Pennsylvania has long been known as a place with too many restrictions on beer sales, but times are changing and rules are loosening up in favor of the consumer, all great news for Pennsylvania residents wanting to pop a cold one as they celebrate Memorial Day.
Just recently, the Keystone State legalized the sale of six packs in convenience stores, providing consumers with more places to grab beer to go, in smaller quantities. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board continues to modify restrictive access to beer, approving licensing to more and more convenience stores, even though the arrangement could quickly come to an end if the state Supreme Court invalidates the move, which is still a possibility.
Many of us who reside in states where beer sales are less controlled by the state might be surprised to learn that 12 pack sales of beer were once illegal in Pennsylvania. Just last year, distributors in the state were granted the ability to sell 12 packs for the first time. Before that, distributors sold beer only by the case or keg. I can recall many, many years ago when I visited Pennsylvania as an adult college student for the first time. I couldn’t understand why beer wasn’t sold in stores, like it was in the neighboring state of Ohio. I can remember a friend who lived in Pennsylvania explaining that beer had to be purchased by the case or keg. As an overly patriotic resident of Pittsburgh, he actually tried to defend the archaic rule, but I quickly pointed out that such restrictions were wrong for countless reasons and were very outdated. I later learned that a clash of interests, from restaurants to taverns to distributorships and beyond, has kept the rules from changing as quickly as they should. The Pennsylvania Legislature has been pulled in multiple directions, trying to pass laws that satisfy as many interests as possible.
Convenience stores are only one of the places vying for your beer expenditure dollars. Supermarkets also want to sell beer and many have succeeded by taking advantage of present laws and adding food service to their stores. According to Pennsylvania law, if an establishment such as a supermarket runs a food service covering at least 400 square feet and offers restaurant style seating, then they can sell beer. It’s a lot of trouble to go through, but if a store has the necessary capital to add food service, then they can tap into the beer sales business, which over time can prove lucrative.
Beer sales will gradually become liberated in Pennsylvania over time and they have already come a long way. Hearing about the troubles and restrictions on beer sales makes me happy I live in a state with more modernized laws. Pennsylvania may one day offer much more open beer sales, but change could prove difficult if the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court rules against convenience store sales, a decision likely to come in 2017 at the earliest.
You must not be from Pennsylvania. All this did was something that had already been done previously. Nothing new. The way PA works is on a quota system so those 9 licenses are now 9 licenses that are not available to bars or restaurants. So if you are passing through and want a sixer to take to your hotel room this may be an improvement. if you want to sit down and have dinner and a beer it may not.