Brewing a fairer law

Iowa brewers aren't allowed to make beer with an alcohol content higher than 5 percent. Yet retail stores in Iowa can sell out-of-state brands with higher amounts.

The Iowa brewers say that's unfair to their business and to Iowa customers. They want legislators to change the law.

We think they make a reasonable case.

In Iowa, the alcohol in beer is measured by weight, not volume. The state's 5 percent limit for native brews means that Third Base Brewery in Cedar Rapids, Millstream Brewing in Amana and others among Iowa's 20 or so craft brewers can't make “gourmet” or “high-gravity” beers. Meanwhile, your local licensed grocery store or other retail outlet can offer one or more of about 50 higher-proof brands that the state distributes.

Across the country, 35 states have no limit on beer alcohol content. Several others have higher limits than 5 percent.

The Iowa Alcohol Beverages Division licenses outlets for beer sales and oversees distribution of imported beers.

Opponents of changing the alcohol limit for beer worry that it would encourage people to get drunk faster. Certainly, we don't want to see any increase in alcoholism, especially among young people. Iowa already ranks among states with the highest rate of binge drinking.

But that problem largely is rooted in social attitudes toward drinking. Attitudes that clearly need adjustment.

The type of beers that Iowa craft brewers want to be able to make appeal mostly to afficionados who want more flavor choice. As beer drinker Scott Russell of Ames told Radio Iowa recently, “Craft brew, you're really only going to enjoy one or two of them because they are a little big stronger in flavor ... so you end up sipping this beer instead of quaffing it like you would drinking cans of domestic light beer.”

Lifting or modifying the alcohol limit would give Iowa brewers a more level playing field in the marketplace, which could help the industry thrive, add jobs and boost the local economy. In turn, that could also provide new state tax revenue because the higher-alcohol beers are taxed at higher rates.

Such extra revenue sure wouldn't hurt as legislators wrestle with fixing a massive state budget deficit caused in part by a sharp downturn in tax receipts.