INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana Senate committee overwhelmingly voted down legislation that would have allowed grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations to sell cold beer.
The 9-1 vote against the measure Wednesday by the Senate Public Policy Committee all but dooms the effort during this year’s legislative session. Indiana is the only state that regulates the temperature at which beer is sold.
Grocery and convenience stores and pharmacies can sell cold wine and warm beer. But the sale of carryout cold beer is primarily limited to liquor stores, whose owners say expanded cold beer sales would force many out of business. Those supporting the change lampoon Indiana for being behind the times.
A House committee voted 12-1 earlier Wednesday to support lifting Indiana’s decades-old ban on Sunday carryout alcohol sales.
