How'd You Get That Drink?

My friends at Digital Third Coast reached out to me with another info-graphic in which the readers of this blog may be interested.

You may be a beer enthusiast, but how much do you really know about what happens before your brew gets to your hand? With the growing popularity and profitability of alcohol (alcohol sales total about $90 billion per year in the U.S.), liquor laws and licenses undergo a lot of scrutiny in the United States.

If a business wants to serve alcohol, it has to buy and comply with various liquor licenses. Different types of liquor licenses include a tavern license, a not-for-profit club license, a consumption on premises-incidental activity license, a packaged goods license, a caterer’s license, an outdoor patio license, or a late hour license. If you prefer to BYOB, some restaurants will allow you to bring in your own alcohol if you pay a corkage fee; this is more common in restaurants that don’t have liquor licenses.

Depending on where you are in the United States, the liquor license laws and BYOB laws can vary greatly. For example, in Boston (the top drinking city in America), Massachusetts state controls liquor license quotas for different areas. BYOB is completely illegal in the city of Boston, but in the state, BYOB is only illegal if a business has an existing liquor license- otherwise, local law rules. Meanwhile, over in San Francisco, BYOB is only allowed in businesses with liquor licenses, and there are no mandatory corkage fees in California.

No matter what your favorite drink is, a lot of work went into getting it to you- and that’s something we can all cheers to.

And here is a link to the site containing the Info-graphic.  (A large enough to read version)

There will be a quiz on the rules and limitations for each state next week, so study up!  Homebrewing is so simple by comparison.  Buy raw ingredients and make your own.  It cuts through all this red tape.