Ohio is closer to tapping into high-alcohol beers.
The Ohio Senate approved an amendment Wednesday that would do away with the state’s 12 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) limit.
The amendment to the legislation, House Bill 37, also would require labels to state the amount of alcohol and any beers over 12 percent to be labeled as “high alcohol beer.”
Ohio breweries are now barred from making beer with more than 12 percent alcohol and retailers are prohibited from selling it.
“We just thought the limit was archaic and unnecessary,” Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said. “We don’t have a limit on hard liquor or wine or other spirits.
“The thought was to have it on beer really isn’t necessary with changing times.”
House Bill 37, which deals with exceptions to the state’s open container law, now moves back to the House for approval.
The last time the state increased the ABV cap was in 2002, when it rose from 6 percent to 12 percent. Brewers and retailers have been advocating for years for the state to boost the limit again.
They argue that the cap hampers creativity of brewers and sends beer drinkers outside Ohio to purchase high-alcohol — and high-priced — beers such as Samuel Adams Utopias and Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA.
It’s also seen as a way to foster the state’s growing craft beer industry, which has ballooned from 49 breweries in 2012 to more than 150 today.
Faber cited the fact that a brewery chose not to locate and expand in Ohio in part because of the limit. It was an apparent reference to Stone Brewing Co., which chose to open a new brewery in Richmond, Va., instead of Columbus.
BrewDog, a Scottish-based brewery that’s known for high-alcohol beers, is building its U.S. headquarters in Canal Winchester, Ohio, and has supported doing away with the limit.
“I say it’s long overdue,” said John Lane, co-owner of the Winking Lizard Tavern restaurant chain and Lizardville Beer Store & Whiskey Bars located in Northeast Ohio and the Columbus area.
High-alcohol spirits pose more of a threat than high-alcohol beer, he said.
“It’s an artistic expression so why are we limiting artistic expression, especially today when everyone knows how hot it is?” Lane said.
Fred Karm, owner and brewer at Hoppin’ Frog Brewery in Akron, is excited about the possibility of there being no alcohol limit.
His brewery specializes in producing high-alcohol and flavorful beers.
“It’s a great thing and it keeps us relevant in this ever-growing industry,” he said.
But he and others questioned the labeling restriction.
Karm noted that the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates labels, won’t allow brewers to use the word “strong” so he questioned why would it allow “high alcohol beer.”
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his beer blog at www.ohio.com/beer. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.