“Theme” Drinking at Penn State – Students Buy “Hurricane” Malt Liquor

Posted in General,Penn State on January 12, 2015

As a Penn State alum and member of a fraternity, I have been around many people that didn’t really need an excuse to drink.  Some Penn State students chose to give tribute to Hurricane Sandy after afternoon classes were canceled.  On Monday, State College 6-pack shops noticed a surge of  sales on Hurricane brand malt liquor.  While a regular day’s sales were one case, meaning 12 of the 40 ounces bottles of beer, by 3:30 p.m. on Monday, the shop had sold 11 cases, or 120 more bottles than normal.

After noticing that theme-related alcohol resulted in increased sales by Penn State students, the bar manager stated that she was considering a Hurricane-themed mixed drink feature today.  Capitalism at its best.

Speciality Drinks At State College Bars

Many State College bars are known by Penn State students for their specialty mixed drinks specials.  Regretfully, the State College police running DUI patrols around the Penn State campus are also aware of the specialty drinks, and the police know approximatley how much alcohol is contained in the drinks.  During a DUI traffic stop, the police often question the  DUI suspect about how much alcohol was consumed and where. Miranda warnings, meaning the right to remain silent, are not applicable during the initial DUI investigation.  This means that admissions about alcohol consumption are admissible.

When a DUI suspect tells the State College police officer the name of the bar where the alcohol was consumed, the officer correctly guesses the type of specialty drink that was consumed.  However, in being a State College DUI defense lawyer since 2004, I believe that most DUI suspects lie about the number of drinks consumed.  In the DUI cases that I have reviewed, the majority of people claim to only having consumed 2 drinks.