Microbrewers have long been the darlings of popular culture: they are almost always portrayed\u00a0as rugged, no-nonsense\u00a0iconoclasts\u00a0who, in their uncompromising quest of making good beer and bringing it to the possibly undeserving public, are willing to buck against any hoary regulation or restriction\u00a0that stands before them and their noble task.<\/p>\n
Well, apparently that’s all bullshit, at least for a number of Colorado’s microbrewers. As unlikely as it sounds, they have joined an unholy alliance<\/a>\u00a0with the sole aim of keeping in place an ugly blue\u00a0law left over from the dark\u00a0days of Prohibition, namely the law that forbids Colorado\u00a0grocery and convenience stores from\u00a0selling any alcoholic beverage stronger that 3.2%.<\/p>\n Frankly, it’s an embarrassment. This state, which has led the way with marijuana legalization and has always presented itself as a stronghold of\u00a0individual liberty, is still hustling near beer<\/a>.\u00a0It’s\u00a0a stupid law on its face: if you’re going to let stores sell\u00a0any<\/em> beer at all, why not let them sell good\u00a0beer? You have to be 21 to buy either, so what’s the point?<\/p>\n And you would imagine, seeing how they generally do not make 3.2% beer, microbreweries would be all for getting their higher-proof products into convenience and grocery stores, right?<\/p>\n Well, flying directly in the face of that fine logic, some of them\u00a0apparently are not. From what I’ve gathered, there are four\u00a0reasons\u00a0they want to keep this<\/em> particular relic of Prohibition in place:<\/p>\n 1) They don’t think the big chain stores will let them in<\/strong>. This\u00a0smacks of a grave lack of confidence. They plainly\u00a0haven’t noticed there has been\u00a0a sea change in the palette\u00a0of American beer drinkers, that 11% of all beer sold in this country is\u00a0craft, a number which is very likely to\u00a0grow\u00a0at an ever-faster rate. If a chain grocery store estimates their customers want craft beer and are willing to pay for it, they will not only stock microbrew in their stores, they will make a big deal about it. As soon as one chain jumps in, blowing their We Sell Local Stuff! trumpet,\u00a0the others will follow in a stampede. If there’s money to be made, they’re in. It’s called capitalism.<\/p>\n