Malt Liquor

The Zoning Board yesterday voted to halt the sale of beer and malt liquor at a take-out deli in West Philadelphia. William G. Schwartz, lawyer for the deli, the Purple Fox, on Baltimore Avenue near 48th Street in the Cedar Park neighborhood, said its owners would appeal the decision. Schwartz said the city's recent enforcement action against such delis appeared to be aimed primarily at Asian-owned shops. Thomas J. Lee, primary shareholder of the firm that owns the Purple Fox, is Asian.

"MINIMAL TASTE profile, minimal hopping, lacking in hop bouquet and threshold hop levels . . . " - Fred Eckhardt, The Essentials of Beer Style, 1989, describing style characteristics of malt liquor "Get your girl in the mood quicker, get your jimmy thicker, with St. Ides malt liquor. " - Ice Cube, Mix Tape, 1994, describing style characteristics of malt liquor   And there you have it: the grand dichotomy of beer. To some it's all about the flavor, to others it's nothing more than . . . um, a stiff drink.

Witnesses went before a state House committee yesterday and branded malt liquor as "liquid crack" that is wrecking the lives of young and old people and entire communities. The House Democratic Policy Committee was in City Hall conducting a hearing as part of its investigation into the sale and consumption of malt liquor in minority communities. Many of the witnesses agreed that African-American communities are targeted by companies that manufacture, advertise and distribute malt liquor.

Rodney Muhammad, the local Nation of Islam leader, last night announced a 40-day campaign against what he called the "40-ounce liquor scandal" plaguing inner-cities. "The '40' is the liquid crack," the minister told 100 people attending a community meeting at Muhammad's Mosque on North Broad Street. Muhammad said a new group called Citizen Reform Action Coalition would lead an effort to stop the sale of 40-ounce malt-liquor bottles in the neighborhood takeout stores known as stop-and-gos.

Minister Rodney Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam in Philadelphia, walked into Nino's Pizza at Germantown and Lehigh Avenues. "I want to give a letter to the proprietor. " He pushed a piece of paper through a Plexiglas shield, into the hands of a bewildered employee. Turning to leave, the minister spied about 20 customers. Nine had 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor. The bottles stood tall on tables, in plain sight, even for passersby glancing through the large windows.

A coalition of community activists yesterday demanded that a percentage of all sales of 40-ounce bottles and cans of fortified malt liquor, commonly called "40s," be used to pay for messages aimed at discouraging alcohol abuse and underage drinking by African Americans. Members of the Citizen Reform Action Committee (CRAC) urged manufacturers of "40s," which are big-sellers in predominantly black neighborhoods, to finance a media campaign in African American publications, radio and television stations.

Khim Lam was not aware of the malt-liquor wars until somebody slapped a big red Zoning Hearing Notice on the window of his Logan deli. Next thing Lam knew, he was being told he could no longer sell forties - 40-ounce bottles of high-octane brew potent enough to be called "liquid crack. " Mad Dog, Silver Thunder, St. Ides - these are the brews that threaten Philadelphia's neighborhoods. So says City Councilman James F. Kenney, who sponsored a set of laws recently that are being used to curb takeout sales of beer and malt liquor.

In its war on takeout beer delis, the city claimed another victory yesterday when owners of the Purple Fox Stop & Go were ordered to stop selling beer and malt liquor for takeout. The owners of the West Philadelphia takeout said they would seek a delay in the order. In the meantime, Agnes Dumas considers herself victorious. Dumas, who lives a few doors from the Purple Fox, is among the residents throughout Philadelphia who say their neighborhoods have been damaged when grocery stores and hoagie shops were turned into takeout delis that specialize in selling high-potency malt liquor and beer.

Ads for Colt 45 malt liquor that were wrapped around two SEPTA buses will be removed, the transit agency announced yesterday. SEPTA said it was getting rid of those ads in response to community concerns. On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Phila.) urged SEPTA to remove the Colt 45 ads, saying: "Given our rising epidemic of violence, your promotion of especially dangerous malt liquor is extraordinarily counterproductive. " Community activists have long decried the sale of malt liquor, which is similar to regular beer but has an alcohol content as high as 8 percent and often is sold in 40-ounce bottles.

Neighbors of certain delis that sell takeout beer and malt liquor will get to give their views on the stores, thanks to stepped up zoning enforcement by the city Department of Licenses and Inspections. "We have a lot of neighborhoods in this city where people are struggling to make a better life for themselves," said Bennett Levin, L&I commissioner. "They should have some input into what is put in their neighborhoods. " The zoning board is starting to schedule public hearings on certain delis, sometimes referred to as "stop 'n' go's" that have been cited by L&I, to bring them into compliance with the zoning code.

"MINIMAL TASTE profile, minimal hopping, lacking in hop bouquet and threshold hop levels . . . " - Fred Eckhardt, The Essentials of Beer Style, 1989, describing style characteristics of malt liquor "Get your girl in the mood quicker, get your jimmy thicker, with St. Ides malt liquor. " - Ice Cube, Mix Tape, 1994, describing style characteristics of malt liquor   And there you have it: the grand dichotomy of beer. To some it's all about the flavor, to others it's nothing more than . . . um, a stiff drink.

What has local doctors, legislators, and police cheering - and many young people mourning? Alcoholic energy drinks - nicknamed "blackout in a can" - are about to disappear. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters Wednesday to the manufacturers of alcoholic energy drinks telling them it is illegal to produce the beverages. Anticipating these developments, Phusion Projects, maker of the best-known brand, Four Loko, announced Tuesday that it was removing caffeine and the natural stimulants guarana and taurine, leaving potent malt-liquor beverages that taste more like fruit-flavored sodas than beer.

Among the ingredients of a teenage tragedy: a Mike's Hard Variety Pack of malt liquor, and a bottle of Southern Comfort. That's what police say a 22-year-old Chester County woman purchased for four Twin Valley High School students hours before the crash that killed two and injured the others. Jessica Lynn Copeland of Honey Brook Township was charged Wednesday with furnishing alcohol to minors and corruption of minors, said state police from the Embreeville barracks. The misdemeanor charges resulted from an investigation into a one-vehicle accident July 16 in Honey Brook Township.

Jeff Rosenblum, the owner of Jay's Pedal Power on Girard Avenue, has a graffiti-style ad painted on the wall next to his bike shop. It shows young people dancing in a party setting while they drink malt liquor. It features the Colt 45 slogan: "Works every time. " Rosenblum said he had reviewed the design beforehand and "personally did not see anything offensive. " But the city says ads like that one, placed by Pabst Brewing Co. around Fishtown and South Street, are illegal because they were put up without permission and wants them taken down.

Ads for Colt 45 malt liquor that were wrapped around two SEPTA buses will be removed, the transit agency announced yesterday. SEPTA said it was getting rid of those ads in response to community concerns. On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Phila.) urged SEPTA to remove the Colt 45 ads, saying: "Given our rising epidemic of violence, your promotion of especially dangerous malt liquor is extraordinarily counterproductive. " Community activists have long decried the sale of malt liquor, which is similar to regular beer but has an alcohol content as high as 8 percent and often is sold in 40-ounce bottles.

WE ALMOST feel sorry for SEPTA. For a brief and shining moment earlier this month, the long-term budget crisis appeared to be solved, and the transit authority was ready to face a new day. But within the past few days: _ U.S. Rep. Bob Brady has made a public call for SEPTA to get rid of "bus-wrap" ads for Colt 45 malt liquor. The city has filed a lawsuit against SEPTA to prevent it from eliminating transfers as scheduled on Aug. 1. These actions come just days after two Pennsylvania congressmen introduced an amendment that would put the brakes on Gov. Rendell's plan to toll I-80, which was to be the source of funding SEPTA and other bridge and highway repairs around the state.

TOO BAD Susannah Park is horrified about Chink's Steak Shop and its name. (article, Jan. 9) How about her and the Anti-Defamation League having a meeting about the killings of Asian merchants in the city? Susannah and the ADL have no lives and get upset at the wrong things. If I were Joe Groh, I'd say drop dead - and the people in the neighborhood would say hooray for you! Richie Rim, Philadelphia I grew up in Wissinoming, frequented Chink's Steaks and never once thought of its name as a slur.

Greg Spearman and his neighbors have stood like sentries for more than a year outside a store in their West Philadelphia neighborhood, shooing away anyone who tries to purchase beer, malt liquor or groceries. They want 55 Fortune at 55th Street and Larchwood Avenue closed because they say such stores, known as "stop-and-gos" because they sell take-out beer and malt liquor, attract people who drink outside, loiter, and commit crimes. "The only way to shut them down is by what we're doing," Spearman said.

Witnesses went before a state House committee yesterday and branded malt liquor as "liquid crack" that is wrecking the lives of young and old people and entire communities. The House Democratic Policy Committee was in City Hall conducting a hearing as part of its investigation into the sale and consumption of malt liquor in minority communities. Many of the witnesses agreed that African-American communities are targeted by companies that manufacture, advertise and distribute malt liquor.

A discrepancy that implicated another man in the 1997 stabbing death of 16-year-old Adam Suopys of Moorestown was revealed in a taped statement played yesterday during a pretrial hearing in Burlington County Superior Court. Patrick J. Free, 21, who is charged with murder, told investigators in the statement that a 25-year-old man who has not been charged with the killing had helped him stab and beat Suopys to death on New Year's Eve. "I stabbed him a couple times, and then I got up and we left," Free, in an even voice, told two Moorestown police detectives in the Jan. 9, 1998, statement, recorded about 12 hours after he was arrested.