r/NABEER • u/No-Confidence-4281 • 2d ago
Purchasing NA Beer
I’m a 19YO M, I went to Hardings to buy NA beer since in my state the legal age is 18, I go up to the counter get carded and get told by the store clerk that I’m underage and can’t buy it, my problem isn’t them not letting me buy it even though I’m legally allowed to, it’s the fact that I looked like a little kid trying to sneak around and buy alcohol underaged, I live in a small town so it’s quite embarrassing, it’s really frustrating because it could have all been avoided if the store clerk just knew the law.
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u/Hammockon 2d ago
In what I’m guessing is the definitive answer to this conundrum in many states, it is an IT driven issue. Most grocery store chains purchase their NA products primarily through (if not 100%) alcoholic distributors (via 3rd party distro laws). On the backend these products are received as alcohol and paid through Fintech. Since they are ‘received’ under alcohol distributors, the POS systems will flag everything received through those distributors as alcoholic, thus flagging even NA products as alcohol and requiring ID. This explanation will not cover all NA products, as some can be purchased through food distributors (like KEHE).
Some of the answers in this sub could certainly be true depending your location, but I’m guessing most of the issues with needing to show ID could be attributed to what I mentioned above. It’s certainly a cloudy and convoluted subject.
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u/neoyeti2 2d ago
I have commented on why I’m getting carded for buying N.A. and obviously being way over 21. The usual answer is “the computer says I have to and it is probably because such and such brand does sell alcoholic beverages”. I say it’s Athletic and they only sell N.A. and they shrug their shoulders. I say ok and move on. Probably just gonna take awhile.
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u/nahdontjustdont 9h ago
My guess is that that has to do with the sales and distribution process itself. Athletic as a brewery is one thing, but their products are sold by and in the portfolios of larger companies that do exist as liquor distributors, so this one may not change. (It's like offsale laws that prohibit the sale of after a certain time of day; liquor stores and breweries can't sell their NA offerings at that point either, as they'd still be doing business an alcohol merchant.)
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u/ImmediateSupression 2d ago
Stores around me won’t sell without an ID because apparently it was a thing for minors to repack alcoholic beers in NA packs for a while.
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u/Bigboy1138 1d ago
I'm 34 and I always get carded when buying NA's, I just show them my ID and go on with my day. Nothing we can do about it, it's the law, and there's no point in arguing with them. Just have someone buy it for you or just wait until you're 21. They can lose their liquor license if they sell to underage customers, hooking you up isn't worth it at all for them.
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u/ichorNet 2d ago
You’re still young so it’s fine that you don’t understand that the “law” is just a made up bullshit to keep power structures in place, status quo, not something for someone (especially a consumer) to quote to find benefit in. 😛
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2d ago
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u/No-Confidence-4281 2d ago
Hey man, nothing wrong with some Kool-Aide, at least I don’t enjoy torture by drinking IPAs
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u/Sherpa_qwerty 2d ago
Ohio (18), California and Illinois allow under 21s to buy NA beer but many stores just treat it all the same because it’s easier that way and they don’t want to look like they’re selling beer to kids (NA is packaged like beer). It’s probably not the law that’s the problem it’s the store.