Alabama Homebrew Legalization

StaggerBrew said:

Just emailed my representative. Here's what I said:



If you don't know who to write, you can find out here. If your zip code has multiple districts, you can use this map.

Feel free to use my letter as a template and add to it, etc...

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DONE! Thanks!

This may be off topic, but where is everyone from? I'm new to 'Bama...

Considering attending Suds of the South in a few weeks.

twohands said:

*sniffle* - I'm no longer a crook...there goes my street cred...



FINALLY!!!! :rockin:

So we need to plan a party where we all bring less than the allotted 20 gallons to celebrate.

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Yes you are. Until this passes the house and the Governor signs it, we(those of us brewing in alabama) are all still crooks.

StaggerBrew said:

This may be off topic, but where is everyone from? I'm new to 'Bama...

Considering attending Suds of the South in a few weeks.

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Phenix City, AL

v2comp said:

Phenix City, AL

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Just call it Huntsville, I'm .9 miles from the city limits in Madison County.

Huntsville here also.

Live in Monrovia, but really is Huntsville

HBRunner said:

Live in Monrovia, but really is Huntsville

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Harvest here, but no one knows Harvest, AL except people who live here but Huntsville is recognizable to most.

I got a reply from Phil (forget the last name) one of the two reps I emailed:

Thanks Gary. I have not read the bill. I will grab it and be ready. I do plan to vote for this and will unless there is something in the bill that is not good we might get it passed. I know the Senate passed it.
Phil

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I replied:

Thanks! I hope we can get this passed, having homebrewing "technically" illegal is just another one of those things people use as an example of why Alabama is still a backwards hick state, and it's just silly regardless. As a proud lifelong resident of Alabama and a progressive conservative I support any measures that removes any negative stigma from our State.

Maybe we can work on this gambling fiasco next, so people aren't spending millions of hard earned Alabama dollars buying lottery tickets in Georgia and Tennessee and going to Mississippi to gamble. Keep that money here instead I say.

Thanks for your reply, it was refreshing to know that there is someone listening.
--
Gary Harris
Systems Admin
www.simplehelix.com

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next week should be a big week for us........contact your local representative and ask them to please support it once it comes out of committee.

Moody, AL <-- Here........

Huntsville also. Free The Homebrew.

Cullman County here.

Blindguardian said:

Cullman County here.

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I feel for you living in a dry county. Unfortunately, this bill will not make it legal for you to homebrew. But I'm guessing it has not stopped you so far.

You know a guy named Steve Land? Buddy of mine in Huntsville that grew up in Cullman.

LeeF said:

I feel for you living in a dry county. Unfortunately, this bill will not make it legal for you to homebrew. But I'm guessing it has not stopped you so far.

You know a guy named Steve Land? Buddy of mine in Huntsville that grew up in Cullman.

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Yea it really sux to live in this backwards a$$ county we are so lost in time it is not funny. it is like living in 1950 around here.

let me say if I would have known this before I moved here I would have never done it!!!!!

Also Huntsville. Go homebrew law!

Anyone got an update on where our Bills stand?

It's been introduced into the House and is currently before the Tourism and Travel committee. The committee meets on Wednesday to vote on the homebrew bill (SB153). If you'd like to help, you can call, email, and/or fax the members of the committee today and tomorrow and ask them to vote yes on SB153. The list of committee members can be found here:
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/housecommittees.html#Anchor-TOURIS-47940

I'll post an update with phone numbers and email addresses in a while. Don't bother trying to call Warren Beck though. He died last week, and it probably wouldn't be prudent to call his secretary about a beer bill right now!

Cool, Do we got any information on Brewery Mod Act Bill?

I emailed all of them, had 1 returned because his email was suspended....Thad McClammy.......so call him.....

Homewood (Birmingham) here.

Cool to see this gaining steam. Contacting my rep now.

I'm definitely in on the party when this thing finally closes.

I only received 1 email response from Henshaw, who told me he supports this bill......

Thanks for the reply Randy!

I'm Happy that SB153 is going forward and gaining ground. I'm curious to the other bills that are also beer related that we all should support.

So here is my list:

SB153 - Homebrew (100 Gallons for single person or 200 Gallons for two or more adults & 20 Gallons Transport for personal Use)

Brewery Modernization Act - I'm under of Bill Numbers I know one was introduced into House with one to go into Senate as well. (Allow us to get breweries with samples and tours & have brew pubs who can sell on site and sell in bottles not just taps and not be limited to historic downtown areas)

No Bill to date but we need to kill this 16 oz container size issue on beer. No restrictions on anything else just beer can only be in 16oz containers.

I just wanted to see if anyone had any insight to these other issues as well.

FTH is going to work on container size next year bc 2010 is an election year or something...

yeah, SB328 and HB406 are both at different stages in their respective houses. the House bill 406 has been held up pending some verbage changes related to taxation to match the Alabama winery law.

v2comp said:

yeah, SB328 and HB406 are both at different stages in their respective houses. the House bill 406 has been held up pending some verbage changes related to taxation to match the Alabama winery law.

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Any idea which is likely to hit the governers desk first? Seems they are very similar....

I'll keep emailing and calling and e faxing

The bill hit a bump in the road. The ABC wants us to change the wording of the bill so wine can not be interpreted as distilled spirits. Funny thing is if they were to read it there is a line in the bill stating just that. However, that is not the big hurdle. There is a lobbyist for the Alabama Wholesale Beer Association (AWBA) that is opposing the bill. Through some phone calls we have discovered its all about power. They want control of all alcohol legislation that goes through the house and senate. They simply want us to wait until next year since they did not have any part in the bill. The irony is we are part of their customer base and typically buy the high end craft beer they make more margin on.

So....ask all your friends, family and those you know are disgruntled with the current political scene. There are many out there who don't care about homebrewing but are all about personal rights. Ask them to send an email to the address below in show of support I've included a 'if you are tired of money and lobbyist controlling the government' statement just to get a stir. Supporting a grassroots movement gets a lot of people moving and its easy. The emails will be collected and presented to their Representative and Senator on their behalf.

[email protected]
Be sure to include
1) your name
2) your county
3) a short statement saying you support SB153

So any more info on this? I keep checking the bill, and it seems stuck.....

http://www.freethehops.org/blog/
this is where the news will be

brewery mod. act is in the house today. email your reps. do not call. they are in meeting now and cannot recieve calls but can email. EMAIL EMAIL EMAIL

The homebrew bill has been stuck in committee for a couple weeks now. ABC (Alabama Beverage Control) had some issues with the term "wine" in the bill. Apparently they want it clarified that this only legalizes "table wine" and not "fortified wine." We offered an amendment that would fix this, but we haven't hard back from our sponsor yet whether the proposed amendment satisfied them. The bigger problem appears to be the beer distributors lobby in Alabama. There are reports that they have some problems with the bill, but the exact nature of the problems is not especially clear. The beer lobby has a great deal of power, and if they decide not to let this pass, it very likely won't pass. We've offered another amendment that will hopefully satisfy their concerns as we understand them. I think our sponsor was supposed to meet with the lobbyist today or tomorrow, and from what I understand, the committee is supposed to vote on it tomorrow. After that it will be a matter of bringing it up for a vote on the house floor.

Looks like the Brewery Modernization Act may not come up today after all. We've filibusters going on over a fight about a bill requiring Alabama to opt out of National Health Care. It sounds like they're about to adjourn without passing any state bills.

lame. well stay tuned for updates folks!

I sure do LOVE Alabama politics.

So what is our current status on these bills?

brewagentjay said:

So what is our current status on these bills?

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The Let Down
By Dan Roberts | Published: March 23, 2010

It’s starting to become an old story. We’re so close yet something gets in the way.

The Brewery Modernization Act was the 8th bill on the Special Order Calendar today, ahead of 7 pieces of legislation that didn’t seem to have much controversy. It looked like we wouldn’t have a problem.

Unfortunately, a filibuster started after the calendar was released. The filibuster had nothing to do with our bill. It didn’t even have anything to do with another bill on the special order calendar. It had to do with the special order calendar itself. One group of senators wanted the chamber to consider a “national healthcare opt out” bill before all other legislation. When their attempt to amend the agenda failed, they started a filibuster. None of the bills on the special order calendar were voted on today.

We hope to try again Thursday.


Expect a vote Thursday
By Dan Roberts | Published: March 24, 2010

Although our bill was once again caught in the crossfire Tuesday, the fact that we made the agenda at all is a good sign. The legislature does not go into session today as Wednesdays are typically reserved for committee work. However, although there’s no guarantee that we’ll be on Thursday’s agenda, we should be. We may also try to get a vote in the House on Thursday.

The Special Order Calendar is good for one day only. So our placement on Tuesday’s agenda does not guarantee placement on any other day. The SOC isn’t carried over or anything like that. However, Tuesday’s Senate agenda was the result of negotiation between the members of the Senate and we fully expect Thursday’s agenda to be similar if there is a SOC at all. There’s obviously no guarantee that the Senate filibuster will be over by then.

So while the delay is frustrating, we should use this time to continue advocating for the Brewery Modernization Act. We should have a vote in the Senate or House Thursday.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/alabama-trip-170006/

It not about the home brewing bills but he is asking about beer places in Alabama. I dont know about places up in Huntsville.

Looks like today was basically a repeat of Tuesday, so no movement on the Brewery Modernization Act. Also, there was some mention of bringing the bingo bill back up for debate next week (Alabama senate generally only meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Wednesday sessions), which means they are almost certainly not going to get anything done next week.

Homebrew bill is still stuck in committee. Unfortunately, since the bill is getting at least one amendment, it will have to be voted on again in the senate, and it's not looking like they'll be getting much more done this year (Alabama legislative session ends in another month or so).

DocBrown said:

it's not looking like they'll be getting much more done this year (Alabama legislative session ends in another month or so).

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Do they ever get much done???

Sorry, I forgot what day it was and bit hard on this one. Business as usual in AL politics.

Man so what is our status............Seems like these were all slam dunk bills.