Restaurant, Va. ABC Disagree Over Beer Popsicles

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WHEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ran a story Tuesday questioning whether new beer popsicles served at Rustico in Alexandria were running afoul of Virginia's Alcoholic Beverage Control regulations, it made some waves online, and was quickly picked up by news outlets across the nation.

Wrote the AP, via WRC/NBC4:

... [T]he Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says the "beersicles" run afoul of rules governing the serving and pouring of beer.

Amber Pfau, a restaurant spokeswoman, told Express today that Rustico is "following the letter of the law" when it comes to the frozen treats. According to Pfau, the restaurant's legal counsel says that because Morales is keeping beer that is being used for cooking — in this case for the popsicles — separate from beer that being served at the bar, the "popsicles are an extension as a food item."

Here's the logic: If you're at an Irish pub in Alexandria, Virginia law would prohibit bartenders from taking Guinness from the tap, freezing it and serving it to customers on a stick. But if you're a restaurateur and take Belgian ale used for cooking, freeze it and serve it up as a treat, you're in the clear.

The Virginia ABC, however, put that idea on ice. Spokeswoman Kristy Smith said that Rustico's interpretation does not jibe with the commonwealth's regulations — and told us that the agency was planning to send an agent to the restaurant in the near future for an inspection.

Rustico's Pfau told us that the restaurant has sent the recipes for its now-renamed "hopsicles" off to ABC regulators, but that it has yet to hear back about what specifically its hopsicle-makers are doing wrong. Stay tuned.

» "Beer on a Stick: Refreshing And Illegal?" [AP via WRC/NBC4]

Photo by Dayna Smith/The Washington Post