Utah Senate Stymies Full-Strength Suds

The Utah Senate has decided against allowing the sale of full-strength draft beer in bars and restaurants, within hours of a related legislative push in Colorado.

Bars and restaurants in Utah are already allowed to serve full-strength beer if they buy it unrefrigerated in bottles from the state liquor store at the same 86 percent markup paid by the general public.

While most beer contains about 5 percent alcohol by volume, draft beer sold in Utah can contain no more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight, or 4 percent by volume. Major brewers water down their products for sale in Utah. Many small breweries don't bother to make separate batches of weaker draft beer for Utah.

A bill to lift the cap was approved 58-2 in the House. But on Thursday, the last day of the session, the Senate decided not to debate the measure and to go home early instead.

The bill likely would have resulted in bars and restaurants being able to serve greater varieties of beer on tap. Click here for the full details on Utah's liquor laws.

In the United States, the weaker beer that's often referred to as 'near beer' is only sold in four other states — Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Minnesota.

In Colorado on Thursday night, lawmakers let die in committee a bill that would have eliminated the 3.2 percent beer restriction for grocery and convenience stores.

South Dakota recently changed its law to allow full-strength beer in grocery and convenience stores.