# Can someone under 21 years old buy NA Beer?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 11, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584 "2007-12-11T03:51:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/1 "2007-12-11T03:51:23Z")
I always see it in the beer cooler, seperate from, but close to all the other brews. If it is a non-alcoholic beverage, can any one buy it?
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### Author:  [@brownsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownsfan)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/2 "2007-12-11T04:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=Booker57]
I always see it in the beer cooler, seperate from, but close to all the other brews. If it is a non-alcoholic beverage, can any one buy it?
[/QUOTE]
Having worked in a drive-thru in Ohio, the answer is here, anyway, no.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/3 "2007-12-11T04:01:59Z")
Disclaimer: YMWill_Definitely_V.
In Ontario, anyone over 19, I believe, may buy beer. I have seen non-alcoholic beer in grocery stores here. It’s not behind the counter, like the tobacco is, or in a separate sales area, like the wines or the drugs, so presumably anyone may buy it.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/4 "2007-12-11T04:28:24Z")
Quite correct. Here in Ontario you may buy beer if you are 19 or older.
I’m sure other countries have differing rules.
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/5 "2007-12-11T04:28:46Z")
In Wisconsin the answer is yes, a person under 21 can buy/consume NA beer.
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### Author:  [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/6 "2007-12-11T04:30:00Z")
In CA under 21 cannot buy NA beer. I tried at RenFaire years ago and my mug and handful of shiny Sackies were turned away. Being 19 and female and at RenFaire though I managed to get actual beer elsewhere…
ETA: the process of removing the alcohol from the beer leaves a trace amount. So while it is NA in the sense that you won’t get a buzz off of it, it still does contain alcohol so it’s still illegal for minors in some jurisdictions.
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/7 "2007-12-11T04:48:23Z")
[QUOTE=brownsfan]
Having worked in a drive-thru in Ohio, the answer is here, anyway, no.
[/QUOTE]
[THIS](http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4301.22) is interseting:
\*
(2) No low-alcohol beverage shall be sold to any person under eighteen years of age. No permit issued by the division shall be suspended, revoked, or canceled because of a violation of division (A)(2) of this section.\*
What is considered “low alcohol”? There are low alcohol beers, but they are not considered “non-alcoholic”. Does this statute mean an 18 year old in Ohio can have [Heilemans Old Style L.A. Gold](http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/heilemans-old-style-la-gold/26180/) which, at 2.16% _is_ low alcohol, but above what is considered non-alcoholic?
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
In CA under 21 cannot buy NA beer.
[/QUOTE]
Just because someone wouldn’t sell it to you does not mean it’s the law. According to [THIS](http://www.bartendergirl.com/gar_state.htm) cite:
_Formally there are no laws regulating the sale of non-alcohol brew or non-alcohol wine to minors; however, California authorities strongly recommend establishments not make those sales. The beverage is not considered to be an alcoholic beverage if it contains less than one-half of 1% alcohol by volume._
The authorities can “recommend” all they want, but it’s actual statutory law that matters.
[QUOTE=pkbites]
In Wisconsin the answer is yes, a person under 21 can buy/consume NA beer.
[/QUOTE]
[HERE](http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/statepatrol/enforcement/faqs-enforcement.htm)
is a cite to back me up.
\*\*
May juveniles drink non-alcoholic beer?\*\*
\*Yes. For a drink to be considered alcoholic, it has to contain 0.5% or more of alcohol by volume. The amount of alcohol in non-alcoholic beer is so minimal that a person would have to drink a huge amount before this would register on a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT).
\*
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### Author:  [@brownsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownsfan)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/8 "2007-12-11T05:08:49Z")
Quote:
Originally Posted by brownsfan
Having worked in a drive-thru in Ohio, the answer is here, anyway, no.
\*THIS is interseting:
(2) No low-alcohol beverage shall be sold to any person under eighteen years of age. No permit issued by the division shall be suspended, revoked, or canceled because of a violation of division (A)(2) of this section.\*
I stand corrected. I guess my boss was ignorant of the statute and just covering his ass. Just a guess.
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### Author:  [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/9 "2007-12-11T05:11:23Z")
Huh. Well, at least the proprietor choosing not to sell it to me saved me from St. Pauli Girl near-beer. 😛
I guess it must be too hard to tell who is drinking what in these cases…
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/10 "2007-12-11T05:21:58Z")
[QUOTE=brownsfan]
(2) No low-alcohol beverage shall be sold to any person under eighteen years of age. No permit issued by the division shall be suspended, revoked, or canceled because of a violation of division (A)(2) of this section.\*
I stand corrected. I guess my boss was ignorant of the statute and just covering his ass. Just a guess.
[/QUOTE]
I couldn’t find what Ohios definition of “low alcohol” was, nor Ohios definition of “non-alcoholic”, nor could I determine if ohio considers those terms one in the same.
Either way, I can easily imagine a vendor not caring what the law is and opting to err on the side of caution.
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### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/11 "2007-12-11T10:34:46Z")
Given that you can buy Non-Alcoholic Beer in the supermarket here, I think it’s safe to say that people under 18 can purchase it.
Having said that, I’ve never seen _anyone_- regardless of age- ever buy or drink the stuff. I worked Nightfill for several months, and not once did I have to replenish a single can of Non-Alcoholic Beer on the shelves. YRMW, of course.
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### Author:  [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/12 "2007-12-11T11:38:44Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield]
Given that you can buy Non-Alcoholic Beer in the supermarket here, I think it’s safe to say that people under 18 can purchase it.
[/QUOTE]
Of course, in many places in the US (Ohio is one of them), you can purchase full alcoholic beer, wine, and even low alcohol spirits (Kahlua, etc.) at the grocery store.
Every time I go to Pennsylvania, I get frustrated since you have to buy beer at a beer store and wine and liquor at a separate store. Oh, and if you buy beer at a beer store, it’s 24 bottles or nothing…if you want a six pack, you have to go to a bar.
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### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/13 "2007-12-11T11:49:31Z")
[QUOTE=Jman]
Of course, in many places in the US (Ohio is one of them), you can purchase full alcoholic beer, wine, and even low alcohol spirits (Kahlua, etc.) at the grocery store.
[/QUOTE]
Not in Queensland- you want alcohol, go to a bottle shop. Even the pub can’t sell you alcohol for off-premises consumption.
They don’t allow alcohol sales in the supermarket here for the very sensible reason that your average weekend check-out chick (typically being in the 14-17 age group) isn’t going to be asking her friends for ID, and the check out staff during the week have quite enough to put up with without getting abused by people in the 18-25 age group who decided to duck down to Coles to get a six-pack and forgot to bring their photo ID.
In NSW they often have bottle shops attached to the supermarket in a separate area, though, and NZ allows alcohol sales in the supermarket, too…
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### Author:  [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/14 "2007-12-11T14:04:40Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield]
Not in Queensland- you want alcohol, go to a bottle shop. Even the pub can’t sell you alcohol for off-premises consumption.
They don’t allow alcohol sales in the supermarket here for the very sensible reason that your average weekend check-out chick (typically being in the 14-17 age group) isn’t going to be asking her friends for ID, and the check out staff during the week have quite enough to put up with without getting abused by people in the 18-25 age group who decided to duck down to Coles to get a six-pack and forgot to bring their photo ID.
In NSW they often have bottle shops attached to the supermarket in a separate area, though, and NZ allows alcohol sales in the supermarket, too…
[/QUOTE]
That’s crazy. I’ve bought pure grain alcohol (Everclear) in the grocery store. And to be a cashier at a grocery store you have to be 18 years old, too. To sell alcohol at all, as a waiter, cashier, etc, you have to be 18.
I think its hilarious though, that you can’t buy nicotine patches or gum in most places in the US without ID. When I used to get carded for patches when I quit smoking, I’d always ask the cashier “So, its against the law to quit smoking if you’re under 18, huh?”
What the hell, the US is nuts about it all. I can’t buy glue at Wal-Mart without an ID to prove I’m over 17 or something. That’s probably just Wal-Mart, though, not the law.
Sorry for the hijack.
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### Author:  [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/15 "2007-12-11T14:59:16Z")
[QUOTE=pkbites]
For a drink to be considered alcoholic, it has to contain 0.5% or more of alcohol by volume. The amount of alcohol in non-alcoholic beer is so minimal that a person would have to drink a huge amount before this would register on a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT).
[/QUOTE]
The UK operates on a similar basis, so there would be no problem with a ten-year old buying a case of Kaliber, for example. The reason no-one does, of course, is that few under-18s buy alcohol for the taste - they just want to get drunk. No/low alcohol beer is aimed at adults who like the taste of beer but do not/cannot drink alcohol.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/16 "2007-12-11T15:00:55Z")
Along these lines, be careful taking NA beer to your job. A senior level manager at my company brought in coolers of NA beer for folks to have for his 50th birthday, and got busted hard over it because the company 1) decided to meet the strict letter of its rules on alcohol on the premises, and 2) someone didn’t like him and made a fuss about it.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/17 "2007-12-11T15:33:07Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield]
Given that you can buy Non-Alcoholic Beer in the supermarket here, I think it’s safe to say that people under 18 can purchase it.
[/QUOTE]
When I was a young 'un, I could not buy the things that were stocked on the left hand side of the store and in the computer under “liquor” - that meant no near-beer, no sparkling, non-alcoholic cider, and no sparkling grape juice. On the other hand, I could buy a bottle of Listerine ([54 Proof](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050204.html)), NyQuil (50 Proof) and vanilla extract (70 proof), because those weren’t sold in the booze section.
There aren’t enough roll-eyes in the world.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/18 "2007-12-11T15:35:17Z")
[QUOTE=DrCube]
…I think its hilarious though, that you can’t buy nicotine patches or gum in most places in the US without ID. When I used to get carded for patches when I quit smoking, I’d always ask the cashier “So, its against the law to quit smoking if you’re under 18, huh?”…
[/QUOTE]
Can’t minors still by nicotine patchs/gum if they have a prescription? 😕 Anyway I definatly agree about managment airing on the side of caution no matter what the law actually says. I once worked in a supermarket where our SM decided to have the registers prompt for ID for cider and grape juice that was in “glass bottles” because they “look like they could be alcoholic”. Of course being in Pennyslvania we sold no actual booze so there was zero chance of them being confused with wine or hard cider :smack: . That didn’t last long.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/19 "2007-12-11T16:02:07Z")
[QUOTE=DrCube]
I can’t buy glue at Wal-Mart without an ID to prove I’m over 17 or something. That’s probably just Wal-Mart, though, not the law.
[/QUOTE]
Wow. I’ve never heard of that.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-under-21-years-old-buy-na-beer/429584/20 "2007-12-11T16:47:36Z")
[QUOTE=DrCube]
That’s crazy. I’ve bought pure grain alcohol (Everclear) in the grocery store. And to be a cashier at a grocery store you have to be 18 years old, too. To sell alcohol at all, as a waiter, cashier, etc, you have to be 18.
I think its hilarious though, that you can’t buy nicotine patches or gum in most places in the US without ID. When I used to get carded for patches when I quit smoking, I’d always ask the cashier “So, its against the law to quit smoking if you’re under 18, huh?”
What the hell, the US is nuts about it all. I can’t buy glue at Wal-Mart without an ID to prove I’m over 17 or something. That’s probably just Wal-Mart, though, not the law.
Sorry for the hijack.
[/QUOTE]
Glue? Huh?
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