US, OH: Proposal to raise beer alcohol level limit dropped

A proposal to raise the maximum alcohol allowed in Ohio beer from 12% to 18% has been dropped from the state budget, Cincinnati.com reported on June, 30.

A conference committee of the Ohio General Assembly removed the proposal from the final version of the budget bill, which cleared the Ohio House on June, 29. Gov. John Kasich was expected to sign the bill into law on 30th of June.

No reason was given for the decision. While craft beer makers supported the proposal, there was opposition. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has been critical of beverage makers whose products have high alcoholic content.

Greg Hardman, Christian Moerlein’s president and chief executive officer, said on June, 29 that increasing the alcohol limit would have helped him expand the brewer’s offerings and better compete with states including Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan that do not set a maximum alcohol content on beer.

For example, beer styles such as Imperial Stout and Barley Wine – which Christian Moerlein does not currently brew – require higher alcohol content.

Hardman, who acquired Christian Moerlein in 2004, is also behind the $4 million Moerlein Lager House, which will open this fall near Great American Ball Park with room for more than 1,100 diners and drinkers.

“The first thought I had was, ‘We’re trying to put a world-class food and beer establishment in Cincinnati, and when you look at what the legislators are doing, it doesn’t make any sense that they draw a line in the sand on beer, but you go to other states like Kentucky, and they have no limit on the alcohol content on beer,’” he said.

“So Kentucky gets all of the great world beer brands that we can’t get in Ohio, and you know people are going over the state line. It really is tying one arm behind our backs in Ohio.”

01 July, 2011