You and buy whiskey, vodka, wine, beer in the cans, beer in the bottles, why didn't we get draft beer here when we went wet.
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I do not know why they did it that way at first. The reason they won't do it now is because the distributors don't want to pay the cost of switching trucks and equipment to accommodate kegs.
The city would also lose a few tax dollars because there is usually more beer in a keg than there is supposed to be. Therefore someone drinks some beer without paying the correct amount of taxes.
The city would also lose a few tax dollars because there is usually more beer in a keg than there is supposed to be. Therefore someone drinks some beer without paying the correct amount of taxes.
Politics, plain and simple. The excuse you'll get is it causes people to drink more, which is total crap. The reality is the local governments are afraid they won't make as much tax money from it which is also total crap.
The majority of places that serve beer in the Shoals serve Bud Lite, Miller Lite, or some other kind of crap beer. If these kinds of beers were cars, they would be an 86 chevy station wagon. They'll get you where you want to go, but it ain't pretty. I'm guessing cost per bottle is about $2 which adds $.16 in taxes on your bill. After you drink your crap beer, the bottle becomes trash which means the city has to pay to pick it up, haul it to the dump, and pay for the dump. I'm just going to take a guess, but let's say that drops the $.16 the city got from that bottle to $.10
In Middle TN, you can find a locally brewed beer called Yazoo. I particularly like their hefeweizen. If this beer was a car, it would be a BMW convertible. It's a rich, flavorful beer that complements any dinner. This runs for about $4.50 a pint. It goes straight from the keg to the glass, so no bottle left when you're done. Taxes are a little higher, but if they were 8% it would be $.36 per pint in taxes on your ticket. Nothing left afterwards to haul off to the dump, so the city keeps $.36.
To sum up a long post, there is no draught beer in the Shoals because the morons running everything doesn't know the difference between a chevy station wagon and a BMW. Make sense?
The majority of places that serve beer in the Shoals serve Bud Lite, Miller Lite, or some other kind of crap beer. If these kinds of beers were cars, they would be an 86 chevy station wagon. They'll get you where you want to go, but it ain't pretty. I'm guessing cost per bottle is about $2 which adds $.16 in taxes on your bill. After you drink your crap beer, the bottle becomes trash which means the city has to pay to pick it up, haul it to the dump, and pay for the dump. I'm just going to take a guess, but let's say that drops the $.16 the city got from that bottle to $.10
In Middle TN, you can find a locally brewed beer called Yazoo. I particularly like their hefeweizen. If this beer was a car, it would be a BMW convertible. It's a rich, flavorful beer that complements any dinner. This runs for about $4.50 a pint. It goes straight from the keg to the glass, so no bottle left when you're done. Taxes are a little higher, but if they were 8% it would be $.36 per pint in taxes on your ticket. Nothing left afterwards to haul off to the dump, so the city keeps $.36.
To sum up a long post, there is no draught beer in the Shoals because the morons running everything doesn't know the difference between a chevy station wagon and a BMW. Make sense?
quote:Originally posted by Yo Brotha from anotha Motha:
I do not know why they did it that way at first. The reason they won't do it now is because the distributors don't want to pay the cost of switching trucks and equipment to accommodate kegs.
The city would also lose a few tax dollars because there is usually more beer in a keg than there is supposed to be. Therefore someone drinks some beer without paying the correct amount of taxes.
If there were 17 gallons in a 16 gallon keg and a bar sold the beer by the pint, how is any tax money lost? Only person who makes out is the bar owner who paid for 16 gallons and got 17, the extra gallon would be more revenue and therefore more tax?
Everything I just stated has already been posted in a story in the TD about a year ago. Maybe they are figuring on the individuals buying kegs and bars not being honest. I have also heard the same story from two local bar owners.
Maybe they meant that a extra half gallon of beer would be lost and stuck in the keg.
Go figure?
The biggest reason is the distributors.
Maybe they meant that a extra half gallon of beer would be lost and stuck in the keg.
Go figure?
The biggest reason is the distributors.
quote:Originally posted by Yo Brotha from anotha Motha:
The biggest reason is the distributors.
This is by far the biggest reason. I know some of the people who run distributorships around here and they have told me that the new refrigerated trucks, plus the extra stress on their men makes them against it. Not to mention that every restaurant around here would have to put in a tap system. I have been told that sometimes the distributor is responsible for that as an inducement for the restaurant to buy beer from that distributor. I don't know about that (it didn't come from the people who run the beer distributors.)
What distributors are in the Shoals? Budweiser, Michelob maybe. The usual crap beer. They know that if the Shoals allowed draught beer, restaurants would be able to serve the good quality micro-brews. That would mean they would have serious competition and sell less beer. So they tell everyone how expensive it would be and how much trouble and it's really not worth it. That's a BS excuse as well.
It's all supply and demand. If the local government allowed draught beer tomorrow, restaurants would be installing taps and ordering kegs to meet the new demand. Distributors would be making space in their trucks for kegs to prepare for the new competition. Just like when the lottery first started in TN, people from Russellville to Lawrenceburg will come to the Shoals at first to try draught beer and these other beers they probably haven't heard of. Restaurants and distributors would make their money back in no time.
It's all supply and demand. If the local government allowed draught beer tomorrow, restaurants would be installing taps and ordering kegs to meet the new demand. Distributors would be making space in their trucks for kegs to prepare for the new competition. Just like when the lottery first started in TN, people from Russellville to Lawrenceburg will come to the Shoals at first to try draught beer and these other beers they probably haven't heard of. Restaurants and distributors would make their money back in no time.
The competition arguement has merit.
However, I don't remember the details but I think the draft beer issue is one of those State Law things that it can't be changed locally but you have to get the state legislature to change the law regulating draft beer. Might want to research that though before saying its the gospel truth.
However, I don't remember the details but I think the draft beer issue is one of those State Law things that it can't be changed locally but you have to get the state legislature to change the law regulating draft beer. Might want to research that though before saying its the gospel truth.
The reason there is no draft beer in the Shoals is because of tax reasons. Plain and simple. I bartended in the Shoals the entire time I was in college there and this is the reason why: The City can tax each individual can or bottle of beer when it is sold, and the keg is only taxed once, when sold from the distributer to the restaruant. Therefore, the city believes that it can make more money by not selling draft beer, because they figure the tax revenue will be higher. When I come home from Nashville to the Shoals to visit friends and family, it is like going back in time about ten years. The beer is crap, the wine is crap, the restaraunts are crap and all closing....pretty soon, Florence will be back to Shoney's and Campbell's Southland as the only places to eat out. Enjoy, city leaders!!!
As backward as it still is here , there has been progress in the last 30 or 40 years. Used to be you couldn't buy any alcohol at all in the area (legally). where alcohol was allowed to be sold, it had to be served in little bottles like on airplanes, still sealed and with the mixer in a glass on the side . State liquor stores had a counter where you went in and ask for whatever. couldn't shop. They were painted green on the windows and were called "green fronts".
Have faith, in another 30 or 40 years we may get draft beer.
Have faith, in another 30 or 40 years we may get draft beer.
I agree somewhat with Johnhaeger about the wine being crap. From what I've seen, the best place to find good, reasonably priced wine ($10-15/bottle) is Sam's! And you have to really know your wines, which I don't, because the last time I bought some red wine at Sam;s the cashier asked me "You like 'at sauer wine?".LOL I went to one liquor store and the whole place (not very big to begin with) smelled like terrible BO. It kind of puts you off whatever you buy in there.
But having said that, I do see growth and blossoming cultural offerings in the Shoals. I get Food & Wine magazine and in this months issue there was an article on some local Shoals artists and their pot-luck dinner. Natalie Chanin from Project Alabama, Billy Reid, the designer, artist Audwin Mcgee and photographers Robert Rausch and Charles Moore. I am so proud of my hometown! I think the whole area has really changed for the better in the last 10-15 years, since we moved off.
Hmmm... maybe I should consider this fact a little harder.
But having said that, I do see growth and blossoming cultural offerings in the Shoals. I get Food & Wine magazine and in this months issue there was an article on some local Shoals artists and their pot-luck dinner. Natalie Chanin from Project Alabama, Billy Reid, the designer, artist Audwin Mcgee and photographers Robert Rausch and Charles Moore. I am so proud of my hometown! I think the whole area has really changed for the better in the last 10-15 years, since we moved off.
Hmmm... maybe I should consider this fact a little harder.
NashBama, I am in trouble, I saw the head on this thread and jumped to the conclusion it was Draft Beer, Not Kids. I guess the war in Iraq is cutting into my drinking time.
By the way, draft beer, any brand, is better than the bottled or canned product, and it can be sold in 6 oz 8 oz 10 oz or larger sizes, making it a lot easier to drink smaller quantities per serving. and beer mugs are not nearly as effective as weapons as beer bottles.
By the way, draft beer, any brand, is better than the bottled or canned product, and it can be sold in 6 oz 8 oz 10 oz or larger sizes, making it a lot easier to drink smaller quantities per serving. and beer mugs are not nearly as effective as weapons as beer bottles.
Luckily, most places i've been to that offered draft beer opted for larger serving sizes at better prices. 
quote:Originally posted by Shiroshi:
Luckily, most places i've been to that offered draft beer opted for larger serving sizes at better prices.
Shiroshi,
Please keep this secret, I don't want people jumping my case because I am a carpet bagger. I live in Arizona, the largest per capita consumer of beer in the Western Hemisphere, Not just the USA, but both North and South America and all ports in between.
Draft Beer is served here in practically any size container you can imagine. We even have a few establishments that serve it by the gallon pitcher. Really, seriously, A GALLON OF BEER in one container. One place I have been to sells beer by the yard, a 36 inch tall glass of beer. (the second one is free if you can walk to the bar)
But, those places also sell smaller servings. A group of friends will get off work, go to a tavern, and buy a Pitcher of beer. Four friends a 60 ounce pitcher, that's less than two 12 ounce bottles of beer each. A lot less, and a half gallon is 64 ounces.
I don't want to tell Alabama how to serve alcohol but it seems to me that the no draft beer rule is well a little unfriendly. Two bowling teams can do a gallon pitcher and stay sober, and enjoy the comaraderie of a shared beverage.
I've been a lot of places. Virginia for example disallows the sale of any alcoholic beverage in any thing other than its original container, Sealed when the customer recieves it. Soda Pop on tap, not beer or distilled spirits. The distilled stuff was BYOB there for a long time. Some states have no closing time.
In Texas it's up to each county. I like train rides for vacation, in the club car they take your drink when you are in a dry county, and give it back in wet counties. A single beer can last a whole afternoon, and go flat and warm by the time you get done with it.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by EdEKit:
I live in Arizona, the largest per capita consumer of beer in the Western Hemisphere, Not just the USA, but both North and South America and all ports in between."
This is a friendly question, I promise: what brings you here to the TD forums? Were you originally from here? Just unusual to hear from Arizona!
"One place I have been to sells beer by the yard, a 36 inch tall glass of beer. (the second one is free if you can walk to the bar)"
Okay, I travel a good bit on my job to conferences and such, and I'm expecting to be in the Tucson area soon. I will also be traveling through part of Arizona as I head to another destination. Mind telling me the name of that bar?
I'm there!
I live in Arizona, the largest per capita consumer of beer in the Western Hemisphere, Not just the USA, but both North and South America and all ports in between."
This is a friendly question, I promise: what brings you here to the TD forums? Were you originally from here? Just unusual to hear from Arizona!
"One place I have been to sells beer by the yard, a 36 inch tall glass of beer. (the second one is free if you can walk to the bar)"
Okay, I travel a good bit on my job to conferences and such, and I'm expecting to be in the Tucson area soon. I will also be traveling through part of Arizona as I head to another destination. Mind telling me the name of that bar?
I'm there! quote:Originally posted by bluesmann:
Did you all not look at what Mr. Pendleton, Angie and Mr. Graham is wanting, and I agree to it. It is will over due, durn if you can buy it in cans and bottles, it is time we should have it and stop the people from driving to the state line for it, after all Decatur already have it. http:///www.florenceal.org/ left hand side click onto City Calender and then onto agenda. I hope I got this site right.
Great move Florence. And over here in Colbert, we still can't even purchase alcohol on Sunday. What a shame. Well, I take that back, we can drive to Florence and give it our tax money.
Honestly, this whole situation is ridiculous. We've got to get rid of these antiquated alcohol (and marijuana) laws and move this place into the future. I wish we could have some novel idea whereby we could attract attention to our area.
Could it be the city of Florence is trying to stay "one up" on us over here on the Colbert side? They should know over in Florence that Sunday sales in Sheffield is imminent. The playing field will once again be even, so what do they do, they go for the draft or draught. Just what is the correct spelling?
the sala of draft beer would make the city alot of taxes it is a dumb thing not to sale draft beer i`m for selling any beer product
quote:Originally posted by that smart chick:
Here is what the Decatur Daily said on the subject (condensed: the State Legislature has to say the local government can allow it):
...unlike any other form of alcohol, draft beer service in Alabama requires a local act of the state Legislature. A local government has to ask its legislative delegation to introduce it for a vote in Montgomery.
Why the rest of the state Legislature should care whether restaurants in any one city serve draft beer is one of many reasons cited for state constitutional reform, but that's another story. As historically practiced in Morgan County, the local delegation has to support the measure and every member of every city council and county commission has to vote to ask for it. A single dissenting vote can derail the whole process.
Twenty-three counties have that state approval, according to Capt. John Richardson, assistant director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control enforcement office in Montgomery. They are Baldwin, Barber, Bullock, Calhoun, Choctaw, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Escambia, Etowah, Greene, Jefferson, Lee, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Mobile, Montgomery, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Tallapoosa and Tuscaloosa. Alabama has three licensed brewpubs in Montgomery, Dothan and Auburn.
The latest local government to get the legislation is Montgomery, where it has been an issue for about 20 years. City Attorney Walter Byars, who ironically represented the state's wholesale beer distributors for 25 years, helped draft the 1980 legislation.
"The reason goes back to Prohibition," Byars said. "Our laws are still antiquated. You had two of the three ABC commissioners who were almost teetotalers, and therefore you had to get their votes in order to get the legislation. Not to criticize them. It was just their view."
In the 1970s, some laws still banned so-called "open saloons," and the stereotypical image included draft beer, Byars said. To get the Legislature to approve draft-beer service, it had to retain control at the state level, Byars said. The law still contains a section allowing draft beer to be sold "in rural communities with a predominantly foreign population. . . in accordance with the habit and customs of the people of any such rural community."
So, I think it's a moot point for Florence, the permission is granted to the county, not the city, and last time I checked, Lauderdale County was dry. But, that last clause says if a bunch of drunkard foreigners settled somewhere really rural (I'm thinking Waterloo, Greenhill, Elgin?), they could open a bar with draft beer...
Thank you, that smart chick, for the information... A lot of our old laws are just plain stupid... we even have laws about spitting in public, which we see all the time, but IF an officer of the law were to decide to enforce that law, a fine would be paid.
Maybe someday SOON, Alabama will realize that there are actually ADULTS that live here, tax paying ADULTS who should be able to buy what they want, when they want... afterall... it IS their money.