Worldtraveller

I have to be honest, I am not looking forward to ending my stint here in Germany.

My company is actually based in Tulsa, where I will be moving in a year or so. And unfortunately, OK still has a LOT of residual laws regarding alcohol.

Did you know....
Beer sold in bars can have, at most, 3.2% alcohol? Which kills the taste of most beers. I don't drink beer to get drunk, that's not the point, but it tastes like horse piss.

If you want 'real' beer, wine, or any liquor, even for cooking, you have to go to a liquor store, and they are strictly regulated as to the hours they can be open. I don't mind this so much, hopefully it reduces underage drinking (yeah right!), but it makes shopping a pain.

Liquor stores are still not allowed to sell 'real' beer cold? It's like a waiting period for booze! But I can go next door a buy a handgun....:banghead:

Apparently, there are still many counties in OK/AR area that are still 'dry'. Leading to the phenomenon known as 'County Line Liquor Stores'. Oh, the irony!

So, I have this to look forward to in a year or so. Moving from the country with arguably some of the best beer in the world......to OK.

I don't suppose it's worth trying to write in to get these laws changed?? Any ideas?

Thanks for letting me vent. Mods, feel free to move this wherever you feel it belongs.

Cheers,
Lane

beejay

As this other thread suggests, blue laws are slowly being changed (but mainly, it appears, to counter economic competition, not on the (de-)merits.)

Thread on Tampa blue laws

It seems the most likely way to change the laws is through your elected officials, but in OK I imagine you have a number of people quite happy to have alcohol hard to purchase.

Lawsuits against blue laws have been generally unsuccessful, finding that while they may have a religious basis, they also promote nonreligious aims.

Man, that's depressing, isn't it.

never been there

I suppose they deliberately make it taste that way to give you an incentive to drink at home. Is the 3.2% at least cheaper than the good stuff? Less malt, and probably much less hops.

I suggest brewing your own. I make most of my beers between 3% and 4%, and they don't taste like piss because I don't go out of my way to brew crap beer. I'm sure the beer that's been spoiling you in Germany is in the 4-4.8% range.

You don't have to crush grain, etc., but it helps. At least use real hops and proper brewing yeast, not half-dead dried stuff.

tribalbeeyatch

Brew yer own or get another fridge and stock up!

nogods4me

Aye, brew your own, or join the Beer of the Month Club

Worldtraveller

What's the minimum amount you can brew? I dont drink that much beer. It's just nice to have it when I want it.

Probably easier to make my own than getting the law changed though....

Thanks for the insight. Beer of the Month sounds kinda fun.

Cheers,
Lane

Shake

The town my wife grew up in only just stopped being a 'dry' town within the last 5 years. There are evidently more around.

Although, recently there was a change (statewide? not sure - locally at least) to allow Sunday liquor sales, BUT with the condition that the store is closed one other day during the week. Someone told me that a store that would voluntarily close on some other day of the week would lose business because of this. I argue that if said store decides to take that chance, they should advertise the heck out of being open on Sundays, and then be closed on a day like Monday (who buys liquor on Mondays anyway?) instead. I'd bet that liquor stores busiest days are Thurs. - Sat.

Derec

As a year-long former resident of Bavaria please accepy my condolances.
Fortunately in my neck of the woods one can find German (especially Bavarian) beer.

Prost,
UMoC

BioBeing

Do they make the grocery stores that are open on Sunday close on another day of the week? I don't think so. We need 24/7 liquor stores!

Well, maybe we don't need them, but being closed on a Sunday is sure a bother. And not being able to buy wine in the grocery store is a real pain.

ooh_child

Make sure they can ship alcohol to your state.

I used to manage a wine club for a small winery, and there were many states we were not allowed to ship into. Kinda sucked, because we'd get a lot of tourists who wanted to join since the wines weren't available in their state for purchase. But, if they lived in one of those states, we couldn't let them join. Many wineries in the area were the subject of "sting" operations by the government, and they ended up being fined and threatened with license suspension if they continued to ship to those states.

Some test cases challenging these laws are working their way through the court system; some feel it's a constitutional issue.

MHB