Perchance To Dream

It's a step...apparently two Philly-area grocery store chains are applying to sell beer and wine in their stores. I wrote the other day about Pennsylvania's archaic, cronyist liquor laws, so you can imagine I'm thrilled at this possibility. As I said before, coming from another state it's ridiculous to me that I can't buy beer at the grocery store (or Costco), and especially that, in order to buy less than a case of beer, I have to go to a neighborhood bar and pay $8-$9 for a six-pack. Personally, I stick with refilling my Troeg's growlers at the brewery, but I sure would like to be able to pick some up at the Giant as well.

One thing I didn't mention in the previous post is that I believe the current system discourages exploration when it comes to trying new types of beer. Unless you happen to live in a relatively hip neighborhood, the chances are good your local bar isn't going to stock a ton of beers for sale, and the same goes for the average beer distributor. Besides, even if there was an interesting beer for sale at the local distributor, having to buy a full case instead of a six makes trying new beers four times more expensive than it needs to be.

Of course, I could be extrapolating my personal experiences here. The bars around my Midtown house aren't exactly teeming with the sort of people who love to try the latest microbrew (as far as I know there isn't a beer distributor at all in Midtown, so my options are either that skeevy bar on Third Street or that other skeevy bar on Third Street), and the same could be said about the beer distributor by my office in Middletown.

It's all probably moot anyway, because the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania opposes this request by Wegman's and Acme, and presumably any other request to overhaul the laws, because it might put beer distributors out of work. Hey, here's an idea -- why don't the distributors, you know, distribute? A true distribution system would allow the distributors to stay in business by selling to the retail outlets. That way everybody wins!