HB 1192 (measure to allow full strength beer sales in grocery stores)

[Nick_Ninja]

To Colorado Brewers & Beer Enthusiasts:

The hearing on HB 1192 (measure to allow full strength beer sales in grocery stores) will be held Wednesday, March 11, at 1:30pm in the Old Supreme Court Chambers on the 2nd floor of the Capitol.

Prior to the hearing, we need all brewers, employees, family members, etc, for a rally and press conference starting at noon on the West Steps of the Capitol.

John Carlson, Executive Director
Colorado Brewers Guild

Preserve Your Right to enjoy Colorado Craft Beer

Go to www.votesmart.org (http://www.votesmart.org/) to find your legislator's phone number and email address.

This information provided by the Colorado Brewers Guild

www.coloradobeer.org (http://www.coloradobeer.org/)
Act Now to Save the Beer you Love


• Colorado is home to 106 craft brewers spread across the state in local communities. Colorado craft brewers contribute financially and culturally to Colorado. These breweries flourish, in large part, due to a strong tier of independent retailers that provides vital access to market.

• Independent Colorado retailers promote our local economy, stock many craft beer brands, and offer vital access to market for Colorado craft brewers.

• Continued access to market is crucial for Colorado craft brewers and the state’s growing beer culture. Many Colorado craft brewers have limited distribution outside of Colorado. Some small, local craft brewers will disappear if access to market is limited.

• Colorado craft brewers and independent retailers in Colorado provide 67,000 jobs and inject $12 Billion annually into our economy and create beer tourism.

• Oppose upcoming legislation allowing chain grocery stores to sell full-strength beer. Large national chain stores make beer stocking decisions from out of state headquarters often without considering interest in local beer. Protect your freedom of beer choice and protect Colorado jobs!



YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW TO OPPOSE UPCOMING LEGISLATION.

Contact your State Legislators NOW and let them know that you OPPOSE State Representative Buffie McFadyen ( D-Pueblo West ) and State Senator Jennifer Veiga's (D - Denver) bill HB1192 that would allow out-of-state owned chain grocery stores to sell full strength beer.
Go to www.votesmart.org (http://www.votesmart.org/) to find your legislator's
phone number and email address.
Protect your freedom of beer choice and preserve
Colorado Craft Beer.
Information provided by the Colorado Brewers Guild Coloradobeer.org (http://www.coloradobeer.org/)

[rapparee]

Good looking out.

[puckstr]

I love beer

[Airreed]

mmmmmmmmmmm...beer

mmmmmmmmmmm...bacon

mmmmmmmmmmm...Pale Ale Bacon Beer!!!

[salsashark]

:up:

If you've ever tried to get a quality beer in a state where Blue Moon is considered "craft" beer, then you've seen the kind of crap that we'll get if this bill passes.

[RajunCajun]

Hmmm, I'm confused. If some of the smaller brewers are hurting as is, how will continuing to keep them out of a larger market help them?

[CaptGoodvibes]

IMO beer selection depends on the local clientele. In a university town, the supermarkets will have all the selection you could ever need at 1:59am on a Friday night. But if you're in a blue-collar neighborhood and the local market gets the green light to sell full strength Coors but they don't even stock Fat Tire, well... there are still plenty of other stores that have a big selection.

[Player 2]

Yeah, I don't quite get it. The grocery stores already sell crap beer so how would continuing to keep full strength beer out harm the craft brewers?

I don't see the point in the 3.2 beer being sold in grocery stores and gas stations. I heard an argument last night that allowing full strength would cause more beer to end up in the hands of minors. If kids want it, it doesn't matter where it's sold at.

Isn't this just another old, outdated law that needs to go away much like the sale of liquor on Sundays did?

[longrider]

Yeah, I don't quite get it. The grocery stores already sell crap beer so how would continuing to keep full strength beer out harm the craft brewers?

Actually keeping full strength beer out would help the craft brewers, it is what they want. The issue is if grocery stores have regular beer all the Bud and Coors etc sales would go to the grocery stores and a good number of liquor stores (15%? 50%? ) would go out of business. The grocery stores wont be selling the craft brews so sales go down.

[Player 2]

Actually keeping full strength beer out would help the craft brewers, it is what they want. The issue is if grocery stores have regular beer all the Bud and Coors etc sales would go to the grocery stores and a good number of liquor stores (15%? 50%? ) would go out of business. The grocery stores wont be selling the craft brews so sales go down.
Hmmm, just don't see that happening. Forcing people to buy Crap light at a liquor store doesn't help Joe Craft Brewer sell more of his home brew :|

Just don't get your logic there. Florida has no problem selling full strength in grocery & liquor stores. Plenty of smallish liquor stores survive even though you can grab a 12 pack or even a 40oz a Circle K instead of going to the liquor store.

Why would Colorado be the exception to the rule? Sounds like more fear mongering to me...

Show me a craft brewer that wouldn't want the opportunity to get placement in a big chain like Kings or Safeway. To me this OPENS doors to craft brewers that want to expand their market. How do you think smaller homemade products end up in big chains? Certainly not by supporting laws that would prevent their products from being sold there :|

[RajunCajun]

^^+1 So, are we trying to "protect" the brewers or the liquor stores?

[salsashark]

Here's the problem as I see it.

Currently, your local wine/liquor store that carries "full" strength beer... (which in itself is funny because there's virtually no difference between regular and 3.2 beer) makes a large portion of it's profits from selling beer. While there is very little profit in beer by the case, it's the volume that makes up for the lack of markup. By allowing grocers and convenience stores to sell regular beer, you begin to head down a slippery slope of what can the grocers carry and what can't they. Once they get regular beer, next will be wine then liquor, then the repeal of the limited licensing structure which only allows for one license per business. That's why the Target in Glendale is the only one to sell liquor in the state.

Now that you've remove any ability to compete with a large anchor tenant, your mom & pop liquor stores will not be able to stay in business paying $25+ psf NNN in a grocery store anchored shopping center.

Large grocers and convenience stores will pursue bulk deals and disregard anything they can't distribute through their own channels. Why would King Soopers pay Mountain Beverage to deliver to all of their stores when they own trucks and run a very successful distribution chain.

So now you've cut out small craft/boutique brewers, wine crafters, distillers and anyone who is incapable of meeting huge quotas and bulk orders. The grocers don't give a rip about quality, they want a profitable return for square footage in their stores. Which is perfectly acceptable, it's their business model. But that leaves out businesses that aren't either:

a. Not physically capable of providing huge orders... also unable to cut prices to a point where they can compete with Bud/Coors/Miller.

b. Not interested in competing with the big boys. Crafters are a unique species. Anyone try to get a bottle of 2 buck chuck outside CA? You can't becuase the winery has no interest in interstate distribution. Wonder why Fat Tire now tastes like dog ass? That's because New Belgium cut corners, and reduced quality in order to expand into western markets... mainly California.

This is the way I see it... yeah, it may be doom and gloom, but after working at a small liquor store and seeing it from that side, I feel it creates unfair competition between liquor stores and grocers. The small stores can't compete with the business model of the grocers... this is why the laws are the way they are...

[Player 2]

this is why the laws are the way they are...
You honestly think the law was designed to protect the smallish liquor stores? Hardly...

[salsashark]

No... the current liquor laws I'm referring to are designed to encourage small business ownership and prevent large corporations from opening up chains of stores and driving down prices due to volume pricing. This is why you can't own more than one liquor license.

[RajunCajun]

Hmmm, interesting take on the situation. I think I agree with you, SS. CO is the first state that I've lived in where there was a difference between "Liquor Store" and "Convenience Store" alcohol content. It seems like an old and outdated law but now that I think about it, there was really only a few microbrewerys in Louisiana, Texas and Arizona. So, I guess it didn't matter because most of the big sales beers like Bud and Miller would sell anywhere and there were also far less, smaller "Liquor Stores" compared to here. I guess that makes sense too....

[salsashark]

Funny part is that there is little to no difference between 3.2 and 6.0 beer. Unfortunately, I'm at work and can't get to the websites that have the break down, but do a google search and you'll see that one is measured alcohol by volume, the other is measured alcohol by mass. If I recall correctly, both most beers are between 4.0 & 5%. The 3.2 is a marketing tool used to create distinction between beer sold by grocers and beer sold by liquor stores.


***edit***
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question532.htm


It is important to note that the percentage of alcohol by mass is higher than the percentage of alcohol by volume because an equal mass of alcohol occupies more volume than water would. So to convert from percent alcohol by mass to percent alcohol by volume you just divide by the density of alcohol. In this case you get 4.1/0.79 or 5.2 percent alcohol by volume.

In Colorado the beer sold in grocery stores has to be low alcohol "3.2" beer. It can contain no more than 3.2 percent alcohol by mass. But the beer sold in liquor stores is labeled by volume, and most beer is about 5 percent alcohol by volume. But when you convert from weight to volume you find that the "3.2" beer is really 4 percent alcohol by volume. Still a pretty big difference, but maybe not quite as big as you might think.



***Edit***
Will changes in these laws completely run liquor stores out of business... probably not. But it's a simple matter of profit margins. Your local neighborhood stores in B or less class shopping centers will probably survive, but say goodbye to any liquor store located in a grocery store anchored strip mall. They won't be able to turn their inventory over fast enough to pay the rent, let alone the employees or anything else needed to run the business.

[PROFLYER]

Hmmm, just don't see that happening. Forcing people to buy Crap light at a liquor store doesn't help Joe Craft Brewer sell more of his home brew :|

Just don't get your logic there. Florida has no problem selling full strength in grocery & liquor stores. Plenty of smallish liquor stores survive even though you can grab a 12 pack or even a 40oz a Circle K instead of going to the liquor store.

Why would Colorado be the exception to the rule? Sounds like more fear mongering to me...

Show me a craft brewer that wouldn't want the opportunity to get placement in a big chain like Kings or Safeway. To me this OPENS doors to craft brewers that want to expand their market. How do you think smaller homemade products end up in big chains? Certainly not by supporting laws that would prevent their products from being sold there :|

This makes sense to me. I understand why the liquor stores don't want the competition, but I go to the liquor store for more then just beer anyway...King Soopers is very sensitive to local business, I think they would welcome the sale of locally made beer ESPECIALLY if we as the consumer requested it! It would be nice to be able to grab a quick six pack of good beer (good being NOT 3.2 crap) after the reg liquor stores have closed.

I agree, this is an age old law that needs to be repealed. Look at CA, you can buy whatever whenever wherever and the local breweries there are thriving in the local grocery stores...

[salsashark]

I agree, this is an age old law that needs to be repealed. Look at CA, you can buy whatever whenever wherever and the local breweries there are thriving in the local grocery stores...

Problem here is that in CA, liquor stores are allowed to sell groceries... they have other sources of revenue. You could have knocked me over with a feather the first time I walked into a liquor store in Monterey and saw food... it was definitely a WTF moment.

[Matty]

Have lived here in Co. almost 2 years now and this is still weird to me.

Back in Ca. You could get hard alcohol and beer at grocery stores, liquor stores, shit even at Walmart.

Yes, there are plenty of large "Wine, Spirits, and Beer" stores where you can get those micro or craft beers that you like as well.

[Matty]

Problem here is that in CA, liquor stores are allowed to sell groceries... they have other sources of revenue. You could have knocked me over with a feather the first time I walked into a liquor store in Monterey and saw food... it was definitely a WTF moment.
Ya but out in Ca. Liquor stores are basically 7-11's that sell alcohol.

Which is why they also have stores that sell exclusively, wine, spirits, and beer.