Alabama house passes Beer Law

on to the senate now..

the law would allow the sell of beers up to 13.9% ABV.

Good news, maybe there's a bit in the bill to allow homebrewing...

Congratulations, and good luck to all Alabamians (Alabamites?) on getting this bill passed by the senate and signed by the governor.

alabamii

think our current level is about 6% or less.. maybe even 5%

Current law is 6% abv or less. Many of the available, fairly decent beers are listed as 5.9% like Sweerwater IPA & Winterhook.

"What's wrong with the beer that we got? It drink pretty good!"

http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2008/03/it-drink-pretty-good-dont-it.html

Its wonderful when people that ignorant get in positions of power in any form of government. If you can't form a coherent sentence then you shouldn't be allowed to vote on bills that affect people's lives much more so than what beer kinds or beer are sold.

That's just sad. I'm actually a bit sad about the kind of person who would say that kind of thing and the position they have in our government.

And as an answer to him, I would have plenty to say about what is wrong with the beers we got. Presenting exhibit "A" wherein this is a chart showing the colors of different beers. This long list of beers we got on the yellow end represents the beers we got. The whole rest of the spectrum is the beers we don't got. Let's move on from color to taste...

Now if we can just get Ohio to go over 12% abv.....

We're all slowly getting out of the dark ages....

janzik said:

"What's wrong with the beer that we got? It drink pretty good!"

Seen Through a Glass: "It Drink Pretty Good, Don't It?"

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Note to self.

Stay the hell out of Alabama.

janzik said:

"What's wrong with the beer that we got? It drink pretty good!"

Seen Through a Glass: "It Drink Pretty Good, Don't It?"

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Oh, when will those crazy Germans with their Mercedes realize that the beer we got drank pretty good?

llazy_llama said:

Oh, when will those crazy Germans with their Mercedes realize that the beer we got drank pretty good?

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Oddly enough, there is a Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa and there are a good number of Germans there.

Austin_LSU said:

Oddly enough, there is a Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa and there are a good number of Germans there.

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And you know Germans make great products!!!

Austin_LSU said:

Oddly enough, there is a Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa and there are a good number of Germans there.

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Of course there aren't a whole lot of widely consumed beers in Germany that exceed 6% ABV. The relatively few that are higher than that are mostly Bockbiere from Bavaria. I'd guess that 95% of beer consumed in Germany is within 0.5% of 4.8 ABV (excluding nonalcoholic beer and Biermischgetraenke).

janzik said:

"What's wrong with the beer that we got? It drink pretty good!"

Seen Through a Glass: "It Drink Pretty Good, Don't It?"

Click to expand...

You have to understand that us southerners speak differently when we're talking to our own kind. Not that I'm defending his point of view or anything, but don't jump to the conclusion that someone can't form a coherent thought just because he's speaking a foreign dialect.

There is a whole lot of that "it drink pretty good don't it ?" comment that is bound to be lost on someone who's not from here.

Anyway, I expect that they will pass it. If I'm not mistaken a similar measure in the last legislature passed the senate but failed to pass the house. And the governor has already said he'd sign it. I'm looking forward to having some better choices of beers when we go out to eat and having access to somethings that I've wanted to try for a long time but only get the opportunity to try them when we travel.

ps

Right on with your signature - lol Can I join ? People should have some balls and be men instead of letting the ladies run the show.

Pell City huh? wow.. lol.. bout 1/2 an hour from here... (trussville)

That was incredibly funny, but also incredibly crappy for residents of Alabama. How in the name of fook did a uneducated arsehole like that ever get elected? His grammar is worse than that of some grade 1 students I know.

Is that a Wolfenstein 3-D character I spy in your avatar, Chupacabras?

Chupacabras said:

That was incredibly funny, but also incredibly crappy for residents of Alabama. How in the name of fook did a uneducated arsehole like that ever get elected? His grammar is worse than that of some grade 1 students I know.

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It's called gerrymeandering. Drawing a political district around political/racial/other lines. Parts of Alabama are close to third world economies (the Black Belt region). They are old agricultural areas that haven't caught up to the rest of the state.

Congrats Alabama residents, hopefully it will pass in the Senate. Good luck the rest of the way.

Yes, um good luck. I find it incredible that the Land of the Free ... has such a limited view of what free means. But no country's perfect, it just seems that brewing/etc should be one of those unalienable rights kinda like how no ones gonna tell you that you aren't allowed to cook your own food.

Senate is supposed to vote today......

stevenryals said:

Senate is supposed to vote today......

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If this passes the Senate there will be something to celebrate at On Tap tonight.

surely!! then it's got to go through gov Riley...

looking at the numbers, it should pass the senate.. the Free The Hops foundation shows the #'s of seantors who support the bill... and the # look good in our favor.. as long as it actually makes it to a vote..

they're also going to discuss the ATT deregulation.. so that could run long and push our vote out past spring break!!

I emailed my senator yesterday, you should do the same.

If you ever come to D.C. while congress is in session, go to one of the many expensive restaurants we have and take a look at the lunch crowd. I've seen congressmen drinking more at lunchtime than I care to on a night of barhopping. Then they go back and vote!

there used to be an old law in a lot of states including alabama, that police could not give any driinking related tickets/etc to lawmakers while congress was in session... i think it's still around here in alabama..

Any update on if this bill passed?

It did not come up for vote. Filibuster over Special Order Calendar stuff.

BierMuncher said:

Note to self.

Stay the hell out of Alabama.

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+1

I didn't even realize states still had laws like this. I'm lovin Cali right now! :rockin:

should be coming up soon?? any updates here?

The senate is back in session tomorrow, though it's uncertain whether the filibuster over the special order calendar will continue. However, if it does continue a bit longer it may give us an even better chance. The bill presently before the senate is actually a different bill than the one that passed the house. They have identical wording, but one originated in the house and the other in the senate. Therefore, if the senate bill passes, it has to go back to the house to be voted on again. Alternatively, with the delays going on, it may be possible to substitute the house bill in for the senate one and short circuit the process.

Unfortunately, this is only the first of a number of changes needed to Alabama beer laws. This law (if it passes) would permit the sale of beers up to 13.9% ABV. We also have laws on the books that prevent us from buying or selling cans or bottles of beer larger than 16oz (though kegs are permissible). Home brewing is illegal in the state (though the law on that hasn't really been enforced in the last decade). Furthermore, brewpubs can only operate in historic buildings located in counties where beer was legally brewed prior to prohibition, and they have to be large enough to seat 80 people.

Alabama actually still has a number of dry counties, and several of the wet ones restrict sales of alcohol on Sundays. Despite all of that, it's really not that bad a place. Huntsville, in particular, has a very interesting mix. We have your basic southerners, the southern Fundamentalist Christians, the military transplants being relocated through BRAC, the German descendants (the US rocket program was based here immediately after WW2), and so forth. Unfortunately, the "native" southern crowd falls into 2 categories:
1) Those that can do whatever they want, just so long as they don't smoke, drink, or dance.
2) Those that can't imagine why anyone would need a beer other than Bud, Miller, or Coors.
Fortunately, our transplants from other areas are bringing in an appreciation for good beers. Although the state is quite conservative, I think the conservatism is developing a libertarian streak, which is great for those of us that like beer!

Well said, DocBrown! Alabama is certainly an interesting place to live. I've lived all over the country and like everyplace, it's got its strong points and week points. I also see the libertarian streak increasing in strength over the past 10 years. Let's hope that desire to not be over-regulated gets applied to our beer soon.

Hopefully, this Libertarian streak will extend into the mid-term elections.

if you read the bill, it only strikes out 2 or 3 words from the existing law.. changes it from 6% ABW to 13.9% ABV... not sure why the change from weight to volume..
but this seems to be a pretty easy law to let fly in my opinion..

if i remember correctly, hasnt the senate alreayd OK'd the house's version of the bill?

?

I can't imagine living somewhere that didn't allow beer over 6%. I think my head would explode.

Does this bill allow HB'ing?

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

Does this bill allow HB'ing?

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No. It doesn't impact homebrewing.

voodoo,

That's why so many people homebrew here..... We HAVE TO!

No kidding. I brew because I want to. I end up giving away 90% of what I make because I honestly drink a lot of craft beer. I just can't imagine not having it there, waiting all the time, just for me.

It's not like we're completely deprived of craft brew. The vast majority of craft beer is below 6% alcohol. There are some very good beers we can't get, but there are a lot that are available.

carnevoodoo said:

I can't imagine living somewhere that didn't allow beer over 6%. I think my head would explode.

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Then stay out of Utah, i don't want to read about exploding heads in the local news cause Utah doesn't allow beer to be sold in stores over 3.2% ABW. You can go to the state liquor store (if you are lucky to have one near you) and choose from a crappy selection of warm beers (they do not refrigerate their beers) that are higher in percentage though.

mkling said:

It's not like we're completely deprived of craft brew. The vast majority of craft beer is below 6% alcohol. There are some very good beers we can't get, but there are a lot that are available.

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Actually, I'm guessing it is about 50/50 these days. Beer continually gets bigger and bigger.