The Daily O’Collegian

In bars across the state, you’ll hear people rant about Oklahoma’s wimpy brew. However, the difference in the alcohol content isn’t as much as you think.

It turns out that Oklahomans might not have to sing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” twice to receive the same enjoyment.

The difference between Oklahoma’s 3.2 percent beer and 6-point beer might not be that big after all, said Mike Lalli, brewmaster of Choc Beer at Pete’s Place in Krebs, Okla.

Lalli said people have a huge misconception about 3.2 beer versus 6-point beer. The 3.2 beers are not the half-strength, watered-down drinks some people think.

Rob Neville, an employee at The Barn in Stillwater, said most 6-point beer is actually 5.5 percent alcohol by volume, at most.

Neville said he has no idea where the term 6-point originated.

“It is a deceiving slang term, which implies that Oklahoma beer is half as alcoholic,” he said.

Oklahoma beer is measured by weight, while 6-point beer is measured by volume. This makes a comparison of the two a matter of apples and oranges.

“The problem is the way that the alcohol is weighed is confusing — a beer that’s 3.2 by weight is 4.0 by volume,” Lalli said. “The volume measurement is what is used for strong beer, so as you can see this difference isn’t very much.”

The roots of 3.2 beer can be traced back to when Oklahoma sought statehood, said Bill Bryans, associate professor of applied history.

Bryans said alcohol status was an issue in the Oklahoma constitutional convention because the state had traditionally been dry. The conservative framers of the Oklahoma constitution decided that Oklahoma would come into the union with statewide prohibition.

Oklahoma remained dry until nationwide prohibition ended, and residents voted to allow non-intoxicating beverages now known as low-point beer, he said.

“Coming out of the depression and the Dust Bowl, Oklahoma’s reputation was suffering, and we were viewed as a backward state that wasn’t very progressive, and it wasn’t a place where businesses wanted to come,” Bryans said.

“One of the things was not so much that people wanted to drink, but having statewide prohibition represented that we were probably more of a 19th-century mentality than a 20th-century mentality.”

Low-point beer has more than half a percent alcohol by volume and not more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight, according to Oklahoma statutes, Title 37.

This includes but is not limited to beer or cereal malt beverages obtained by the alcoholic fermentation of an infusion of barley or other grain, malt or similar products.

Neville said beers produced by Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors Brewing companies are sold as low-alcohol beer in Oklahoma because those brewing companies choose not to distribute their regular-strength product to liquor stores.

“It comes down to competition and sales potential,” he said.

Because breweries can pick and choose to whom they sell, exclusivity could be an advantage to some operations, Lalli said.

He said it’s hard to change people’s opinion about what is and what isn’t 6-point beer.

“Just because it’s not an Oklahoma beer doesn’t automatically make it 6-point, and I usually point them to the Internet — there are plenty of beer sites that list alcohol percentages for most all brands,” he said.