Bill banning malted beverages in grocery stores tentatively passes Senate

A 178-page bill that would alter how much booze constitutes a "drink", where so-called "alco-pops" can be sold and a litany of other various alcohol-related code changes, passed to its third reading in the Senate Monday on a 22-7 vote.

SB211, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, proposes upping the single-pour size from one ounce to one-and-a-half ounces, while simultaneously reducing the total amount of of liquor that can be served to a patron at one time from 2.75 ounces to 2.5 ounces. The new language would eliminate the "side-car", a convention unique to Utah that allows service of a one ounce shot as a side to a mixed drink.

Bramble's bill sequesters the sale of malted beverages under 3.2 percent alcohol — so-called "alcopops" — to state liquor stores. Currently, beverages like Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice are available at Utah grocery stores.

"If a beverage has distilled spirits," Bramble said, "it needs to be sold in a liquor store."