A new law that will allow Ohioans to purchase beer with high alcohol content goes into effect Wednesday.
The Governor signed House Bill 137, which will lift the current 12 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) ceiling, into law earlier this year.
Under the new law, there's no cap, but beers are expected to be around 30 percent ABV which is far below what you would find in whiskey.
The Ohio Craft Brewers Association said this law will keep the industry growing.
“We've gone from 58 breweries in 2012 to 177 today. That's an economic generator, that's taxes being paid to the state of Ohio,” Mary MacDonald, Executive Director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association, said.
Jim Gokenbach, owner of Zafting Brewing Company near Worthington, says raising the alcohol level in beer in Ohio is a game changer for specialty brewers like him.
“It will have a huge economic impact here in Ohio because simply because you're going from making beer that you can sell 10-15 cents an ounce to taking that up to $1.50 to $2.00 an ounce,” he said.
Gokenbach’s business has taken him from a 1,200 square foot building with no employees in 2013, to a 3,500 square foot facility that now employs six full-time workers.
BrewDog of Scotland is building its North American Headquarters in Canal Winchester. The specialty brewer is expected to hire 125 people when it opens later this year.
It's known for its Tactical Nuclear Penguin beer at 32 percent ABV and the 41 percent ABV Sink the Bismarck.
Gokenbach said those kind of beers won't be the norm and dismisses talk about kids buying these beers.
“Kids aren't going out and buy a $13 or $14 bottle of beer for 12 ounces,” he said.
10TV contacted Mothers Against Drunk Driving to get their response to the new law raising alcohol levels in beer:
"MADD cautions drinkers of craft (high-alcohol-content) beer or other high-alcohol-content beverages that they may likely reach a level of impairment quicker than what they might be accustomed to. Never drink and drive, no matter what the alcohol content might be in the beverage you are consuming. "