3.2 Beer
Man are B and I tired. We've been out of town for the past weekends, first for work (Berna in Montreal and me in Indianapolis) then for our buddy Matt's wedding in Montreal. Last night we both had one of those nights where you're just SO happy to be back in your own bed.
Then today, B and I both went in for the first day of our last weeks at our current jobs. Actually, I'm going to stay on full-time at my job, but still. My point is, our final days in Minnefabulous are flying by, and there are still many things I want to blog about.
3.2 beer. I've been meaning to blog about this since we first moved here.
Hmmm . . . where to begin. I'm always fascinated by the beer and liquor laws in different states. For example, in Pennsylvania, beer is sold at beer distributors and convenience stores, while wine and liquor are sold at state-run stores. For most of the time we lived in RI you couldn't buy any alcohol on Sundays, except for the Sunday before Christmas and the Sunday before New Year's. Just amazing that laws like that come to be.
Anyway, when we moved out here the deal in Minneapolis was thus: Beer, wine, and liquor are all sold in privately operated liquor stores. These stores are not allowed to be open on Sunday, and until recently they closed at 8pm on the other days (since June they have been allowed to stay open til 10pm, but still no Sundays). However, bars are open on Sundays, and grocery stores and convenience stores are allowed to sell beer on Sundays. However, the beer they sell (on Sundays and ever other days of the week) is 3.2 beer. Most beers have 4-5 percent alcohol by volume, while 3.2 beer has, um, 3.2 percent.
The brands I normally see in the grocery store are Budweiser, Miller, Leinenkugel, and most interestingly to me, Corona. There are no indications on these beers' packaging that they are any different from "normal" Budweiser, Miller, Leinenkugel, and Corona, so for several months I just assumed that the megabrews just had that much lower alcohol content. I just couldn't believe that these major brewing companies would make a separate, lower-alcohol content product just for states with 3.2 laws. But after some googling, I confirmed that the aforementioned beers all have alcohol contents well above 4 percent, so they are making a separate 3.2 product. Amazing.
I have tried the 3.2 beers on a few occassions, such as back in the fall when I was caught without beer and there was a good football game, or at least one Sunday this summer when it was just So Damn Hot that I needed some suds, weak though they be. But drinking 3.2 Miller Lite really isn't very different from drinking water. Oh well.
The other interesting thing I heard about 3.2 beer is that back in the 70s they used to have 3.2 bars, that served only 3.2 beer, and 18-year-olds were allowed to drink at them. Sounds like a cool idea to me, but alas, they are no more.
Then today, B and I both went in for the first day of our last weeks at our current jobs. Actually, I'm going to stay on full-time at my job, but still. My point is, our final days in Minnefabulous are flying by, and there are still many things I want to blog about.
3.2 beer. I've been meaning to blog about this since we first moved here.
Hmmm . . . where to begin. I'm always fascinated by the beer and liquor laws in different states. For example, in Pennsylvania, beer is sold at beer distributors and convenience stores, while wine and liquor are sold at state-run stores. For most of the time we lived in RI you couldn't buy any alcohol on Sundays, except for the Sunday before Christmas and the Sunday before New Year's. Just amazing that laws like that come to be.
Anyway, when we moved out here the deal in Minneapolis was thus: Beer, wine, and liquor are all sold in privately operated liquor stores. These stores are not allowed to be open on Sunday, and until recently they closed at 8pm on the other days (since June they have been allowed to stay open til 10pm, but still no Sundays). However, bars are open on Sundays, and grocery stores and convenience stores are allowed to sell beer on Sundays. However, the beer they sell (on Sundays and ever other days of the week) is 3.2 beer. Most beers have 4-5 percent alcohol by volume, while 3.2 beer has, um, 3.2 percent.
The brands I normally see in the grocery store are Budweiser, Miller, Leinenkugel, and most interestingly to me, Corona. There are no indications on these beers' packaging that they are any different from "normal" Budweiser, Miller, Leinenkugel, and Corona, so for several months I just assumed that the megabrews just had that much lower alcohol content. I just couldn't believe that these major brewing companies would make a separate, lower-alcohol content product just for states with 3.2 laws. But after some googling, I confirmed that the aforementioned beers all have alcohol contents well above 4 percent, so they are making a separate 3.2 product. Amazing.
I have tried the 3.2 beers on a few occassions, such as back in the fall when I was caught without beer and there was a good football game, or at least one Sunday this summer when it was just So Damn Hot that I needed some suds, weak though they be. But drinking 3.2 Miller Lite really isn't very different from drinking water. Oh well.
The other interesting thing I heard about 3.2 beer is that back in the 70s they used to have 3.2 bars, that served only 3.2 beer, and 18-year-olds were allowed to drink at them. Sounds like a cool idea to me, but alas, they are no more.
posted by James at 8:35 PM
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