The Little-Known Indiana Law Behind The Lack Of Cold Soda In Its Liquor Stores

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If you've ever stepped into an Indiana liquor store looking for a cold drink, you may have left empty-handed. While you can certainly snag a chilled beer, refrigerated alcohol-free beverages won't be available. This inconvenience is actually due to Indiana law, which does not permit liquor stores to sell beverages like sodas and mineral water cold.

Offering the drinks at room temperature is a different matter. The Indiana Code Title 7.1. Alcohol and Tobacco § 7.1-3-10-5 states that liquor stores are permitted to sell "Uncooled and uniced charged water, carbonated soda, ginger ale, mineral water, grenadine, and flavoring extracts." The one exception to this is that these businesses can sell non-alcoholic malt beverages. It might seem odd that you wouldn't even be able to get a cold Coke to use as a mixer for a drink, but the purpose of this law is to avoid competition with corner stores.

According to Indiana Public Media, there are 1,000 liquor stores in the state. If they stocked cold sodas and water, this would take away potential business from grocery and corner stores. There's a fair flipside to this law, too: Grocery stores and corner stores cannot sell cold beers, only room-temperature ones. So if you want a nice, chilled Zombie Dust (the cult-favorite beer of Indiana), head to the liquor store. To hydrate with a cold sparkling water, you'll need to make an extra stop.

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Indiana sets itself apart in the world of odd food and beverage laws as the only state to regulate sales of alcohol by temperature. However, there is a middle ground for grocery stores, convenience stores, and liquor stores. Chilled wine remains the one cold alcohol that all can sell (as long as they have the license to do so).

Additionally, the popularity of seltzers and canned cocktail drinks has created somewhat of a grey area. Indiana law does not explicitly ban grocers or convenience stores from selling these types of drinks, so you can indeed find your favorite seltzers like White Claw and Truly in the refrigerated section at the supermarket. This is true for stronger drinks, too, such as canned pre-made margaritas or Moscow mules. In 2023, there was a legislative push to ban grocers and convenience stores from selling these types of alcoholic beverage cold, but lawmakers did not move forward with it.