Bars in Maine will be allowed to legally display the alcohol content of beer, thanks to a new state law enacted Tuesday.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Louis Luchini of Ellsworth, repeals a 1937 law that forbade the practice of displaying alcohol content, such as on signs or beer menus. At the time, the law was designed to deter ‘strength wars’ between brewers.
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Gov. Paul LePage allowed the measure to become law without his signature.
Brewers and bar-owners in the state were reminded of the law after a Rockland-area brewer and bar-owner was told by a state liquor inspector to remove the ABVs from a menu.
The growing beer industry in Maine, which skews heavily toward craft brews that often have high alcohol-contents, took immediate exception to the statute, saying that customers who want to consume high-alcohol craft beers responsibly have a right to know what they’re in for.
Luchini’s bill was a response to the uproar, and was supported by the Maine Brewer’s Guild, the Maine Restaurant Association, among other food and beverage groups in the state.
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