There are few people in the booze business who would not shake their heads about the screwy laws Washington state has on the books when it comes to beer and wine sales. Don’t get them talking about laws governing hard liquor as well. They are clearly insane.



They require strict adherence to strange rules on everything from size of the doorway of taverns to the amount of money a bar can make on booze in proportion to food and entertainment.



Wine and beer tastings are controlled on not only who can attend but how much they can sample and how often tastings can be held. So it is with that backdrop that the Washington State Liquor Control Board has made a step toward sanity by allowing a select group of grocery stores to hold on-premise wine and beer tastings in a first step toward what could be beer sampling alongside baked beans or bags of chips.



The South Sound grocery stores involved in the program are: the Sixth Avenue Tacoma Boys, Stadium Thriftway, Metropolitan Market stores in Tacoma and Federal Way.



Each store will be allowed to have up to 12 tastings during the pilot program period from Oct. 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009 as long as they do at least six and no more than one per month. Don’t think you are going to get drunk while doing your weekly shopping. Patrons will be allowed to consume only a total of four ounces of beer during any of the tastings, and even that will be chugged back over the watchful gaze of a properly educated and screened store employee in a designated tasting area just in case someone gets drunk off a Dixie cup of booze.



While jumping through the legal hoops might seem silly just to have the chance to hand out a few swallows of beer to patrons as they swing by with their shopping carts, it opens a door.

“It is a great sales tool,” Tacoma Boys beer and wine buyer Donna Herren says.



The store has 3,000 labels of wines and 500 labels of beer, which can now be pushed for sales with tastings. But such events will also educate shoppers for future purchases.



“I really don’t know what to expect,” Herren says.

Beer news

More beer news in the South Sound involves a shout-out from the Western Washington Fair, which will be staging its annual beer and wine competition in which home brewers and winemakers have the opportunity to showcase their creativity and hard work. Both beer and wine entries will be judged on a variety of factors, including methods used, body, flavor, color, and how well it fits its given category. All participants must have no affiliation, past or present, with a commercial winery or brewery. Go out and see what your neighbors are brewing in their bathrooms and back rooms. Some of these back room brewers are bubbling up some nice stuff.



For more information on the Fair, go to www.thefair.com.



The Parkway is hosting their 3rd Annual IPA Fest Saturday, Aug. 23, beginning at 2 p.m. Expect 24 IPAs, roasted pig, prime rib and a full patio. Drink it up at 313 N. I St. in Tacoma.