Alabama Homebrew Legislation 2013

[PhelanKA7]

I am an atheist but if I was religious I don't think God would mind if private citizens took part in turning water into various libations. They believe his son did the same thing, right?

 

[aubiecat]

2 questions:

1) I always hear about Alabama's fight to legalize homebrew but what is going on in Mississippi? Is there no push at all in that state to legalize?

2) Is the limit of 15 gallons per quarter in Alabama enforceable or is that just to appease politicians on the fence? It seems that the only way they could enforce it would be if they made homebrewers become licensed...

I believe the 15 gallon per quarter was to appease the beer distributors.

 

[aubiecat]

I am an atheist but if I was religious I don't think God would mind if private citizens took part in turning water into various libations. They believe his son did the same thing, right?

Lets please not go there.

 

[CGVT]

Let's just say that it is a very complicated issue in Alabama. A politician could actually ruin his career over this issue. It is tough to take a strong stance toward homebrewing and possibly derail a political career if a person is not completely sold on the issue.

I think the best way to sell it is individual rights argument, although many will still say that the evils of alcohol trump the individual's right to brew.

 

[CGVT]

And, it you want to see what we are up against, check out this site. ALCAP: Alabama's self appointed "moral compass" **sigh**

http://www.alcap.com/

 

[PhelanKA7]

And, it you want to see what we are up against, check out this site. ALCAP: Alabama's self appointed "moral compass" **sigh**

http://www.alcap.com/

That stuff is just too painful to read.

 

[Huff360]

I believe the 15 gallon per quarter was to appease the beer distributors.

Nah, AWBA is good with us brewing. They understand that beer brewers are also beer drinkers. The more brewers there are, the more beer they sell. Very few folks take up brewing and stop buying commercial beer.

The production/possession limits were placed in the bill as a part of a compromise deal to get the support of more folks. There were a lot of guys on the floor the first go round screaming about there being tanker trucks of beer parked behind every brewer's house.

The limit is low enough that it takes quantity out of the list of things that opponents can talk about.

Keep in mind that the way the law is written, this is both a production and a possession limit. It is unfortunate that it is that way, but getting things through all the process is a lot of work. Concessions have to be made. That means that the limits are rather enforceable. If the ABC were to show up and you have 4 carboys of Mead that were bulk aging from last year, you would be in violation of the possession limit.

It is not an ideal bill for us. There are things that everyone dislikes. That's why they call it compromise!


As far as the Raise Your Pints (Mississippi) Bill, they have concurrent bills also, the Senate Bill passed the Senate with a short debate of less than 10 minutes. The House bill is on the calendar for a floor debate. They have made an amazing amount of progress very quickly. Let's wish them luck and hopefully come the end of this year, there will be no more homebreweing prohibition!

 

[CGVT]

The problem is that those people are very passionate about the issue and greatly outnumber homebrewers in the state. They will contact their legislators. The rest of general population doesn't really care one way or another. You may get some agreement when talking to non-homebrewing friends, but most don't care enough to contact their Representatives or Senators, or it is not a big enough issue to them to vote for someone else. Even if we did elect different reps, the outcome would probably be the same as there are not any candidates out there that are going to run on a pro-homebrewing or pro-alcohol platform.

 

[CGVT]

Huff, you seemed to be dialed in. What are you hearing?

 

[Huff360]

I sat through a few meetings with Mac last year at the State House and watched most of the floor debate in person. I'm not on the front lines, but I do hang out with the guys who are working on this all day every day.

The word right now is "cautiously optimistic."

We have a huge media following right now. There are stories and articles popping up all over the place. We are starting to hear that e-mails are being sent. We have 1,000+ on the e-mail distribution list. We have glasses all over the state driving more and more folks to the website on a daily basis. The posters are getting delivered to bars, tap rooms, and restaurants right now.

There is huge momentum. As with anything politics, there is no telling what the outcome will be until it is done. We have a great chance in the House. Mac is chair of the Rules committee, so once HB9 makes it through the ED&T Committee we should be on the floor pretty quickly.

Floor debate is going to be the same as last year. We will burn up the better part of a day I'm sure. There will be many amendments proposed, as usual, in an attempt to burn up time. Hopefully, we will prevail and move to the Senate.

SB171 plays an important role. If it can go ahead and get though committee, when HB9 passes, we will sub HB9 in place of SB171 and then HB9 can go right to the Senate calendar. That could save as much as a week or more.

Overall, I don't know. We have a better chance this year than we did last year. Media attention, the Hop City raid, continued growth of HomeBrewing in the Country and State are all positive things for us.

One thing to keep in mind - Keep any comments you make on news websites, in person, or in e-mails sent to anyone respectable. Not that anyone would, but don't go sending ALCAP or Legislators who voted NO hate mail. They have beliefs that their members support. That is their right. They disagree with our viewpoint just as much as we disagree with theirs.

 

[CGVT]

Thanks for the update. I listened to the debate last year and it was maddening. As you said, I'm sure that Laird, Wallace and those that share the same beliefs will filibuster again this year. Hopefully it won't get "run out of time" (which in reality means it was purposely stalled) in the Senate this year and will pass.

 

[aubiecat]

Hopefully the fact that Mac McCutcheon is on the rules committee will get HB9 to be one of the first on the special order so the moral compass' stalling tactics don't work.
As for Laird and Wallace, I have about as much respect for them as they have for me. Since they think I am a criminal and a bootlegger you can guess how much that is.

 

[BarefootFriar]

I'll email my representative and senator today. I'm excited by this.

I know the limit is pretty low, and there will undoubtedly be some amendments that get tacked on that we don't really like, but my thinking is that once it's passed, we can go back and fix it later.

 

[KingRichard]

I'll email my representative and senator today. I'm excited by this.

I know the limit is pretty low, and there will undoubtedly be some amendments that get tacked on that we don't really like, but my thinking is that once it's passed, we can go back and fix it later.

The biggest deal is that brewing no longer becomes a felony under the new law. Violations of the quantity (if busted) would only be a class c misdemeanor.

 

[alestateyall]

Someone already mentioned 15g per quarter. Last year I brewed 55g total. That sounds good. But right now I have 1 batch in keg (~2.5g left), 1 batch cold crashing (5g), 1 batch in fermenter(5g), and a 3g batch in bottles aging. I am illegal under the new Alabama law since I have about 15.5 gallons of home brew in my house. It is rare for me to have so much but in the winter it is easier to keep fermentation temps in control so I am getting a bit ahead.

PS. I am from Mississippi so this irrelevant for me. Just giving my 2 cents.

 

[pearseam]

Its good to hear AL is catching up with rest of the nation. HB is a great hobby with reward.

 

[TacoBrew]

Man, I am hopeful. I was bitterly disappointed last year.

Thats how I felt about my last IPA. Needed more hops...

 

[Bryali]

I've asked all my family and friends in Alabama to contact their Rep's and ask them to vote for this.

As far as the limited quantities, 15gal is better than 0gal. I'll take anything that doesn't make a hobby a felony.

Edit: I just sent an email to both my Representative and Senator.

 

[sneakymeade]

Here in NC my limit is 100 gallons a year, not a whole lot more than 15 gallons per quarter. No one has ever come to my house to check and I've been brewing 3 years now, so I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[dfc]

Here in NC my limit is 100 gallons a year, not a whole lot more than 15 gallons per quarter. No one has ever come to my house to check and I've been brewing 3 years now, so I wouldn't sweat it.

Expect a knock on your door any day now...

 

[homebrewdad]

The biggest deal is that brewing no longer becomes a felony under the new law. Violations of the quantity (if busted) would only be a class c misdemeanor.

And would be pretty tough to prove.

 

[alestateyall]

The Alabama moral authority (ALCAP) makes a big deal about homebrew and storage. They claim the bill limits storage to 15 gallons per quarter. It is really easy to prove if you have more than 15 gallons of homebrew in your house when and if they ever raid you.

Of course it is only a misdemeanor. I hope it is a class c misdemeanor. In Mississippi it is currently a misdemeanor to brew without a license punishable by $1000 fine and 1 year jail time.

EDIT: corrected Mississippi misdemeanor punishment.

 

[Huff360]

They claim the bill limits storage to 15 gallons per quarter.

They are correct. Page 3, Lines 12-15

...Further, there shall not be in any legal
residence at any one time, more than an aggregate amount of 15
gallons of beer, mead, cider, and table wine which has been
produced under the authority of this act.

Of course it is only a misdemeanor. I hope is is a class c misdemeanor.

I'm not 100% clear on that one yet. The synopsis says any violation would be a Class C. But Section 1(i) (page 5, lines 3 and 4) say Class B.


Right to Brew does not recommend that you operate outside the limitations set forth in the bill! Possession limits, as kehaar said, are very easy to enforce. Walk in, count gallons, issue citation.

 

[sneakymeade]

I'm pretty sure that in order to get caught, either someone would have to report you, or the cops would be in your house for another reason and discover the contraband, like if you were robbed or something.

 

[MVKTR2]

I'm pretty sure that in order to get caught, either someone would have to report you, or the cops would be in your house for another reason and discover the contraband, like if you were robbed or something.

NEVER call the police except to pick up a body, period! Their job is law enforcement, society is wise to remember this. Most importantly is the fact that the law is so expansive that every American above the age of 18 is literally a felon. (google 3 felonies a day)

On the positive side, in MS homebrew bills breezed through both the house and senate committees. Additionally the senate bill passed with 11 iirc senators voting nay. Things are looking GOOD!

 

[Huff360]

More good press! Including a couple shots of the recently released posters.

http://www.abc3340.com/video?clipId=8375913&autostart=true

A special thanks to Birmingham Budweiser for their public endorsement!

 

[Darwin18]

NEVER call the police except to pick up a body, period! Their job is law enforcement, society is wise to remember this. Most importantly is the fact that the law is so expansive that every American above the age of 18 is literally a felon. (google 3 felonies a day)!

That is probably the worst advice I have seen posted on these forums in a long, long time.

 

[jhoneycutt]

Any new news?

 

[Huff360]

Public hearing before the House ED&T committee is scheduled for tomorrow.

So far there are about 10 people committed to attending, which based on the positions of those on the committee, should be plenty.

Should anyone in the State want to contact their Representatives and politely ask them to voice support to the ED&T committee for the favorable passage of HB9 tomorrow that would be great.

It is customary to sign an e-mail to your Reps with your first and last name followed by the city that you live in.

John Brewer
Montgomery, AL

That helps them to know you are a constituent of theirs. This adds weight to the message because if you aren't in their district, you can't vote for their competition!

It is also acceptable to send a note to members of the ED&T committee despite not living in their District (but still in the State) because the decision they make tomorrow will impact you. Members of that Committee can be found here - http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/housecommittees.html#Anchor-BOARD-7299


Calling the office of the Reps is also fine. You will usually speak to an Aid of some sort (I'm not sure what that person's title actually is). You can just tell them that you are calling to ask for a favorable committee vote on HB9 "The Homebrew Bill". They keep a tally and pass that along to the Rep. who looks it over as part of their decision to vote Yea or Nay.


Folks from out of state. We appreciate the concern, but please don't contact any of the Reps. We have no proof of it happening or not happening, but our opponents said they they received a lot of correspondence from out of state last year.

If anyone has any questions on how they can help or wants any info, feel free to post. I'll do my best to get the info to you.

 

[Accidic]

Isn't making Wine in Mississippi legal at least already? Since we don't even have that it seems like it would make us #50 of 50 states to finally allow federal law to be observed (even if limiting it).

Here's hoping our support actually does some good this time around.