Lee Special - Liquor Laws in UT

Utah, a state known for The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), has always had very strict alcohol laws. When I visited with work about 15 years ago, you had to be sponsored (signed in) to get into a bar. It seems like the laws are constantly being tweaked, and this is no longer a requirement as far as I know. Nonetheless, the alcohol laws can be confusing for the outsider.

My current understanding goes like this:

When buying beer in supermarkets and bars selling draft beer - even craft breweries - it will only be 3.2%. Even familiar brands which you think are around the 5% mark will have a 3.2% variant for the Utah market.

An important distinction here which I didn't originally grasp is that this is Alcohol By Weight. Most of us are used to thinking in terms of Alcohol By Volume, and 3.2% ABW equates to about 4% ABV. So these beers are not as weak as they might initially appear.

The specific license a business has also determines what they can sell. Some can only sell alcohol if there is an "intent to eat" - i.e. you need to order food (maybe just a plate of nachos) in order to get alcohol.

This aside, getting your hands on 'heavy' (greater than 4% ABV) beer and spirits is not impossible. You need to visit one of the state-controlled liquor stores. These are pretty scarce and have quite limited opening hours. Furthermore you feel a bit like an alcoholic, having to visit one of these stores rather than surreptitiously picking up a few 6 packs alongside your veggies, quinoa and granola bars at the Walmart.

This story has a strange final twist. Most bars and restaurants also serve bottled beers. This is where, so it seems, the laws magically don't apply. Whilst the draft pints* were only 3.2% (or 4%), I could quite happily sink several 500ml bottles of Fröhlich Pils at 5.5%. I really cannot fathom out the logic of this. If anyone else can, please enlighten me.

* at 473ml, US pints are only 83% of a proper UK pint