This Unusual Beverage Can Still Only Be Bought in Minnesota
Most states moved on from this old-school alcohol law years ago, but not Minnesota. In fact, the Land of 10,000 Lakes is now the only place in America where this once-common drink is still sold.
When it comes to unique beverages, we take the cake here in the North Star State. Because we're the ONLY state that still sells this beverage. That's right, all 49 other states have gotten rid of it. Heck, even the conservative state of Utah eliminated its liquor law requirement to sell this strange beverage nearly six years ago, back in 2020.
Minnesota Is the Only State That Still Sells 3.2 Beer
The mystery beverage I'm talking about is something called 3.2 beer-- beer that has an alcohol-by-volume percentage of only 3.2-- well below the alcohol content contained in most beers these days. "3.2 Beer," or "Near Beer," as it's been jokingly referred to over the years, is STILL the only beer that is legal for grocery and convenience stores to sell here in Minnesota.
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So how did 3.2 beer even become a thing? According to this TwinCities.com story, it dates back to Prohibition-- when selling and possessing any alcohol was illegal. Minnesota's legislature tried to get around the federal law by passing its own state law that said any beverage with an alcohol percentage of 3.2 or lower wasn't really an alcoholic beverage, and thus could still be legally sold.
Minnesota Liquor Laws Have Slowly Changed
But why is it still around today? Well, because Minnesota is REALLY slow to update its liquor laws! Now, to be fair, Minnesota *did* finally get rid of that longtime law that prohibited liquor stores from even being open on Sundays back in July of 2017.
And Governor Walz signed a bill in 2022 that modernized some of Minnesota's other archaic brewery laws, raising the cap on growler sales at craft breweries. But a provision in that bill that would have allowed grocery and convenience stores to sell the high-octane, regular beer was deleted that year, and wasn't revisited.
Will an Update to Minnesota's 3.2 Beer Law Be Coming in 2026?
And again this year, like the past several years, legislative leaders in St. Paul have not scheduled a hearing on any bill that would allow grocery and convenience stores to sell stronger beer or wine, either. This means that, unless something changes at the last minute, once again this year, Minnesota grocery and convenience stores will continue to only be able to sell 3.2 beer.
Which is something most convenience and grocery stores across the state would like to see go away-- a fact the president of Minnesota's Retailers Association noted a few years ago.
I'm actually surprised any breweries still even MAKE 3.2 beer anymore. If it's only available here, they can't be selling very much of it, right? So will 3.2 beer EVER go by the wayside here in the North Star State? Not this year!
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Gallery Credit: Stacker
