Update: Bill to change grocery store beer strength goes to Committee

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Cans of spring seasonal Alpha Hive Double IPA are ready to be filled with beer at COOP Ale Works in Oklahoma City, Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. COOP Ale Works, which distributes in six states including Oklahoma and Kansas, has discontinued two of its three 3.2 percent brews. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – A bill that would increase the legal alcohol content of beer sold in Utah grocery stores reached the Senate Rules Committee Tuesday.

Republican Sen. Jerry Stevenson’s S.B. 132 would increase the alcohol limit from 3.2 percent to 4.8 percent by weight.

Utah and Minnesota are the only two states left where only 3.2 percent beer can be sold in grocery and convenience stores. Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas have all decided to abandon the limit in recent years.

The shrinking market means some brewers are discontinuing the lower-alcohol brews, and Stevenson has said store shelves are already seeing an effect.

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