Are Alcoholic Slushies Legal?
It's summer. It's hot. And kids are running around with ice cream, snow cones, and slushies. But why should they have all the fun?
"Basically, it's single malt beverages that are available in single serve cans, that are just opened and poured right into the slushie machine," Jeff Martin, manager of Breski's Beverages told Pennsylvania's Fox43 News. "Takes about a half hour or so, and you have a slushie."
"You can buy them now, and take them home and put them in the freezer, and then later when the kids go to bed, you can have a slushie," added Lisa Adams.
Sounds great. But are they legal?
Keys to Keystone State Statutes
State liquor laws can vary significantly, and some of them get pretty weird. Massachusetts bans happy hours. Utah prohibits mixing drinks in front of kids. And Kentucky, home of bourbon, bans all liquor sales in almost a third of its counties.
Pennsylvania, notoriously strict in its regulation of alcohol sales, only allows spirits to be sold in state-owned Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores, while licensed restaurants and bars (and, recently, supermarkets) can sell small quantities of beer to go. And Act 166 from the state's Liquor Control Board "allows a distributor to sell malt or brewed beverages in any package configuration to a non-licensee for off-premises consumption," and "sales do not have to be in the manufacturer's original configuration and can be sold in refillable growlers that can be resealed."
That's the law Martin is relying on when selling alcoholic slushies to go. "It allowed us to sell growlers for take out beer to go," he said. "And the way that Pennsylvania defined a growler at that point was basically just a resealable container. So under that law we are able to sell the slushies in the same manner."
While the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board told Fox 43 the slushies were not explicitly permitted under the state's Liquor Code, they could be fair game if certain requirements are met.
Booze Barriers
Whether you can pick up an alcoholic slushie in your state will depend on your local liquor laws, so you might want to check with an attorney before buying or selling one. You just can't buy high alcohol content beer that's been chilled in Oklahoma, and you can't bring your drink onto a dance floor in Hawaii.
Cheers!!
Related Resources:
- Find Administrative Lawyers Near You (FindLaw's Lawyer Directory)
- Rules for Homebrewers and Moonshine Makers (FindLaw Blotter)
- Do I Need a Lawyer to Get a Liquor License? (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
- Alcohol Crimes (FindLaw's Learn About the Law)
