Utah lawmaker wants to scrap low-alcohol beer rule

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah lawmaker wants to raise alcohol limits on beer in grocery stores as other states shed the restrictions.

Republican Sen. Jerry Stevenson said Friday he’s putting the finishing touches on a proposal to increase the alcohol limit from 3.2 percent to 4.8 percent by weight, the amount in a standard, production-line beer.

Utah and Minnesota are the only two states left where only 3.2 percent beer may be sold in grocery and convenience stores. Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas have all decided to abandon the limit in recent years.

The smaller market means some brewers are discontinuing the lower-alcohol brews, and Stevenson says store shelves are already seeing an effect.

Making the switch could be a challenge in Utah, where the majority of lawmakers are members of the alcohol-abstaining Mormon church.

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