PA Beverage Laws Suck!

I mentioned yesterday the problem that exists with the beverage laws that exist in the state of Pennsylvania. Here's the deal for those who are not familiar with it:

Beverages (beer) are sold in their own stores. Liquor and wine are sold separate from beer in other types of stores. Ok...kinda weird...but I can deal with that. The problem is that PA law requires these beverage stores to pose the minimum purchase of a case of beer (normally 24 12-ounce beers...sometimes 12 24-ounce beers or something similar). Even if the distribution works so that a brewery only puts out a 12-pack of a certain type or types of beer, beverage stores will group 2 12-packs together that must be purchased together.

If it were strictly the amount that the law restricted, I would be fine with purchasing 24 single bottles of different kinds of beer. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I love beer because there are so many breweries brewing so many different types of beer. I like to experiment. Accustomed to NJ and CT laws, I've easily been able to go about with experimentation by buying single bottles or maybe 4-packs, 6-packs, or if I'm adventurous, 12-packs. Experimentation can get rather expensive when you have to buy an entire case of every beer that you're going to try. It's a stretch to think that I would meet a beer that I absolutely did not like, but if it did happen, I'd be stuck with a whole case of it!

Now there are other establishments that sell in lower quantities - most of them are restaurants or eateries. However, they hike up the prices so if you're going that route to save money, you're losing.

Obviously you can tell that I am not a fan of these laws. I don't think I'm alone. If I had more friends in the area that shared a passion for beer, I would resort to planning field trips with them to the beverage store to divvy up our purchases. But unfortunately I don't...and I shouldn't have to. Fortunately, I often travel on weekends to the states of CT and NJ and take advantage while I am, but something should be done about these horrendous laws!