With Minnesota soon to be the last state in the country to cap alcohol concentration at 3.2 percent for beer sold in gas stations and supermarkets, state Sen. Karin Housley, R-St. Marys Point, says the state’s liquor laws “still reflect the era of Prohibition.”

On Friday, a new Utah law will take effect to lift the state’s alcohol requirements. Minnesota will be the last state in the country to cap gas station- and supermarket-sold beer at 3.2 percent alcohol by weight.

Housley, the vice chair of the Senate’s Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy Committee, said in a Thursday news release that brewers are producing less of the lower-alcohol product because its profits are smaller, “making the product difficult — if not impossible — for businesses to carry.”

“It won’t be long before the market demands we bring our laws in line with the rest of the nation,” Housley said, pledging to push legislation in January to “modernize our state’s antiquated liquor laws.”

“Minnesota has a world class craft brewing scene and a booming market,” she said. “We should be encouraging growth in that area, not stifling it. I’m looking forward to having a robust debate on this issue during the upcoming legislative session.”

Utah lawmakers raised the alcohol limit to a still-low 4 percent by weight, yielding as large breweries decided to stop making lower-alcohol suds for a market that’s shrinking amid the changing laws.

Almost the entire country once had similar limits, said Maureen Ogle, author of “Ambitious Brew: A History of American Beer.” It was set by Congress to allow lighter brews to be made before the formal end of Prohibition in 1933.

“Frankly, it’s a very arbitrary number,” she said.

Still, most states used it as a guide as they made their own laws. That started to change in the 1980s with the beginnings of the craft beer movement and gained steam after the year 2000. The last few dominoes fell with Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas making the switch in recent years.

In Utah, the state’s predominant religious faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teaches abstinence from alcohol, and strict liquor laws continue to hold sway. Last year, lawmakers passed the lowest DWI threshold in the country at 0.05 percent.

This year, though, big retailers like Walmart and others pushed for changes so they could keep their stores stocked with national beer brands. The new 4 percent limit, also measured as 5 percent by volume, was a compromise with the influential church, which had opposed going higher.

The deal left serious craft beer fans somewhat disappointed, but many drinkers are happy to welcome brands like Sam Adams and Firestone Walker in grocery stores for the first time, said Mike Riedel, who writes the Utah Beer Blog.

“I hope it’s not another 86 years before something else changes,” he said.

This report includes information from the Associated Press.