Un-American Bill Looks To Ban The Sale Of Cold Beer In Tennessee

They're coming after cold beer in Tennessee.

A bill was introduced in the Volunteer State on January 31 that states "a person or entity holding a beer permit issued under this chapter shall not sell refrigerated or cold beer at retail." The proposal is gaining steam, too, with the bill already passing the Senate twice before now heading to a committee.

The very obvious reasoning behind the proposal is to hopefully cut back on DUIs and alcohol-related accidents across Tennessee. According to the state, 1 in 3 fatal crashes in 2023 involved a DUI with 1 in 2 DUI crashes resulting in an injury or death.

While not allowing grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores to sell cold beer would undoubtedly have a positive impact on those numbers, it's worth taking a big-picutre look at this potential situation.

We use common sense and live in reality here at OutKick, so let's practice that when it comes to the government trying to take away our cold snacks. 

As a native Tennessean, I'd like to release an official statement regarding the bill:

It sucks.

If we're being honest with ourselves, the majority of folks who grab beer at a store and immediately open a few up when they get to the car aren't doing so just because it happens to be cold. There is also this somewhat modern-day invention that exists at every gas station in America called ice.

As someone whose go-to beverage on the golf course is a beer over ice - it forces you to drink it slower, don't shame me - I can assure you people who are drinking behind the wheel will discover the combo rather quickly. Coolers also exist and fit in cars.

The moral of the story here is that if people want to drink cold beer minutes after purchasing it, they'll find a way.

Beyond a consumption standpoint, the passing of this bill would only hurt businesses, both the provider and the seller.

"[The bill] would have a huge impact, huge. Package sales are somewhere around 40 to 50 percent of our sales, and 90 percent of that is cold," Drew Barton, head brewer at Memphis Made, told WREG.

People enjoy buying cold beer, they like picking up a six-pack from the store after a brutal day at a job they hate and cracking an ice-cold one open as soon as they walk through the door. People do not like buying room-temperature beer, shoving a couple in the freezer to get cold as quickly as possible, and then forgetting about them altogether an hour later.

Tennessee is a beer-drinking state, a cold-beer-drinking state. Last I checked, Tennessee is also part of the United States, the land of the free. Businesses should be able to sell cold beer and hard-working Americans should be given the opportunity to buy it.

As someone who lived in Philadelphia for a couple of years, a place where buying beer at a retail location in general is virtually impossible, I'm less than thrilled with this bill making its rounds in the Senate.

If passed, it could make me consider moving out of Memphis to another state. The inability to buy cold beer on top of the city being a literal war zone is a combo I'm not sure I can live with.