Beer Cocktail Bans and Other Stupid Booze Laws
Virginia only recently legalized mixing spirits with beer or wine, and some blends are still off limits.
May 9, 2015
Jacob Grier
Is it legal to mix beer and spirits together into the same cocktail, as bartenders have been doing for centuries? In 49 states, the answer is unequivocally yes.
But in Virginia, a state known for having some of the nation’s most restrictive alcohol laws, the answer is a little more complicated, leaving bartenders, imbibers, and even state legislators confused as to whether combining a shot of whiskey and a pint of beer in one glass will bring down the heavy hand of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
The confusion began in 2006, when Spanish restaurants in Virginia were shocked to learn that their sangria fell afoul of a decades-old law forbidding the mixture of spirits with wine or beer, and one of them faced fines of $2,500 for serving the drink. The episode made national headlines, and a couple years later the legislature was shamed into modernizing the law to legalize sangria.
The revised law created an exception only for sangria, however-legalizing champagne cocktails or “newly fashionable beer cocktails,”as the Washington Post put it, was a step too far for the conservative state legislature. So for years it’s been assumed that beer cocktails are illegal in the Old Dominion. Virginia may be for lovers, but the marriage of beer and spirits was a love that dare not speak its name, at least within the confines of a licensed bar.
As someone who just wrote a book about beer cocktails and previously lived in Virginia, enduring its poorly stocked state-run liquor stores for five years, this issue was of more than casual interest for me. If I returned to my old home of Arlington to host a book event, would the drinks I wanted to serve be legal? Or would I have to cross the border into D.C., where the bartenders are unencumbered by such archaic regulations?
As it turned out, state delegate Jennifer McClellan considered the same question when a restaurant in her Richmond district was informed that the beer cocktails they serve are illegal. They took the issue to McClellan, who introduced a bill at the beginning of the 2015 session to legalize the drinks.
The bad news? The bill never made it out of committee. The good news? A closer reading of the existing law revealed that at least some beer cocktails were legal after all. Virginia law allows restaurants to mix spirits with beer or wine “pursuant to a patron’s” order, meaning that individual cocktails prepared for a customer are perfectly legal. Storing drinks that mix spirits with wine or beer remains illegal, however, unless that mixture can be passed off as sangria (defined vaguely by the mixologists in the state legislature as containing “brandy, triple sec, or other similar spirits”).
Most of the drinks I write about would therefore be legal in Virginia, but there’s a long tradition of batched beer punches that the state’s bars are still forbidden from serving. Ale Punch, a recipe from the great nineteenth century American bartender Jerry Thomas, or Blow My Skull, the favorite of an eccentric Tasmanian governor known for drinking his subordinates under the table, would both fall afoul of the rules. So too would “Beer Nog,” a contemporary take on egg nog that adds porter to the usual mix of brandy, eggs, and cream. And if any Virginians want to go wassailing in the winter, they’ll have to settle for low-proof versions of the beverage that do not fortify the warm ale with stronger spirits.
If all this seems unnecessarily abstruse for a field as loose and free-wheeling as bartending, then welcome to the opaque world of American alcohol laws. Though alcohol is hardly the only area of life that can complain of excessive regulation, it’s the only one that the Constitution explicitly grants the states authority to regulate pretty much however they please. Doing so was a necessary compromise to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition. But eighty years later, the result is a hodgepodge of liquor laws that vary greatly from state to state, making life complicated for producers, distributors, retailers, and imbibers.
A new book, The Field Guide to Drinking in America by Niki Ganong, makes hacking a trail through this confusing landscape a little easier. Organized by region and conveniently coded with icons signifying a few important legalities, such as which states control liquor distribution or ban smoking in bars, it provides a bird’s eye view of alcohol regulations in the U.S.
That familiar “no smoking” sign is now so ubiquitous that the exceptions (clustered mostly in the South) stand out far more than the rule. As even cities as libertine as New Orleans adopt smoking bans, I suspect that future editions of the book may find the rule so universal as to be unworthy of noting. The “ABC” logo indicating state-run distribution is also depressingly common, proving resilient against efforts at privatization. Only Washington has managed recently to shake off its state control system, but packaged it with a substantial tax hike that is arguably even more burdensome on consumers.
Booze rules are growing less onerous in other ways, though. Growlers, reusable containers that consumers can have filled with wine or beer directly from the tap, are now widely legal. So is taking an unfinished bottle of wine home from dinner at a restaurant or bringing in your own to be opened at the establishment. As craft beers have taken off, states such as Alabama and Iowa have raised limits on beer’s alcohol content, giving consumers greater access to high quality beers (although in many states they’ll have to travel to specially licensed stores to buy them).
Then there are the just plain weird laws. In Louisiana, where booze is plentiful, donut shops are the only type of restaurant unable to obtain an alcohol permit. In Ohio, grocery stores can sell “diluted spirits” that have had their proof lowered to below 21 percent alcohol by volume. Utah’s absurd “Zion Curtain” requires that bartenders mix drinks out of view of consumers, who would presumably find the sight of a deftly stirred Manhattan impossible to resist. In Montana, consumers are limited to ordering no more than three pints per day in a single brew pub. Although it seems like every other vice is legal in Nevada, the state explicitly bans vaporized alcohol; in Alaska and a handful of other states, it’s the powdered form that’s banned. Several states have laws forbidding bartenders from pouring liquor directly into a patron’s mouth. (Does pouring a drink down an emptied out bone skirt the law? Inquiring minds want to know.)
One interesting development is the passage of laws encouraging craft distillation with local ingredients. These are on the books in Washington and New York and offer tax incentives to small distilleries that use locally sourced inputs. Whatever the merits of these laws, they are reminiscent of the wine shipping laws advantaging local producers that the Supreme Court struck down in Granholm v Heald. Since states receive such wide latitude over alcohol regulation, that case stands out for ruling that the Commerce Clause trumps state discretion.
These and other laws promoting local distillers could face a similar challenge.
If they do, they may become one of the few American liquor laws struck down by courts. The rest tend to linger due to lobbying by the beneficiaries of the status quo or through sheer inertia. That occasionally ensnares an unwary bartender who illegally serves sangria or a beer cocktail, and ensuring that alcohol writers never lack for material.
Smoking in Virginia is Here to Stay
February 15, 2008
It’s official: the Virginia House of Delegates killed the latest package of smoking ban proposals in a subcommittee Thursday. The set of proposed bans would have barred smoking in restaurants, offices and other public places. The bills’ defeat means a state-wide ban won’t come before the Virginia legislature again this year.
The House had previously spiked their own versions of the smoking ban proposals. Yesterday’s subcommittee action put an end to the bills that had been passed in the Senate.
The move is a sound defeat for Gov. Tim Kaine (D), who has been pushing for a state-wide smoking ban in several forms since he took office. Unlike some other states, such as Maryland, Virginia does not grant the power to counties or cities to enact bans on their own. With this latest move, the Virginia House of Delegates has ensured that smoking will continue to be legal in bars and restaurants in nearby Northern Virginia for the foreseeable future.
http://dcist.com/2008/02/15/smoking_in_virg.php
Virginia-says no smoking ban
Last of this year’s anti-smoking bills killed by legislators
RICHMOND
You can smoke ’em if you got ’em, because the General Assembly won’t be banning the habit anywhere this year.
The last four bills that could have snuffed out puffing in many public places or restaurants were spiked Thursday, putting off the effort at least one year.
Banning smoking in bars and restaurants was a legislative “wish list” item for city officials in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine also made the topic a priority for the session.
Still, the controversial measure died with a unanimous voice vote in a House of Delegates subcommittee hearing.
The four bills last week passed the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, but few observers expected the Republican-controlled House to approve them. The killed proposals were SB202, SB298, SB347 and SB501.
Kaine, a Democrat, noted stopping the bills in subcommittee means delegates don’t have to take a public stance.
“These guys didn’t want to be on the record on something like that,” Kaine said.
Del. Tom Gear, R-Hampton, chairman of the subcommittee, allowed about 30 minutes of testimony on the issue, most of which featured impassioned pleas to ban smoking.
“If New York can do it and not only survive but prosper,” said Leslie Alpert, a 20-year-old student at the University of Virginia, “I don’t know what’s stopping Virginia.”
Julia Torres Barden, a Chesterfield County resident whose adult son suffers from a lung disorder, said one poll showed three-quarters of state residents favor banning smoking in restaurants. Barden said it made no sense for subcommittee members to ignore those voters.
“You have what I consider negative superdelegates,” she said. “They’re out of step.”
Lobbyists said businesses should decide themselves whether to ban smoking.
“Our restaurant owners have been responding to the industry,” said Barrett Hardiman of the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association. “They are what their customers make them. We don’t feel the legislation is necessary.”
Del. David Albo, R-Springfield, said state rules don’t distinguish between bars and restaurants, which makes passing a smoking ban more difficult.
He said a summer study of Alcoholic Beverage Control rules might clear up the issue. Kaine later said that’s a possibility.
“I’m not really against doing something,” Albo said. “I will never vote for a bill that bans it in all buildings.”
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/last-years-antismoking-bills-killed-legislators
8 Bills That Ban Public Smoking Die in House
Feb 9, 2008
By Mason Adams mason.adams@roanoke.com (804) 697-1584
RICHMOND — A House subcommittee killed a series of bills Thursday to enact a smoking ban in restaurants and other buildings, likely foreshadowing the fate of similar Senate legislation.
After more than an hour of testimony from the bills’ supporters and opponents, the House General Laws subcommittee on ABC and Gaming unanimously voted down eight measures that would have restricted smoking in public areas.
“It’s clearly, if someone wants to go nonsmoking in a restaurant, they can do it,” said subcommittee chairman Del. Tom Gear, R- Hampton, prior to the votes. “I don’t think it’s up to the government to intervene and tell the restaurant they have to do something. They can do it on their own.”
Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, who leads the full House General Laws Committee, said she had once been in favor of a smoking ban. But in recent years, she said she’s found that more and more restaurants are doing it themselves.
“Two years ago … I couldn’t find a restaurant to go to that was smoke-free,” Suit said. “But because of this debate, the whole issue over the last few years has been elevated to the level that so many restaurants have gone smoke-free, I no longer believe it’s necessary for government to step in and do it.”
The subcommittee’s actions don’t bode well for a slate of four smoking ban bills that passed out of the Senate on Tuesday. They’ll be sent to the same House subcommittee for consideration.
The killing of the bills also represents another defeat this year for Gov. Tim Kaine, who’d backed a smoking ban for restaurants.
“Obviously it’s a disappointment,” said Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey. “The governor thinks the bill he was proposing … was a good bill. It was good for the commonwealth and good for people’s health. The Senate bills are still alive, so there’s always hope.”
Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax County, pointed to a possible compromise solution, though it won’t come this year. He suggested that bars and restaurants should be separated within state code, with different standards for smoking to apply to each. Currently, state law doesn’t distinguish between bars and restaurants, and an establishment has to sell a certain amount of food to get its state license to sell alcoholic beverages.
The bills killed by the House subcommittee included five variations on three basic versions:
n Give localities the option to pass their own smoking bans.
n Ban smoking in restaurants.
n Prohibit smoking in most buildings or enclosed areas, excepting only private homes, cars, private clubs, motel rooms designated for smoking, specialty tobacco stores, tobacco manufacturers and certain rooms in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
The latter version of the bill was filed by three different delegates and seemed to be the most popular bill among smoking ban advocates and even the delegates carrying other versions of the ban.
Those who spoke in favor of the bills said they effectively address secondhand smoke, which they cited as a major health concern. They referenced a 2006 report issued by the U.S. Surgeon General saying there was no safe exposure to secondhand smoke. They also cited a poll released last month showing that 75 percent of Virginia voters favor a statewide law prohibiting smoking inside all public buildings and workplaces.
Julia Torres Barden of Chesterfield said the state and federal constitutions don’t guarantee a right to smoke in public.
“It is not a personal-freedom issue in my opinion. It is not a free-enterprise issue. It is a health issue,” Barden said. “And you’re all obligated to listen and please act on our desperate plea to ask you for cleaner air.”
Richmond-area musician John O’Donnell said his livelihood depends on playing in smoky restaurants and bars.
“Working musicians don’t have the choice of what shows to play,” O’Donnell said. “A musician can choose to play or he can choose not to play at all. … If you think this legislation is about choice, you’re missing the point: It’s about health.”
But opponents of the legislation argued that smoking bans trample on the liberties of those who own restaurant and workplace buildings. The free market, they said, is already moving toward smoke-free restaurants, rendering government intervention unnecessary.
Nathan Jones, a Richmond resident whose family owns 13 Buffalo Wild Wings franchises in Virginia and Indiana, said that Indiana’s smoking ban caused a 10 percent to 15 percent drop in alcohol sales in the first year.
“We all know that one year with drops in sales of that magnitude can kill a small business,” Jones said.
And Chris Savvides, owner of the Black Angus restaurant in Virginia Beach, said he went smoke-free on his own in 2006 after noticing the nonsmoking section was packed, while the smoking section had empty seats. But he still, under the right circumstances, will occasionally allow customers to smoke in certain sections of the restaurant, and he doesn’t want the state to tamper with his ability to do so.
Savvides said he worried about the potential for both a statewide ban and the ability for localities to pass their own laws.
After all, tobacco is still legal in Virginia.
“I can plant it, I can grow it, I can harvest it, I can manufacture it, I can distribute it, I can sell it to people over 18, I can export it, tax it, chew it, spit it, dip it, snort it, smoke it, I can even bake it in brownies,” Savvides said. “But if someone lights up a cigarette in my business, I’m going to get a Class 1 misdemeanor?”
The four Senate smoking ban bills won’t be heard in the House subcommittee until sometime after Tuesday, which is the deadline for each legislative chamber to complete work on its own bills.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1248305/8_bills_that_ban_public_smoking_die_in_house/index.html
Lawmakers douse all bills that ban smoking in public
February 8, 2008
The proposed statewide ban on smoking in many public places, including restaurants, all but died Thursday night when a House subcommittee quickly spiked several smoking bills after an hour of emotional testimony from people on both sides of the issue.
The vote means it’s unlikely the Republican-controlled House will entertain the Senate’s smoking ban bill, which passed Wednesday. Democrats control the Senate. A statewide smoking ban in restaurants is also a top priority of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat.
The subcommittee of the General Laws Committee also squashed bills to give localities the right to impose their own smoking bans, a blow to cities including Virginia Beach and Norfolk that pushed for the power.
The unanimous action disappointed advocates who said secondhand smoke is dangerous and pleased those who saw the proposed ban as government intrusion into private affairs.
“This gives you some idea how much control lobbyists have,” said Del. Algie Howell Jr., D-Norfolk, who sponsored one of the ban bills. “It’s unbelievable that a handful of people will decide what’s in the best interest of the people of Virginia.”
Randy Estenson, owner of Poppa’s Pub in Virginia Beach, who said 80 percent of his customers smoke, praised the ruling.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I honestly believe businesses are doing what they need to do on their own.”
Delegates who voted against the measure took a similar position.
“It’s not up to the government to tell people what to do,” said Del. Thomas Gear, R-Hampton, chairman of the General Laws ABC/Gaming subcommittee.
Gear said many of his favorite restaurants in Hampton have decided to ban smoking on their own.
Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, who is the only South Hampton Roads lawmaker on the subcommittee, also voted against the bills. Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, who leads the full General Laws Committee, spoke against them.
“The issue has been elevated to the level that so many restaurants have gone smoke free, so it’s not longer necessary for the government to do it,” Suit said.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/lawmakers-douse-all-bills-ban-smoking-public
