I sent this email to the Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh, Pa..

My wife and I, my daughters, my son-in-laws have been coming to the Penn
Brewery for many years. In fact, my older daughter had her wedding rehersal
dinner at the Penn Brewery.
My wife has been advised to eliminate alcoholic beverages from her diet. Since
you do not serve an NA beer, could she possibly bring a couple bottles of an NA
beer with her when we come to the Brewery?
************************************************** ****I received this reply:
We'll take your suggestion under consideration but do not permit customers to
bring their own beverages into the restaurant. We do serve a number of juices,
soft drinks, tea, coffee, iced tea. Thanks for your support of our restaurant
through the years.
____Reply Separator_____

I've been to restaurants that allow diabetics and patrons with other medical
problems to bring their own condiments, salad dressings, etc.. I would think
that drinking an NA beer on a doctor's advice would fall into this category.
BTW, the NA beer would be Clausthaler, not the O'Doulle's crap that most all
restaurants and bars serve.

"TOM KAN PA" > wrote in message
> I sent this email to the Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh, Pa..
>
> My wife and I, my daughters, my son-in-laws have been coming to the Penn
> Brewery for many years. In fact, my older daughter had her wedding
rehersal
> dinner at the Penn Brewery.
> My wife has been advised to eliminate alcoholic beverages from her diet.
Since
> you do not serve an NA beer, could she possibly bring a couple bottles of
an NA
> beer with her when we come to the Brewery?
> ************************************************** ****I received this
reply:
> We'll take your suggestion under consideration but do not permit customers
to
> bring their own beverages into the restaurant. We do serve a number of
juices,
> soft drinks, tea, coffee, iced tea. Thanks for your support of our
restaurant
> through the years.
> ____Reply Separator_____
>
> I've been to restaurants that allow diabetics and patrons with other
medical
> problems to bring their own condiments, salad dressings, etc.. I would
think
> that drinking an NA beer on a doctor's advice would fall into this
category.
> BTW, the NA beer would be Clausthaler, not the O'Doulle's crap that most
all
> restaurants and bars serve.

I dunno, Tom. Not sure what the PA laws are on serving NA beer in licensed
establishments, because PA is weird about NA: although it is non-alcoholic,
for instance, you can't drink it if you're underage. It's regulated by the
PA Dept. of Agriculture...I think. It's a real gray area, and they may be
concerned about possible problems with their license if they allow it to
come in without having purchsed it themselves. When you start messing with
liquor laws -- or in this case, almost liquor laws! -- you run into real
weird stuff. Given the extremely arbitrary nature of PLCB enforcement
agents, they may just be really nervous. Not sure.

--
Lew Bryson

www.LewBryson.com
Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both
available at <www.amazon.com>
The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it,
or respond to it. Spam away.

TOM KAN PA > wrote:
>I sent this email to the Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh, Pa..

[...]

>************************************************* *****I received this reply:
>We'll take your suggestion under consideration but do not permit customers to
>bring their own beverages into the restaurant. We do serve a number of juices,
>soft drinks, tea, coffee, iced tea. Thanks for your support of our restaurant
>through the years.
>____Reply Separator_____
>
>I've been to restaurants that allow diabetics and patrons with other medical
>problems to bring their own condiments, salad dressings, etc.. I would think
>that drinking an NA beer on a doctor's advice would fall into this category.
>BTW, the NA beer would be Clausthaler, not the O'Doulle's crap that most all
>restaurants and bars serve.

Well, I think you're being a bit disingenuous. After all,
the doctor didn't say she had to drink non-alcoholic[*] beer,
just that she shouldn't drink alcoholic beverages. It's not as
if the restaurant doesn't offer alternatives, as they point out.
Absent a specific medical need, it'd be like bringing a
particularly lean steak into a restaurant because the doctor
said you should cutr down you fat consumption-- most any
restaurant would have low-fat alternatives, and would
correct in refusing to allow food brought in.
--
Joel Plutchak <plutchak@[...]>
Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots

"Resorting to personal harassment is a tactic of desperation."

plutchak joel peter > wrote:
>TOM KAN PA > wrote:

[...non-alcoholic beer...]

>the doctor didn't say she had to drink non-alcoholic[*] beer

Whoopsie, forgot the footnote:
[*] Many so-called non-alcoholic beers do in fact contain
alcohol. Caveat emptor.
--
Joel Plutchak <plutchak@[...]>
Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots

"Resorting to personal harassment is a tactic of desperation."

TOM KAN PA wrote:

> I sent this email to the Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh, Pa..
>
> My wife and I, my daughters, my son-in-laws have been coming to the Penn
> Brewery for many years. In fact, my older daughter had her wedding rehersal
> dinner at the Penn Brewery.
> My wife has been advised to eliminate alcoholic beverages from her diet. Since
> you do not serve an NA beer, could she possibly bring a couple bottles of an NA
> beer with her when we come to the Brewery?

Is there a part of "eliminate alcoholic beverages" that eludes both you
and the missus? Hint: so-called "NA" beers are not completely bereft
of alcohol. They can contain up to 0.5%. Penn Brewery offers plenty of
beverages containing *no* alcohol.

> ************************************************** ****I received this reply:
> We'll take your suggestion under consideration but do not permit customers to
> bring their own beverages into the restaurant. We do serve a number of juices,
> soft drinks, tea, coffee, iced tea. Thanks for your support of our restaurant
> through the years.
> ____Reply Separator_____
>
> I've been to restaurants that allow diabetics and patrons with other medical
> problems to bring their own condiments, salad dressings, etc..

That's because the restaurant offers no alternative to their in-house
dressings and condiments. False comparison. Penn Brewery offers non-
alcoholic drinks - not "NA" beers, but real non-alcoholic drinks, like,
y'know, your frau is s'posed-ta drink and stuff.

> I would think
> that drinking an NA beer on a doctor's advice would fall into this category.
> BTW, the NA beer would be Clausthaler, not the O'Doulle's crap that most all
> restaurants and bars serve.

Right, because the particular brand of NA drink is of vital importance
here. The way I see it, you have two alternatives he order a nice
refreshing soft drink, juice, ice tea, or soda water for your missus at
Penn Brewery, or take your business elsewhere if you're dissatisfied
with their selection or their service.
--
DGS

"dgs" > wrote...
> That's because the restaurant offers no alternative to their in-house
> dressings and condiments. False comparison. Penn Brewery offers non-
> alcoholic drinks - not "NA" beers, but real non-alcoholic drinks, like,
> y'know, your frau is s'posed-ta drink and stuff.

*rolling eyes right out of the back of her head*

I double-dog-dare you to tell your "frau" what she's supposed to drink, and
see what that gets you.

fr0glet

On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 23:43:20 -0700, "fr0glet"
> wrote:

>"dgs" > wrote...
>> That's because the restaurant offers no alternative to their in-house
>> dressings and condiments. False comparison. Penn Brewery offers non-
>> alcoholic drinks - not "NA" beers, but real non-alcoholic drinks, like,
>> y'know, your frau is s'posed-ta drink and stuff.
>
>*rolling eyes right out of the back of her head*
>
>I double-dog-dare you to tell your "frau" what she's supposed to drink, and
>see what that gets you.

If SWMBO was under doctor's orders to avoid alcohol, you'd bet she'd
live with a gentle reminder from me. And with patience and
encouragement from me, she's broadened her flavor preferences
quite a bit - at one time, she didn't like authentic old-style sour
lambics, preferring the sweet stuff. She came around eventually.
Hey, she's got good taste on her own - porters and stouts, y'know?
--

Nobody You Know

I'm on your side, Tom (somebody has to be). I think its ridiculous
that they won't honor your request. It seems reasonable to me. I think
its good that they replied, and they did say they'd consider it, so
maybe bring it up in person to the manager or someone the next time
your there.

Some places have just too d**n many petty rules!

On 2 Oct 2003, TOM KAN PA wrote:

> I've been to restaurants that allow diabetics and patrons with other medical
> problems to bring their own condiments, salad dressings, etc.. I would think
> that drinking an NA beer on a doctor's advice would fall into this category.
> BTW, the NA beer would be Clausthaler, not the O'Doulle's crap that most all
> restaurants and bars serve.

Pennsylvania liquor laws are etremely arcane and convoluted. Penn Brewery
is probably erring on the side of caution by not allowing anyone to bring
in their own beverages. And in Pennsylvaina NA beer is considered an
alcoholic beverage, even though the amount of alcohol is minute.