Group Wants Expanded Cold Beer Sales

A lobbying organization in Indiana wants to expand the availability of cold beer.The group Hoosiers for Beverage Choices has put petitions in Indiana convenience and grocery stores asking customers to support legislation that would allow those stores to sell refrigerated beer, which is currently limited to package liquor stores.HBC director Matt Norris acknowleges that his organization's sponsors would benefit from the expansion."The groups that support us: the Krogers, the Thorntons, the Speedways and their trade groups, they've heard their customers complain about Indiana's outdated alcohol laws and they want to make these changes to provide a better shopping experience for their consumers," he says.Norris says the petitions will be used to lobby for revised liquor laws in the 2010 Indiana General Assembly. He says the group has about 30 thousand signatures already.