The state of Missouri is ready to define beer like the rest of the country.
The House has approved a bill that adopts the federal definition for beer as part of a measure that would allow students attending one of the 28 university or college and culinary arts programs in the state to taste wine as long as they don’t swallow it.
Rep. Bob Johnson, R-Lee’s Summit, said knowing about different types of wines is important for students learning about food preparation so they can learn to combine dishes with the right type of wine – a lesson best learned through actual tasting.
Students 18 and older would be allowed to sip the wine as long as they spit it out afterward. Apparently no mention was made of cooking with beer.
The new definitions of beer tacked onto the bill would remove state provisions that define the beverage as an “intoxicating malt liquor” made of “pure hops, or pure extract of hops, or pure barley malt, or other wholesome grains or cereals, or wholesome yeast and pure water.”
The new definition would require beer to be brewed from “malt or malt substitute, which only includes rice, grain of any kind, bean, glucose, sugar and molasses.” It would allow “honey, fruit, fruit juices, fruit concentrate, herbs, spices, and other food materials” to also be included for taste.
