Most responsible craft beer bars already serve high-octane brews in smaller pours.
Tell me if this makes sense: You could, theoretically, walk into some beer pubs and get a full pint of 11.9 percent (alcohol by volume) beer, but could not get even a six-ounce pour of a 12.1 percent beer in that same bar.
Why? Because establishments that only have beer and wine licenses (i.e., not able to serve spirits) are prohibited from serving 12 percent (or higher) beers
To me this is backwards. The legislators and powers that be that regulate these things would serve the public better by allowing higher alcohol percentages but regulating the size of the pour for higher alcohol brews.
This rule against having 12 percent-plus beers in bars with limited liquor licenses is a fairly recent thing. I'm sure that someone on the ABCC or in the legislature heard that some of the craft brews were getting higher in alcohol and became worried.
But preventing some establishments from serving these beers doesn't make any sense to me. First, it's not like someone who wants these beers can't go to a place with a full liquor license and get them. Second, most responsible craft beer bars already serve most beers that are over, say, 8.5 percent in smaller glasses, usually a six- or eight-ounce pour depending on the alcohol content. Third, if someone is hell-bent on getting drunk, there are cheaper and easier ways to do it than drinking high-octane beer. Most people drink craft beers for the flavor.
I'm not denying that some people would look at, say, a 15 percent brew and say, "Hey, this is a good way to get drunk fast." There are people like that everywhere. But in the craft beer world, I'm pretty sure they're in the minority.
Now you may argue that trying to regulate the sizes would be nearly impossible. Probably, but most bar owners wouldn't take the chance of breaking the law and having their liquor licenses suspended. Also, it's also hard to regulate whether or not a bar has a 12-percent-plus brew on tap. There are so many beers and most bars have at least a dozen of them. Regulators would have to spend a lot of hours trying to seek out an occasional offender.
In reality either scheme is hard to enforce. I certainly understand the legislature's desire to have laws on the books that cut down the chance of public intoxication and drunk driving. We all can get behind that. But denying certain beer bars to serve higher alcohol brews does nothing to that effect, for reasons I cited above.
So let me repeat to the legislature: If you want to regulate higher alcohol brews, don't prohibit some bars from serving them, just regulate the size of the pours for beers more than 10 percent. As I mentioned, most publicans already are self-policing in this manner because they don't want overserve people. And that makes sense for everyone.
BEER NOTE
I got a sneak peak inside McLadden's Irish Publick House, soon to open in Northampton in the old Pleasant Street Theatre space. They've done a beautiful job with the interior, fashioning old cherry church pews into long, gorgeous bar. There will be 105 taps—that's not a typo–of craft and imported brews. Co-owner Curt Gemme told me the pub will open sometime after St. Patrick's Day but before the end of March. Stay tuned.