This last session, the Utah Legislature at long last dragged the state's liquor laws into the 21st century - by lifting the rules on private clubs and allowing existing restaurants to tear down the "Zion Curtain" separating drink preparation from patrons.

Now an online petition by Utah beer lovers is asking the Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (the DABC) to bring the state's liquor stores out of the days of the horse and buggy - by installing refrigeration units.

On the consumer-advocacy web site Tribute to Beer, co-founder Ross Metzger has written an online petition asking DABC to install the coolers because "consumers are tired of paying a premium in Utah for beer that has gone bad!"

Many "heavy beers" go bad from being stored in hot warehouses and room-temperature stores. The petition concludes that refrigeration units in liquor stores will give fans of craft-brewed beer "an opportunity to get good beer from the channels that have been given to them, and stop allowing the UDABC to promote illegal transportation and consumption of out-of-state beer."

(HT: Ted McDonough, City Weekly)

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws