In March of this year, Utah governor Gary Herbert signed off on a stack of bills, including one that would make it a misdemeanor to block a state or local roadway, one that upped the penalty for running an unlicensed "sexually oriented business," and one thatsold in grocery stores from four percent to five percent—previously, stronger beer was only sold in state-run liquor stores.
before the new law went into effect on November 1, so as not to pit the government and private retailers against each other.brace themselves for the worst, mostly dwindling or non-existent lower-ABV beer supplies in liquor stores near the end of October.
However last Friday, this entire situation took a turn for the heartbreaking when 275 cases of bottles and cans were taken from a warehouse in Salt Lake City to Wasatch Resource Recovery on the north side of the city. There, on that property, all , the sad situation was a necessity, because the beer could no longer be sold after the law change. Instead, its aluminum cans and glass bottles were all emptied and will be recycled.
"If you can’t buy it and you can’t drink it, this is the best place for it," the facility's sustainability manager Morgan Bowerman told the Tribune. In our hearts, we know that's true, but it's still hard to take. Hopefully someone grabbed one of those beers and solemnly poured it out on its own, in memory of the bottles and cans in those 275 cases. Goodnight, sweet low-ABV prince.