%. Not one. :)

Is 3.2 is sometimes actually at 4% and the 3.2 refers more to the volume or weight. I can't remember the exact explanation, but I remember that little tidbit. It has been 9 years, after all.

http://www.dummies.com/food-drink/drinks/beer/understanding-the-alcohol-content-of-beer/

http://m.cityweekly.net/utah/the-32-myth/Content?oid=2157643

As long as I have my hard selzters (White Claw is PDG) and hard ciders, I'm happy. You can even put them on ice.

Utah's rules are annoying, but it's not as bad as other places, such as states that have dry counties.

When an exmo family friend moved to Springville, he would always have my teetotaler sister smuggle him booze because it was much less expensive back in the late 90s. :)

You need to learn the difference between "alcohol by volume" and "alcohol by weight". Utah grocery store, draft beer & convenience store beer is 3.2%, where most other states are 5+%

Utah still has tavern licenses. There's a tiny bar with a tavern license still open in Sugarhouse that survived a redevelopment razing because it's listed as an historical building.

3.2% ABW is only brewed for a handful of states (like Utah) that require a weaker beer be sold in certain establishments.

I realize now I meant they did away with the private membership and allowed bars to pour slightly heavier, but then took away sidecars. I'm sure the rules will change again.

IDT 3.2 is very popular outside of the states that are required to carry them in certain venues and why would it be? I certainly have no interest in drinking it, neither does BF. It's convenient being able to make one stop for groceries and booze.

Rusty Shackleford Wrote:
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> There's a tiny bar with a tavern license still open in Sugarhouse
that survived a redevelopment razing because it's listed as an historical building.
>

Great place! Tiny, but packed. A gal would bring me there in the early 90s and all the men thought that was something- because she was prettier than a button, smart as a whip, and sexy to the boots. She didn't throw out her cigarette butts, but would take them home and bury them all together. Impressive! We were briefly good friends. That was/ is a fun little place.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2016 09:59PM by moremany.

It's currently called "The Bar"; it was known as the Tap Room in a former incarnation...

Although I don't know if Brewvies serves cocktails and such (I think they do); one of the last "beer joints" to disappear was the Bar X which was purchased, re-modeled and now mostly serves a "yuppie clientele."

There are a number of bistros that emphasize beers, including two excellent micro-breweries (best beer: Squatters; best food: Red Rock), there's also the Beerhive and the Bayou.

Well, you won't be able to see them mix your drink. It's all hidden away behind the Zion Curtain.

Not true. In restaurants, yes. In bars, no- they pour drinks in front of you. (albeit lower shots than the rest of the civilized world)

Any beer on draft is required to be 4% ABV (3.2% ABW) or less. The same applies to beer purchased in cans or bottles outside of state liquor stores.

Full strength beer (known as 'beer' outside of Utah) can only be sold at licensed restaurants/bars and state liquor stores, But be warned, it carries a whopping 86% markup and cannot be sold on draft. Also note, full strength beer is usually sold warm at state stores since these stores typically do not have refrigerators.

Similarly, wine and liquor carry the same ridiculous 86% markup and are only available at licensed restaurants/bars and state liquor stores.

This is the precise reason I purchase all of my alcohol (including beer) outside of Utah and smuggle it in.

When I was at BYU in the later half of the 80's, I played in an oldies band that was fairly popular around the area.

We played in clubs now and then and my favorite "how to get a drink in Utah" was a club we played in SLC, at the Hilton if I recall correctly.

The rule was you could only buy the mixer, you had to bring your own bottle. There was a liquor store next to the club so you could buy it and take it in.

I guess if you didn't polish off the entire bottle, you just took it with you when you left (open container?).

Another "private" club we played required a non-member to buy a "temporary" membership for the night....I think it was $5.....so they could order drinks.

Late 80s: private clubs; entrance fees; sponsors.

I'm not much of a drinker. Sometimes I try the beer that my son makes and it's OK but that's all I usually imbibe.

However, like all progressive Utahns I am astounded by the rules and regs that the liquor commission sets down. Here's a piece about the latest thing that they've done.

http://www.sltrib.com/home/4408929-155/new-eccles-theater-restaurant-will-usher

I remember having dinner over 40 years ago in the steak house the Little America hotel and having to purchase a "set up" so I could enjoy a rum and coke with my dinner....and get the stink eye from TBM's in the joint. So quaint and stupid.

RB

I was in Utah this summer riding the Paiute trail. Went to Walmart and Shiner Bock and Landshark Lager were both $11.49 for a 12 pack. WTH? Shiner Bock is made just a couple of hours south here in Texas and it 14.99 at Walmart here. I do prefer Total Wine and I really think they prefer me. I never get out for under $200.

We did eat in a Texas Roadhouse in SLC and beer selections were minimal. Had a couple of Blue Moons and I must say that the waitress was not very knowledgeable about the selections.

Seriously? You're bitching about Shine Bock, a very good crafted beer-especially compared to Landshark, being less than $5.99 a 6 pack? Growing up in Texas, we could buy Pearl, Lonestar or Old Milwaukee for $1.25 a six pack. Still didn't make it decent beer. Shiner Bock is one of the best bargains in the country.

3.2 ?

What's the point in that ?

Having lived in Utah for 45 years and been a drinker....sometimes a "heavy" drinker, I've never had a problem getting a drink. You guys can pick all the nits you want and quote all the numbers and statistics and try to keep up with every little nuance in the ever-changing laws, but it sums up to this...Utah is a great place to visit and people do by the millions every year and unless you want to make yourself crazy and take all the fun out of everything...relax, have a drink if you want and enjoy the best skiing, golfing, boating, hiking, 4 wheeling, river running, etc. There's something to do every season of the year. The Church isn't everything here....but if that's all you worry about...maybe it's best if you stay away.

I guess I forgot this is a recovery board...maybe the Church is all you worry about.