Quirky Laws Give Yuengling Edge at Home

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Tuesday, March 23, 2004 | CHRISTOPHER LAWTON

[SoothingDave]

The Pa Liquor Control Board hired some new guy to run the show, and he has a done a spectacular job of increasng the number of items in the stores, modernizing the stores, and reducing prices with bulk buying power. Also, liquor stores can now sell on Sunday.

Well, some of them can sell on Sunday. In the more populous "heathen" areas.

Yes, the state stores can now do such fascinating things like sell non-alcohol things. Like a corkscrew, or other accessories. Used to be liquor and only liquor could be sold there.

As for me, if having beer sales in supermarkets and Wal-Mart means that we will lose the vast array of choices available now in the beer distributors, I'm against it.

SD

[Tallguy]

Here's another way to think about Pennsylvania's arcane liquor & beer laws: they make the State the single largest block buyer of beer & liquor in the world. Talk about your 600-lb. gorillas!

[Calvin Coolidge]

I love their Black & Tan brand. However, I hate living in the most restrictive state outside of Utah. I'm always overjoyed when I walk into a supermarket in another state and find that I can actually buy beer there, and in 12 packs no less.

This article does a good job of explaining the rationale behind the 'six packs in certain stores, cases at the distributor, nothing in between' laws, and of pointing out how ridiculously expensive a six pack is. For a law that allegedly is designed to reduce consumption, all the incentives are to buy a whole case at a time, for only slightly above the cost of two six packs at the store across the street.

I used to have a girlfriend who lived in a dry county in Eastern Kentucky (Leslie County). The only way to buy beer was to drive along the windy mountain road to the county line, where there was, of course, a package store right on the border. But, you could only buy a six pack at a time, and they were quite strict about people taking the six to the car then going right back into the store for another. So you had to drive out, pick up a six, drive back, drink it, then drive back out again to get another; all along a twisty road with no shoulder and a sheer fall on one side. Thank g_d for moonshine ...

[Physicist]

Yuengling Lager is simply the best beer I've ever tasted. I don't buy it by the case because of any stupid packaging law. I buy it by the case because a six pack just won't do.

[dirtboy]

Pennsylvania beer drinkers can't purchase beer in supermarkets or convenience stores, where the big brewers often squeeze small brewers off the shelves. Instead, consumers have to go to beer distributors or taverns. The beer distributors account for an estimated 70% of the state's beer sales, but by law they have to sell full cases, reducing the effectiveness of the big brewers' discounting tactics. Neighborhood taverns and delis can sell six-packs or 12-packs, but the prices there are generally quite high...The state rules, which date to 1934, the year after Prohibition ended nationally, were intended to limit alcohol consumption

Living in Pennsylvania, I never could figure out how forcing people to buy a case reduced beer consumption.

Consumers concerned about price buy cases from the distributors. But cases of beer from local independent brewers such as Stoudt's Brewing Co. in Adamstown and Troegs Brewing Co. in Harrisburg can cost as much as $25, compared with closer to $15 for nationally distributed domestic beers.

You can often find a case of Yuengling Lager cans for $13.99. Yuengling can compete on both price and quality. And Yuengling has a hard time keeping up with the demand - every beer distributor I've been to in the state has a veritable mountain of cases of Lager.

[ContemptofCourt]

Quite true...and for the items that PA does not carry, fortunately there are still some internet retailers that will ship to PA....my favorite is hitimewines in California. They have incredible prices on some of their wine and liquor.

[SoothingDave]

Living in Pennsylvania, I never could figure out how forcing people to buy a case reduced beer consumption.

It's not designed that way. The idea is that inconvenience is bulit into it. You have to go out of your way to go to a special store to buy beer. This eliminates impulse buying and in theory, provides better control of the substance than having teenaged checkout clerks at a minimart selling beer to their friends.

It also puts a cap on late night drinking, where people tend to cause the most problems. Since you can't buy more than a 12 pack after the distributors close, the thinking is that such late night activity is curtailed.

SD

[dirtboy]

It's not designed that way. The idea is that inconvenience is bulit into it. You have to go out of your way to go to a special store to buy beer. This eliminates impulse buying and in theory, provides better control of the substance than having teenaged checkout clerks at a minimart selling beer to their friends.

What I end up doing is buying two cases so I don't have to worry about running out.

It also puts a cap on late night drinking, where people tend to cause the most problems. Since you can't buy more than a 12 pack after the distributors close, the thinking is that such late night activity is curtailed.

So you go to the bar and drink and then drive home.

[SoothingDave]

What I end up doing is buying two cases so I don't have to worry about running out.

Well, yes. But that defeats the point of "impulse buying." Frankly, if it's midnight and you need a bottle of whiskey or a couple more cases of beer, you should have planned ahead.

So you go to the bar and drink and then drive home.

I never said it was a perfect system. Just that it had certain goals in mind and that "forcing people to buy larger quantities" was not the idea. It was making people plan to buy large quantities from more-controlled stores during normal shopping hours.

As opposed to Atlantic City where they have 24 hour liquor delivery.

SD

[Doug Loss]

(However, Black & Tan in one bottle is a waste.)

Yup. I buy a case of traditional lager and a case of porter. That way, I can make my own B&T if I so choose, or have either straight up if I want. FWIW, I seem to be drinking the porter mostly (Good for your iron, don'tcha know...)

[Temple Owl]

Yuengling is yummy yummy. Vote for Pat Toomey.

[tahoeblue]

Yuengling is a great beer. Eastern PA has spawned some other interesting beers too - Neuweiler is my personal favorite - I think they claim to be the oldest brewery in the country (someone took the name of the old brewery and started making beer with that name - not in continuous operation). I also like Weyerbacher in Easton - cold brewed using old milk processing equipment. I haven't been back there in a while - wonder if these breweries are still going.

-tb

[Thoro]

"The Pa Liquor Control Board hired some new guy to run the show, and he has a done a spectacular job of increasng the number of items in the stores, modernizing the stores, and reducing prices with bulk buying power. Also, liquor stores can now sell on Sunday."

Well, some of them can sell on Sunday. In the more populous "heathen" areas.

That's something that still seems somewhat unethical to me considering the BAC was lowered at almost the same time due to federal laws. It's like they're encouraging you to drink but simultaneously increasing the sensitivity of catching you doing it.

Anyway....Yuengling es muy bueno. The Lager Light is really good. The taste of lager in a light(er) beer.

[SoothingDave]

It takes an Orwellian mind to conceive of the LCB. Whose goal is to control and minimize drinking while maximizing the returns to the state's coffers.

SD

[StriperSniper]

Also, liquor stores can now sell on Sunday.

How about Sunday beer, last time camping there about 8 years ago we had to go into a restaurant and carry out two sixes at a time. Have they changed that?

[Thoro]

How about Sunday beer, last time camping there about 8 years ago we had to go into a restaurant and carry out two sixes at a time. Have they changed that?

It's still like that. However buying beer from a restaurant or bar is done like that regardless of the day. Only the beer distributor can sell it by the case, and they're still closed on Sunday.