Back to the BYU Cougars Newsfeed

'It’s a commerce bill’ — Measure to allow stronger beer in Utah grocery stores hops early hurdle

A bill that would let Utah grocery stores stock higher-alcohol beer surmounted an initial hurdle Thursday by clearing a Senate committee.

Sen. Jerry Stevenson wants to raise the threshold from 3.2 percent to 4.8 percent alcohol by weight to address the problem of dwindling brand selection on store shelves across the state.

While bills to relax alcohol laws can be a tough sell in Utah’s Legislature, the Senate Business and Labor Committee gave unanimous support to the measure Thursday.

“This is not an alcohol bill, and it won’t change the amount of product sold.