Boston’s liquor stores face changing alcohol policies

This is the second in a four-part series about how students affect various aspects of Boston’s economy.

Alcohol providers across the Hub have witnessed drastic changes to the city’s alcohol policy, mostly with regard to underage drinkers. With the semester winding down, bar and liquor store owners and employees told The Daily Free Press about their businesses’ policies, prices and patrons as they adapt to the changing legal climate.

T’s Pub manager Stephen DiMarco said it is important to have the reputation that underage students will not be allowed in.

“People know we don’t tolerate underage drinkers, so they don’t even try,” DiMarco said. “We screen well and have a lot of repeat clientele.”

While many bar managers said students are helpful to their business, they explained that because many undergraduate students are younger than 21, they don’t rely primarily on undergraduates for business.

DiMarco said that at T’s, which is located on the Boston University campus, he relies on older patrons for consistent business.

“You have to be 21 to get in, and that’s not a large percentage of the student population,” DiMarco said.

Although Bill Lyons, general manager of Boston Beer Works on Brookline Avenue, said although he does not rely on college students for business, many young people from various colleges and universities in the area come to the bar.

“The proximity to all of the college absolutely helps us,” Lyons said. “We get a lot of recent graduates as well as grad students.”

However, the student population can also lead to rowdiness in bars. Robin Greenstan, manager of Pour House on Boylston Street, said that because 60 to 70 percent of their business comes from students, they have had problems with people getting too drunk.

“Our bar is more low-key, but we have definitely had problems with people getting out of hand,” Greenstan said. “Generally though, it’s actually easier to deal with youth because they are used to getting kicked out of bars. Older drunk people are more likely to fight with you.”

THE COST OF A GOOD DRINK

Students agreed that drinking in Boston can be very expensive, so they tend to pick bars with special deals to avoid spending a lot of money.

“The Avenue in Allston is great, because they have dollar draughts and 20-cent wings,” Emmanuel College sophomore Xiao-Wen Mak said.

Mak, who said he spends an average of $70 a night when he goes to bars, explained that he has started using Barfrog.com to save money.

“Barfrog is a great website that offers deals at a lot of the local bars,” Mak said. “They sent out emails about specials and open bars at places like Kells and the Foggy Goggle, so we go there a lot.”

School of Management junior Hilary Junk said she sets a budget for herself before she goes out.

“I try not to spend more than $20 a night,” Junk said. “It can get really expensive.”

College of Communication junior Danny Hayes agreed, saying he chooses cheaper bars in Allston.

“In my hometown, its 90 cents for a beer and 2 dollars for a mixed drink,” Hayes said. “Boston is obviously nowhere near that cheap, and you have to work harder to find the best deals possible.”

Hayes said to avoid spending too much money, he often drinks before going to the bars.

“I’ll drink before I go out, and then I’ll usually have a mixed drink and some beer at the bar,” Hayes said. “Drinking in Boston is an art. You have to plan so you don’t go broke.”

SETTING THE BAR

A new regulation passed by the city’s Licensing Board in October requires liquor store owners to provide the names and addresses of all keg buyers to the Boston Police Department on the day of purchase. The controversial new measure has led police to more closely monitor more off-campus student parties involving kegs.

Liquor stores agree that the new keg registration has made it easier to deal with students purchasing kegs.

“It really prevents the middle step of the police coming back to us for information if there is a problem,” said Christina Pertillo, a manager at Liquor Land on Harrison Avenue. “Handing over the information first allows our involvement to end as soon as we sell the keg.”

Pertillo explained that in the past, liquor storeowners kept records of keg purchasers, but only provided police with the information if it was requested.

Other liquor stores refuse to sell kegs at all so they can avoid the hassle of tracking keg buyers. Brookline Liquor Mart owner Lisa Miller Ryan said she does not readily provide kegs to students.

“We only special order kegs for corporations or adults that we know,” Ryan said. “It’s much easier for us to not sell them to just anyone.”

Liquor stores said the biggest problem they have is with underage students attempting to use fake IDs. Most have implemented strict policies to keep underage students from buying alcohol.

“Underage kids attempt to buy alcohol as often as they can,” Ryan said. “If they are with friends, we card everyone who comes to the register.”

Ryan said that bigger items like beer balls, which are popular with students, require even more screening.

“We will follow them out to the parking lot to make sure there are not underage kids waiting,” she said. “We have caught a lot of people that way and offer to give them a refund.”

Boston bars also have strict policies to deal with the large student population. Lyons of Boston Beer Works said he requires the staff to go through TIP certification classes that teach bouncers and wait staff what to look for when checking IDs.

“Everyone is TIP certified, so we don’t have too many problems with people using fake IDs because we know what to look for,” Lyons said. “Because we’ve been around for 14 years, our clients know this, and we aren’t a place underage kids would think about trying to get served at.”