E-Malt.com News article: US, OH: Lorain lawmaker working on legislation to raise alcohol content in beer

Dan Ramos, a Lorain lawmaker is making a push to allow the sale of beer in Ohio that’s almost double the alcohol content of what’s sold now, The Morning Journal reported on July, 13.

Ramos is working on legislation that would let beer with an alcohol content of 21 percent, instead of the current 12 percent, be sold. That would bring beer in line with other alcoholic beverages. States such as Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan do not cap alcohol content in beer, and Ramos said Ohio’s limits impose an unfair restriction on brewers.

“It’s about letting Ohio brewers do what other companies can do,” Ramos said, and added that the idea was brought to him by people in the growing craft brewing industry throughout the state. “There’s an art to it. Brewers want to expand their art and give consumers what they want.”

Ramos said he has been working with a number of independent breweries throughout the area in drafting the legislation, which would take the form of a stand-alone bill when it is introduced in September. A proposal to raise the maximum alcohol in beer to 18 percent was stricken from the state budget legislation at the end of June, but Ramos hopes the new proposal will be signed into law with bipartisan support.

“It seems like a simple, common sense fix,” Ramos said, and added that the current law doesn’t only limit the alcohol content of beer, but also the potential growth of the craft beer industry throughout Ohio. “We don’t want Ohioans to be at a competitive disadvantage in any industry.”

Paul Siperke, a partner at Fat Heads Brewery and Saloon in North Olmsted, said that the market for beer with over 12 percent alcohol is limited, but Ohio brewers would like the opportunity to experiment.

“It’s a matter of fairness,” Siperke said, noting other states that do not have such laws in place. “And these aren’t beers you’re going to chug. They’re for sipping. There are breweries out there making extreme beer for extreme beer geeks.”

Lorain does not have any independent breweries of its own, but Ramos said that breweries throughout Northeast Ohio are growing.

“It’s more of a regional issue than specifically in my district,” Ramos said. “If something is growing in Ohio and we can help, I want to help.”

13 July, 2011