Jessie Balmert

jbalmert@enquirer.com

COLUMBUS - Could the West End's Samuel Adams Brewery start brewing Utopias - which contains 28 percent alcohol? Will Columbus-area's BrewDog USA craft some higher alcohol content brews?

Yes, if Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, has his way. Faber wants to eliminate the limit on alcohol content in craft beer, currently 12 percent alcohol by volume. The plan passed the Senate, 32-0, Wednesday and heads to the House.

The last time Ohio lawmakers increased the limit was in 2002, when it rose from 6 percent to 12 percent. That means Ohio breweries can't manufacture beers, like Utopias, that cater to craft beer enthusiasts.

Eliminating the cap would be good news for the 157 craft breweries operating in Ohio – one of the state's booming industries. Just a year and a half ago, Ohio reached 100 craft breweries, and that number could surpass 200 by the end of the year, said Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association. Beers with higher alcohol content would be labelled.

Why is Faber interested? Government should not set artificial regulations on one form of alcohol but not others, the senate president said. Surrounding states, including Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Michigan, have no limits on the alcohol content of craft beers. Indiana requires beers with more than 21 percent alcohol by volume to be treated like liquors. West Virginia has a limit of 12 percent alcohol by volume.

“We just thought the limit was archaic and unnecessary,” Faber said. “We don’t have a limit on hard liquor or wines or other spirits.”

Rep. Dan Ramos, D-Lorain, has tried to ditch the limit for several years to no avail. But now, Faber wants to eliminate the cap, adding the change Tuesday to a bipartisan House bill to allow open containers in Findlay Market and Columbus' North Market.

For Rivertown Brewing Company in Lockland, the change would allow for more innovation. "We’ve worked well within the 12 percent limit since we opened in 2009, but we do believe it would be fun to explore beyond those limitations as well," said Lindsey Roeper, whose title is "dream facilitator" of Rivertown Brewing Company.

Adam Rhodes, a co-founder of Homestead Beer Co. in Licking County, said higher alcohol content beers would be more of a novelty than a mainstay for his brewery.

"We’ll probably make a beer above the legal limit once just to say that we did," Rhodes said. Currently, Homestead's strongest beer is 3 MC’s, a double IPA with 9.8 percent alcohol by volume. Still, Rhodes is interested to see what breweries would create without the limitation of a 12 percent alcohol by volume threshold – and whether they would be any good.

"I think there’s a huge demand for it," Rhodes said. "People will drink beers that are above 12 percent. That doesn’t mean that they are all great beers."

Among craft beer enthusiasts, there's a strong demand for beers with higher alcohol content. Legalizing these beers would give breweries more opportunities to experiment, said Jesse Folk, a spokesman for Christian Moerlein Brewing Co.

To those worried about the higher alcohol content, MacDonald said Ohioans can already order much stronger wines and liquors. These craft beers tend to be expensive, too.

"If you are out to get intoxicated, there are much cheaper ways to do it," Faber said.

Another bill, which recently passed the Ohio House, would allow liquor distilleries to sell their spirits on site if they make fewer than 100,000 gallons. The current limit, 10,000 gallons, is too low for most distilleries, lawmakers argue. Both proposals are in the Senate awaiting votes.

And if larger distilleries and stronger beers don't suit your fancy, House lawmakers introduced a proposal Tuesday to allow for the manufacture and sale of alcoholic ice cream.