PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Call it a culture clash, trans-Atlantic style.

The Brits think the Americans are puritanical and somewhat batty. The Americans find the Brits morally lax and too willing to bend the rules.

It all started at a high school in Maine when a student consumed half a bottle of Fentimans Victorian Lemonade, then looked at the label and discovered it contained small amounts of alcohol, listed as less than 0.5 percent. By contrast, a typical American beer usually contains about 5 percent alcohol.

Not wanting to get in trouble, he showed it to school administrators, who called police. Police referred the matter to state officials to determine whether the zesty beverage could be sold to minors. Anti-alcohol groups got involved, sending out warnings about the potential perils of the highbrow brew.

On Thursday, the Maine attorney general’s office said it has determined that, in Maine, at least, people have to be 21 to buy the product.

“Fentimans Lemonade cannot be sold to minors,” said spokeswoman Kate Simmons.

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BC-SD–Drinking Age,1st Ld

Date: 09/29/2009 04:59 PM

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – State Rep. Tim Rounds of Pierre says he is working on a proposal that would allow 19- and 20-year-olds to drink beer in controlled establishments if accompanied by someone who is at least 21.

Rounds told other members of a legislative committee that he will drop the idea if it would cause South Dakota to lose federal highway funds.

The Republican lawmaker says he also might propose another change that would presume 19- and 20-year-olds are driving under the influence if they have any amount of alcohol in their blood.

But an official of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says the change to a drinking age of 21 has clearly saved about 1,000 lives a year nationwide.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Date: 07/29/2009 08:23 AM

CHET BROKAW
Associated Press Writer

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – The legal drinking age should be lowered because current laws are pushing those younger than 21 into drinking in cars or at unregulated parties, a South Dakota lawmaker says.

Rep. Tim Rounds, R-Pierre, said he is looking at whether the state could change its law to let those younger than 21 drink in controlled settings such as private clubs or establishments or with adults other than their parents or legal-age spouses.

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Date: 07/01/2009 01:26 PM

BROCK VERGAKIS
Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Bartenders in Utah threw open their doors Wednesday as the state ditched a 40-year-old requirement that customers fill out an application, pay a fee and become a member of a private club before setting foot in a bar.

“It’s 40 years of oppression come to an end,” said Dave Morris, owner of the bar Piper Down in Salt Lake City. “There’s this national perception that we don’t have bars here, so hopefully this gets out there that we’re open for business.”

The new rules are an effort to boost the state’s $7 billion-a-year tourism industry and make the state appear a little less quirky to outsiders. In Salt Lake City, Morris has organized two days of 16-bar pub crawls to celebrate the novelty of being allowed into a bar without having to pay first. One crawl is set for Wednesday, another for Friday.

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Date: 04/15/2009 06:35 AM

ROBERT BARR
Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP) – The beer poster said “Take Courage.” Three people took offense, and on Wednesday Britain’s advertising watchdog took action.

The Advertising Standards Authority banned posters for Courage beer which used the “Take Courage my friend” slogan which had featured in advertising campaigns from the 1950s to the 1980s.

It was wrong, the ASA said, to imply that beer would boost male confidence.

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Date: 03/25/2009 07:21 AM

CONSTANT BRAND
Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS (AP) – Anheuser-Busch InBev has lost a battle to the “Budweiser” name after an EU court rejected its claim to register the word as a Europe-wide trademark.

U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch – now renamed Anheuser-Busch-InBev after a $52 billion takeover by Belgium’s InBev – and smaller Czech rival Budejovicky Budvar NP haggled for years over the name, once also the name of Czech town famous for its fine beers.

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Date: 03/19/2009 03:39 PM

By BROCK VERGAKIS
Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Guy walks into a bar in Utah – and easily gets a drink.

Come this summer, that simple scenario will become a reality: No special fees, club memberships or partitions required.

After more than 40 years, some of the strictest – and strangest – liquor laws in the nation are being hustled out the barroom door, yet another sign that even a state dominated by teetotaling Mormons is willing to reconsider decades-old mores if it helps the economy.

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Date: 03/13/2009 01:40 AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The Utah Senate has decided against allowing the sale of full-strength draft beer in bars and restaurants.

Currently, draft beer sold in Utah can contain no more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight, or 4 percent by volume.

Most beer contains about 5 percent alcohol by volume and is watered down for sale in Utah.

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Iowa House member Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, confirms that House File 21 will not make Friday’s funnel deadline unless the item is added to the committee’s agenda and passed out of committee at the last minute.

Rants, a member of the House’s State Government committee, cites “three-tier (Iowa beer and liquor distribution) issues” among those contributing to the legislation’s lack of progress.

-Tim Hynds

Date: 03/12/2009 05:43 AM

By COLLEEN SLEVIN
Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP) – Convenience stores and supermarkets in Colorado won’t be allowed to sell full-strength beer following protests by liquor store owners, who said a proposed law change could drive many of them out of business.

The House Business Affairs & Labor Committee voted 7-4 against the proposal late Wednesday after listening to more than seven hours of testimony.

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