After four straight years of battles in the legislature over the sale of full-strength beer in convenience stores and grocery stores, the drums — or perhaps that should be kegs — of war are unusually quiet in 2012.

Two bills that would have allowed convenience stores to sell full- strength beer last year died in the legislature, the fourth year in a row such efforts have failed. And it doesn’t help that Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has indicated it’s unlikely he would ever sign such a bill.

No bills dealing with beer were filed on the first day of the session Wed nesday, though there are no guarantees the issue won’t arise.

“I’m not prepared to say yes or no,” Jason Hopfer, a lobbyist for convenience stores, said when asked whether a bill was likely. “We’re still looking at our options on that.”

Officials with King Soopers flatly said they would not be involved in the issue this year.

“The legislature has a lot of issues this year, and it’s probably not a year for us to bring this about,” said Kelli McGannon, director of public affairs and government relations for King Soopers.

Sean Duffy, a spokesman for Safe way stores, said there were ideas being talked about but “no consensus yet on what that vehicle might be.”

Lawmakers who have been involved in the ongoing melee, which has drawn in convenience stores and grocery stores on one side and liquor stores and craft brewers on the other, are weary of the topic.

“It’s not in my plan to carry a beer bill this year or to wade into that whole mess,” said Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, who carried a bill last year that would have allowed convenience stores to sell full-strength beer.

Boyd killed her bill last year after it was clear that the limited support for it in the Senate had eroded.

Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, who carried a House bill last year to allow convenience stores and grocers to sell full-strength beer, said he had no plans to sponsor legislation on the topic.

“I have not really heard from anybody,” said Liston, whose bill was trounced on the House floor last year, the first year such a bill had ever made it to the floor of either chamber.

Under Colorado law, only liquor stores and restaurants may sell full- strength beer. Convenience stores and grocery stores may sell only low-alcohol beer, less than 4 percent alcohol by volume or 3.2 percent by weight.

After a 2008 law that allowed liquor stores to sell beer on Sundays, convenience stores complained that their Sunday beer sales had been cut into. They tried even harder to get a law passed allowing them full-strength beer sales.

Craft brewers, who have a special relationship with Hickenlooper, a former brewpub owner, oppose allowing convenience stores and grocery stores to sell full-strength beer. Small brewers personally market their beers to individually owned liquor stores in small amounts, something they say would not happen if corporate-owned grocery stores and convenience stores controlled shelf space for their products.

Consumers would ultimately lose variety, and locally owned breweries and liquor stores would suffer, opponents of expanded sales argue.

Jeanne McEvoy, president of the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association, which represents liquor stores, hoped the issue was done.

“I think last year’s overwhelming defeat showed the legislature how much Coloradans support small-business owners and local craft beer,” McEvoy said, “so who would want to do that again?”

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com