This is how you play the game: Utah ax-throwing business gets beer license by adding pool tables

By.Kathy Stephenson

What does an ax-throwing business have to do to get a beer license around here?

Install three pool tables and some arcade games.After being denied a liquor license last month, the owners of Social Axe Throwing in Ogden added those games to their new business — and it was enough to qualify for a recreational beer license from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.Last month, the DABC commission denied the Social Axe’s beer license request — as well as a similar application from Salt Lake City’s Heart & Seoul Karaoke — saying the businesses did not qualify as recreational amenities under a new liquor law passed by the Utah Legislature.

The law lists specific businesses that can have recreational beer licenses. Bowling alleys, golf courses, pool halls, ski resorts and government-owned concert venues, for instance, made the list.

Karaoke and ax throwing did not.

Adding the pool tables and games appeased most of the liquor commission. It voted 6-1 on Tuesday to grant the license that allows the sale of beer that is 3.2 percent alcohol by weight (or 4 percent by volume).

Commissioner Thomas Jacobson offered the lone dissenting vote, saying the Social Axe was not complying with the spirit of the law and should change its signs to say it was a pool hall.

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