Let’s head to a local taproom right here in Montana. We’ll introduce you to Mike, a solid bartender who takes his job seriously. It’s a Tuesday evening, steady but not crazy. A regular, let’s call him Dave, comes in after work.
Mike serves Dave a few beers over the course of an hour. They chat about the weather, the game, the usual stuff. Dave pays his tab, walks out to his truck, and heads home. It’s a short drive—three miles down a road Dave has driven nearly every day for 25 years.
But tonight, Dave drifts. Just a little. He crosses the white line and sideswipes a car parked along the curb.
It’s just property damage—metal on metal. Dave pulls over, and the police show up. They smell alcohol. The field sobriety test doesn’t go well. Dave ultimately gets a DUI.
The Question
As part of the investigation, the officer stops by the taproom. He knows Dave was there because Dave mentioned having a "couple of beers" after his shift. The officer walks up to the bar and speaks to Mike. He’s not aggressive; he’s just gathering facts for his report.
He looks Mike in the eye and asks this question:
"When you served him that last beer, on a scale of one to ten, about how intoxicated do you think he was?"
Stop right there.
Before we find out what Mike said, I want you to answer that question.
Think about the last person you served a drink to. If an officer asked you to rate their intoxication on a scale of one to ten at the moment of service, what number pops into your head?
Human nature makes us want to be helpful. We want to be honest. You might think, "Well, he had a few. He wasn't falling down drunk, but he certainly wasn't stone-cold sober."
So, maybe your gut instinct is to say: "He was probably a two. Maybe a three."
That sounds reasonable, right? A "two" implies he was mostly fine, just relaxed. It shows you were paying attention.
But if Mike answers "two," he has just made a critical mistake.
The Reality of "Zero"
In the world of Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service, words matter.
Here in Montana, it is illegal to sell, deliver, or give away alcohol to anyone who is actually, apparently, or obviously intoxicated. The law doesn't say you can serve someone who is "a little bit" intoxicated. It doesn't say you can serve someone who is "a two on a scale of ten."
If Mike tells the officer, "He was a two," Mike is effectively saying: "Officer, I knowingly served alcohol to a customer who was intoxicated."
If he was a one, he was intoxicated. If he was a five, he was intoxicated. If he was a ten, he was intoxicated.
If you serve the beer, the only correct answer to that question must be ZERO.
"He was a zero. He was not intoxicated when I served him that last beer."
Why? Because if Mike truly believed Dave was a "two"—if Mike saw any signs of impairment—his duty as a professional was to stop service immediately. By handing over that last beer, Mike made a professional judgment call that the customer was sober enough to be served.
The Power of Knowledge
his isn't about trying to outsmart the police or be difficult. It’s about understanding the weight of the responsibility we hold when we stand behind the bar or the counter.
The best way to protect yourself from ever having to worry about that question is to simply do the right thing.
When you understand the laws regarding alcohol sales in Montana, you stop guessing. You stop serving based on "feel" and start serving based on facts and observation. A professional server knows that if a customer is anywhere on that 1-to-10 scale, the only drink they should be serving is water.
You are a Professional!
Situations like this can be scary, but they are also preventable. The difference between a server who panics and a server who stands confident in their decisions is education.
That’s exactly what we focus on at Montana RASS Training. We don’t just help you check a box for your state certification; we give you the practical knowledge to handle real-world scenarios—from checking IDs to recognizing the subtle signs of intoxication before they become a liability.
Don’t wait for a "scale of one to ten" question to test your knowledge. Get certified, get confident, and keep Montana safe.