As in the rest of the United States, the drinking age is 21. Minnesota has an ingrained drinking culture that is prevalent even in rural areas. Bars and restaurants that serve liquor may do so until 2am, although not all do especially on Sunday through Thursday, and some municipalities may enforce an earlier closing time. Unlike most other states, you cannot buy alcohol in a grocery store or convenience store, unless it is "3.2 beer", which is a low-alcohol beer containing only 3.2% alcohol by weight 4% alcohol by volume. Some grocery stores don't even bother selling 3.2 beer even though they are allowed to, a testament to the state's rather prevalent drinking culture. If you want regular beer, wine, or liquor, but don't want to drink it at a restaurant or bar, then you must go to a liquor store. Although liquor stores are plentiful, they have uncommon hours that visitors should be aware of: First, liquor stores are closed on Sundays in accordance with the law, meaning that you cannot purchase any alcohol for home consumption on that day bars and restaurants can serve alcohol on Sundays. Also, liquor stores are generally required to close fairly early 10pm or earlier. Unlike some states, the bars here generally won't sell liquor "to go". This is less of a problem if you are near the border of a neighboring state with less restrictive liquor laws. Residents of the Twin Cities region have been known to make the short drive to Wisconsin on Sundays to purchase alcohol. Despite this puritanical approach to alcohol sales, even rural towns have a fairly active drinking culture the cliche of "more bars than churches". Identification is checked less often than in other states, though it happens more frequently in areas with a high amount of college students or tourists.
