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Indiana remains only state to regulate temperature of beer sold

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — You won’t be able to able to buy cold beer in grocery or convenience stores in the Hoosier state anytime soon. A state Senate committee voted against allowing it.

The hot topic debate will rage on for another year. By a vote of 9-1, expanded cold beer sales will not be moving forward in the Indiana Senate. This vote comes after hours of testimony, and a very big fight from both sides.

A full hour before the state Senate committee took the floor, at least 100 people wearing shirts that read “WE WANT COLD BEER!” spilled into the Statehouse hallways championing cold beer sales. Among them was Kelly McClure, owner of McClure Convenience Stores

“One of the questions our clerks are asked on a daily basis is, ‘Where’s your cold beer? And why can’t we buy it on Sunday?” McClure explained.

Supporters of expanded cold beer sales say Indiana is the only state that regulates the temperature at which beer is sold, and that Indiana needs to get with the times. Jay Ricker, owner of Ricker’s Convenience stores spoke Wednesday afternoon, saying he has to compete with companies like Amazon.

“To compete with them, I need to be able to sell what my customers want,” Ricker said.  “And my customers want cold beer.”

You can buy cold wine in most stores, but the beer is warm in convenience and grocery stores, as well as pharmacies. The owners of Speedway convenience stores and gas stations feel like that should change.

“The current law that prohibits the sale of cold beer to our customers is outdated and does not reflect fair competition within the state of Indiana,” Tony Carf, Director of Merchandising for Speedway LLC said.

Not everyone agrees. Several people spoke out against the bill in front of the committee Wednesday, including Jay Singh.

Singh and his family own several liquor stores and gas stations.

“Should the state allow cold beer be allowed to be sold in convenience stores and gas stations, we would be forced to carry and to remain competitive,” Singh said.

Others like the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers (IABR) feel the bill would brew up doom for mom-and-pop liquor stores.

“This expansion would inflict irreparable economic harm on existing, and, often multi-generational small business package liquor stores would simply go out of business,” Patrick Tam with the IABR said.

After the vote, IABR Chairman, Jon Sinder said:

The Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers applaud the Senate Public Policy Committee for rightly rejecting the misguided expansion of the sale of cold beer for carry-out. Now that this poor public policy has been soundly rejected by the Alcohol Code Revision Commission and by the Indiana State Legislature after months of hearings and testimony, we consider this issue settled. We remain fully committed to working with legislators on successfully passing a law that will allow for the sale of alcohol for carry out on Sunday for the first time since prohibition.  It is time for Sunday sales!”

In the end, the committee poured the cold beer bill down the drain.