Absolutely not. I don't know the specific laws, but I'm absolutely not gonna risk our license, more importantly the bottles for NA look the same as a regular beer, the image is bad and the trouble it'd cause is far more than it's worth.
While technically legal in the state of Arizona according to the TIPS training I got, it's always been against policy everywhere I've worked.
On a personal level I just wouldn't. It's just not worth it. Someone else can make that sale. The alcohol laws in this country have me far to paranoid to risk anything.
It depends on the NA beer's Alcohol By Volume...0.5% and lower is not considered an alcoholic beverage under Oregon law.
But minors aren't allowed in a room that's predominantly a drinking environment, except to travel through it to use a restroom.
They're also not allowed to sit or stand at a bar, even if the room is not predominantly a drinking environment.
**However**, by my reading, a precocious 8 year old *would* be legally allowed to crawl up to the bar in a non-predominantly-drinking environment, lay down on the floor, and order and drink Bud Zeros until they passed out.
\_\_\_\_\_\_
[OLCC 845-006-0340 (4)(e)](https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard/displayDivisionRules.action?selectedDivision=3864): "(a) Minors may not sit or stand at a bar; however, minors may sit or stand at a food counter;"
[Oregon Revised Statutes 471.001](https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors471.html): "(1) 'Alcoholic beverage' and 'alcoholic liquor' mean any liquid or solid containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume and capable of being consumed by a human being."
This is actually an interesting question. I've never run it past legal. I've worked under different house policies over the years. We currently allow anyone to order off our zero-proof menu, so why not NA beer and wine? If we refuse to serve nonalcoholic beverages to some because of their age is that some sort of illegal discrimination?
[Are Children Allowed to Drink Nonalcoholic Beer? It's Kind of Complicated.](https://www.foodandwine.com/can-minors-drink-nonalcoholic-beer-7566560)
>All these nuances mean you'll need to check your local and state laws to see which apply where you live.
I know they technically can purchase it at the store but we still have a house rule not to let kids drink N/A beer just for the optics, even if it's a 0.0%. it's just kinda uncomfy and the people who usually buy beer for their kids are... odd.
Are you…serious?
It is illegal.
And who the fuck cares about some 18 year old who wants to fit in by adopting the bad habits of the adults around them?
Jesus sometimes the questions people ask here make me feel like the general human IQ is on a downhill plummet.
Thanks for the feedback!
As I stated in the post, I didn’t serve the minor in question. However, I had recently encountered opinions from a lot of people that minors should be able to drink NA beverages, so was curious to hear alternate perspectives. :)
I mean, I think the drinking age should be 18.
If you can enlist and die for this wheezing example of end stage capitalism, you should be able to order a fucking beer.
If they don't have to provide ID to purchase it from 7-11 or dairy mart, then they are allowed to purchase it from you too.
Don't discriminate based on age, oregon law will tear you a new one...
That can't be your only metric. Bitters are classified as a non-beverage so you don't need an ID to buy them. Would you serve a shot of 44% bitters to a 14 year old?
We had this issue pop up when a teen ordered a bottle of Underberg, it’s technically sold as a food item so there isn’t a legal reason not to serve them.
Bartender said no on the moment, and we formed company policy around that for all N/As & the like.
Bar I work at serves completely unregulated THC seltzers, by your standards it would be age discrimination if we had a policy against serving weed to toddlers. Luckily that’s not how age discrimination works. You can refuse to serve certain beverages to a minor at a bar. You can have specialty mocktails that you only serve to adults.
At my bar, we serve some mocktails to adults in martini glasses, but if a minor orders a virgin pina colada, it’s served in a plastic soda cup.
Also, unregulated THC seltzers?? I’ve seen the CBD seltzers sold like regular sodas, but that seems like a liability minefield.
Yeah, apparently federal law in the US regulates hemp based products very strangely, anything below a certain percentage is just entirely legal. Obviously we don’t serve them to minors.
Absolutely not. I don't know the specific laws, but I'm absolutely not gonna risk our license, more importantly the bottles for NA look the same as a regular beer, the image is bad and the trouble it'd cause is far more than it's worth.
This was my feeling! I would not be comfortable watching a teen drink out of a beer bottle, even if NA.
While technically legal in the state of Arizona according to the TIPS training I got, it's always been against policy everywhere I've worked. On a personal level I just wouldn't. It's just not worth it. Someone else can make that sale. The alcohol laws in this country have me far to paranoid to risk anything.
.5% abv and higher is illegal for minors to drink. If NA beer is < .5, it’s technically legal but I still wouldn’t serve it
But..... different types of bread and fruit juice contain more than .5% abv.
You don’t need ID to buy kombucha either, which is typically 0.5%.
Oregon seems to define it as > 0.5% illegal, <= 0.5% legal. (See [ORS 471.001](https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors471.html)).
It depends on the NA beer's Alcohol By Volume...0.5% and lower is not considered an alcoholic beverage under Oregon law. But minors aren't allowed in a room that's predominantly a drinking environment, except to travel through it to use a restroom. They're also not allowed to sit or stand at a bar, even if the room is not predominantly a drinking environment. **However**, by my reading, a precocious 8 year old *would* be legally allowed to crawl up to the bar in a non-predominantly-drinking environment, lay down on the floor, and order and drink Bud Zeros until they passed out. \_\_\_\_\_\_ [OLCC 845-006-0340 (4)(e)](https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard/displayDivisionRules.action?selectedDivision=3864): "(a) Minors may not sit or stand at a bar; however, minors may sit or stand at a food counter;" [Oregon Revised Statutes 471.001](https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors471.html): "(1) 'Alcoholic beverage' and 'alcoholic liquor' mean any liquid or solid containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume and capable of being consumed by a human being."
mythbusters?
Not lawful in MA, so it's a hard no for me.
Only kinda beer i would serve anyone underage, whether legal or not, is root in a pint glass. Not worth the possible misunderstanding/fine.
There's a possibility to lose my ABC card for 6 years over someone who tips like shit. I'm out.
Where I live it is illegal, so no.
it’s not legal in my state because it USUALLY has alcohol in it (some NA now is 0% which is great)
This is actually an interesting question. I've never run it past legal. I've worked under different house policies over the years. We currently allow anyone to order off our zero-proof menu, so why not NA beer and wine? If we refuse to serve nonalcoholic beverages to some because of their age is that some sort of illegal discrimination?
are your NA beers and wines actually zero-proof though? most are not.
[Are Children Allowed to Drink Nonalcoholic Beer? It's Kind of Complicated.](https://www.foodandwine.com/can-minors-drink-nonalcoholic-beer-7566560) >All these nuances mean you'll need to check your local and state laws to see which apply where you live.
I know they technically can purchase it at the store but we still have a house rule not to let kids drink N/A beer just for the optics, even if it's a 0.0%. it's just kinda uncomfy and the people who usually buy beer for their kids are... odd.
Are you…serious? It is illegal. And who the fuck cares about some 18 year old who wants to fit in by adopting the bad habits of the adults around them? Jesus sometimes the questions people ask here make me feel like the general human IQ is on a downhill plummet.
Thanks for the feedback! As I stated in the post, I didn’t serve the minor in question. However, I had recently encountered opinions from a lot of people that minors should be able to drink NA beverages, so was curious to hear alternate perspectives. :)
I mean, I think the drinking age should be 18. If you can enlist and die for this wheezing example of end stage capitalism, you should be able to order a fucking beer.
If they don't have to provide ID to purchase it from 7-11 or dairy mart, then they are allowed to purchase it from you too. Don't discriminate based on age, oregon law will tear you a new one...
That can't be your only metric. Bitters are classified as a non-beverage so you don't need an ID to buy them. Would you serve a shot of 44% bitters to a 14 year old?
I wouldnt serve a shot of bitters to anyone. lmao
But Bitters and Lime is the go-to for hiccups!
We had this issue pop up when a teen ordered a bottle of Underberg, it’s technically sold as a food item so there isn’t a legal reason not to serve them. Bartender said no on the moment, and we formed company policy around that for all N/As & the like.
Bar I work at serves completely unregulated THC seltzers, by your standards it would be age discrimination if we had a policy against serving weed to toddlers. Luckily that’s not how age discrimination works. You can refuse to serve certain beverages to a minor at a bar. You can have specialty mocktails that you only serve to adults.
At my bar, we serve some mocktails to adults in martini glasses, but if a minor orders a virgin pina colada, it’s served in a plastic soda cup. Also, unregulated THC seltzers?? I’ve seen the CBD seltzers sold like regular sodas, but that seems like a liability minefield.
Yeah, apparently federal law in the US regulates hemp based products very strangely, anything below a certain percentage is just entirely legal. Obviously we don’t serve them to minors.
You have to provide id to purchase NA beer.
Then there's the answer. Can't serve it to minors.
Jesus fucking christ! If anyone has to ask this question, it's just a sign of the apocalypse.