Oklahoma liquor laws

[TheTravellers]

I don't have a dog in this fight, pretty much never drank 3.2 beer, but I thought we hashed this out pages back. Isn't it the way the brewers make their 3.2 beer the main reason some of it tastes different, and not the percentage of alcohol? Some make it originally at 3.2%, and some make it stronger, but literally water it down? Could be wrong, but I thought that's what came out about it...

[Bunty]

Anyways, the days of trying to defend 3.2 beer are nearing an end. It will be gone in six days.

Good luck to people trying to find 3.2 beer now.

[Pete]

Yeah, I think 3.2 is effectively gone already.

[ctchandler]

My dad has been stocking up on 3.2 because he doesn't want to drink beer with "double the alcohol". I've tried to explain that the difference in domestics is relatively negligible (~1%), but it seems like a lot of people still don't realize the difference.

Sooner88,
I don't like Budweiser from Texas. A friend brings it to me often and it just tastes like alcohol. I enjoy my F-5 at home but I also enjoy 3.2 Bud.
C. T.

[Urbanized]

I don't have a dog in this fight, pretty much never drank 3.2 beer, but I thought we hashed this out pages back. Isn't it the way the brewers make their 3.2 beer the main reason some of it tastes different, and not the percentage of alcohol? Some make it originally at 3.2%, and some make it stronger, but literally water it down? Could be wrong, but I thought that's what came out about it...

Yes, while some craft beers - for instance COOP’s Spare Rib, Briefcase Brown, et al. - were/are actually formulated to be 3.2, mass consumption beers were not. Instead they took finished full-strength product and altered it to meet the restriction.

There are essentially three techniques brewers used to make full strength beer into 3.2; reverse osmosis (filtering), another process that applies heat to bake off the alcohol, and the third process is essentially just watering it down. From my understanding most mass-market brewers used a combination of two or more of these techniques. I suspect the “add water” technique was most often used.

Either way it wasn’t the alcohol discrepancy that caused the taste difference so much as the fact that they were altering a finished product. You think applying heat to finished beer doesn’t change the taste a bit? Or adding water? I blind tasted tested different versions of the same products more than once with friends and there was definitely a difference. My biggest complaint was that 3.2 had a flatter taste. Like if you let an ice cube or two melt in it. It wasn’t a huge difference, but there was one.

For me it isn’t so much about Bud or Coors or other light lagers that I rarely drink, but the fact that they changed beers I do like such as Fat Tire or in a pinch (basketball game or something) beers like Stella or Shiner. I know very well what those beers tasted like as full-strength, and what we’ve had here ain’t it.

Good riddance.

[baralheia]

But they don't have 3.2 beer and some of us would like to have that. I have a kegerator with two 1/6th barrels of COOP F-5 but I still enjoy 3.2 cans occasionally. I realize it is history but I wish I had stocked up on it.
C. T.

I'm not sure which beers you like, but one thing to consider would be Miller Light. The difference between the old 3.2% ABW and full strength is negligable; 3.2% ABW is equal to 4.0% ABV, and full strength Miller Light is 4.2% ABV. Full strength tastes slightly better but there's honestly very little difference between the two. Of course, other beers are different, but that gives you some idea.

[bchris02]

Yes, while some craft beers - for instance COOP’s Spare Rib, Briefcase Brown, et al. - were/are actually formulated to be 3.2, mass consumption beers were not. Instead they took finished full-strength product and altered it to meet the restriction.

There are essentially three techniques brewers used to make full strength beer into 3.2; reverse osmosis (filtering), another process that applies heat to bake off the alcohol, and the third process is essentially just watering it down. From my understanding most mass-market brewers used a combination of two or more of these techniques. I suspect the “add water” technique was most often used.

Either way it wasn’t the alcohol discrepancy that caused the taste difference so much as the fact that they were altering a finished product. You think applying heat to finished beer doesn’t change the taste a bit? Or adding water? I blind tasted tested different versions of the same products more than once with friends and there was definitely a difference. My biggest complaint was that 3.2 had a flatter taste. Like if you let an ice cube or two melt in it. It wasn’t a huge difference, but there was one.

For me it isn’t so much about Bud or Coors or other light lagers that I rarely drink, but the fact that they changed beers I do like such as Fat Tire or in a pinch (basketball game or something) beers like Stella or Shiner. I know very well what those beers tasted like as full-strength, and what we’ve had here ain’t it.

Good riddance.

[OkiePoke]

Can we set up a blind taste test for okctalk? We can call it OKC Tasting

[baralheia]

Interesting story about some of the real-world impacts that the new liquor laws are having - surprisingly, from The Lost Ogle:

https://www.thelostogle.com/2018/09/...modernization/

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^
That's good stuff. This part at the very end sums up how I feel about all of it:

-The ‘Unknown Unknowns’

There are plenty of little details that were left out of 792 that were planned on being legislated later. How will this affect street festivals and tailgating? It has always been legal to consume 3.2% beer at public events, and we don’t know how it will be enforced moving on. There are a lot of bars and restaurants that operated selling from low-point beer licenses. Will they be able to easily upgrade to selling strong beer, even if they’re in a close proximity to schools and churches? There’s gotta be a hundred more unknowns like these, and especially queries that won’t be recognized until it’s too late.

To reiterate my feelings from the beginning of this, I still don’t have any regrets about voting ‘yes’ on 792. But the more I’ve learned about what is being changed, the more confused and apprehensive I am about the future. At the end of the day, most other states still have liquor stores coexisting with grocers selling beer and wine, and in the end, everything works out fine there.

I've made posts in this thread for a while now that resemble those above, and some posters seemed to think that I was being anti-792, which I absolutely was not. I voted for it myself. All I have been saying is that - due to all of the heavy and complex regulation that it undid and changed - there would be tons of unintended consequences that would emerge and that it might be a rough ride for a while. I think it might have been impossible to think them all through before passage, but I think a lot of them have STILL not been solved completely.

[Johnb911]

IMO we need Sunday sales for liquor stores and get rid of the 21+ age limit for entry. Will help the pendulum swing a bit back towards the middle

[Soonerinfiniti]

I saw a wine chiller in Total Wine in Dallas - you put the hot wine bottle in water and it swirls around and chills it. Will something like this be allowed under the new laws?
Sorry for the sideways picture!!

[Pete]

^
Interesting. I don't know why that would not be allowed under OK Law.

BTW, Total Wine and BevMo are awesome but since liquor can't be sold through retail stores in OK, we'll never have them unless the laws change.

[stile99]

BTW, Total Wine and BevMo are awesome but since liquor can't be sold through retail stores in OK, we'll never have them unless the laws change.

I wonder what retail will look like in 2089.

[bchris02]

^
Interesting. I don't know why that would not be allowed under OK Law.

BTW, Total Wine and BevMo are awesome but since liquor can't be sold through retail stores in OK, we'll never have them unless the laws change.

Not sure about BevMo, but Charlotte has Total Wine and if anybody is familiar with North Carolina, they allow beer/wine in grocery stores but not liquor. NC is an ABC state as well so there aren't any loopholes. I don't see why Total Wine couldn't come to OK unless there is some kind of percentage limit on alcohol sales for grocery stores/gas stations and as far as I know, there is none.

[Pete]

^

Oklahoma law dictates that other than liquor stores, only these types of retailers can carry wine & beer: Supermarket, grocery store, convenience store, drug store, warehouse club and supercenter.

This eliminates places like BevMo and I doubt they would come here anyway if they could only sell wine and beer.

[bchris02]

I got some 3.2% Budweiser for blind taste testing next week. Paseo Mart, at 30th and Walker, still has it if anybody wants 3.2 beer.

[ctchandler]

I saw a wine chiller in Total Wine in Dallas - you put the hot wine bottle in water and it swirls around and chills it. Will something like this be allowed under the new laws?
Sorry for the sideways picture!!

Soonerinfiniti,
That chiller has been around in Texas since the 80's or earlier. It's a way to get around the county option laws that prevent selling chilled wine. You purchase a bottle of wine and when I was in Victoria in 1980 you put a quarter in the slot, placed your bottle in the chain bag and it lowers the bottle into the swirling cold water then raises the bottle and it is perfectly chilled. With the new Oklahoma laws, why would that be necessary? Can't they sell chilled wine like cold beer?
C. T.

[Martin]

that was a great article from tlo... i've been searching if the new laws affect liquor store hours and the article seemed to indicate that they can now close as late as midnight... is that right?

[Quicker]

that was a great article from tlo... i've been searching if the new laws affect liquor store hours and the article seemed to indicate that they can now close as late as midnight... is that right?

Yes, they can be open 8am to midnight Monday through Saturday...being open on Sundays is county option and each county has yet to vote on that...

[dankrutka]

I got some 3.2% Budweiser for blind taste testing next week. Paseo Mart, at 30th and Walker, still has it if anybody wants 3.2 beer.

You need to invite other OKCTalkers from this thread to do it too. Should be interesting.

[catch22]

Yes, they can be open 8am to midnight Monday through Saturday...being open on Sundays is county option and each county has yet to vote on that...

Honestly that's huge for me. I hate getting my dinner almoooost ready, look in the fridge to see I am out of beer, turn back to look at the clock and see it is 8:58. Any other time and I can usually put my food in a holding pattern for 10 minutes for me to go down the block and get something. Being able to buy cold now is equally awesome, I don't have to wrap it in wet paper towels and throw it in the freezer and see how fast I can chill it.

Sure I should be prepared before getting that far along, but hey, life happens.

[bchris02]

I agree with catch22. The most limiting factor of Oklahoma's old liquor laws was the 9pm closing time. Followed by that the requirement to sell at room temperature. The grocery/gas station thing is mostly just a nice convenience. It will be nice to have 3.2 beer gone though. I'll order stuff like Shiner and Rolling Rock more now that I don't have to worry about getting the watered down 3.2 version.

[d-usa]

Any change to letting kids in a liquor store? It was stupid that I couldn’t carry my infant with me if I needed to buy a bottle of wine.

[bchris02]

Any change to letting kids in a liquor store? It was stupid that I couldn’t carry my infant with me if I needed to buy a bottle of wine.

Since I'm not a parent I've never thought of this, but there should be exceptions for minors especially below a certain age. I can understand not wanting underage teenagers in the store but infants and toddlers shouldn't be a problem.