Alabama Homebrew Legislation 2013

[CGVT]

And article from Al.com.

I didn't know that the "register with the Sheriff" amendment got to a vote. Man, I am glad that didn't pass.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The House of Representatives voted 58-33 this evening for a bill to make it legal to brew beer at home in Alabama.

The bill, by Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Huntsville, would allow those 21 and older to make up to 15 gallons of beer, wine, mead or cider every three months for personal use. It would not be legal in dry counties or dry cities.

McCutcheon said brewing is a legitimate hobby that is currently illegal in Alabama.

"It's a rights issue for people to be able to have a hobby that they enjoy," McCutcheon said.

Alabama is the only state that doesn't allow people to brew small amounts of beer at home for personal use. Mississippi was the previous holdout state.

McCutcheon said some people who move to Alabama are shocked to find their favorite hobby is a crime here.

The brew bill prompted a lengthy and spirited debate on the House floor. Some lawmakers likened the brewing activities to moonshiners. Others argued the state shouldn't do anything else to promote alcohol use.

"I think we've got enough folks walking around drunk," Rep. Berry Forte, D-Eufaula, said.

Rep. Arthur Payne, R-Trussville, said he didn't understand why legislators wanted to limit smoking, which is deadly, but is promoting alcohol, which he said also can be deadly.

"I don't understand why this body, year after year, wants to promote alcohol on the people of Alabama," Payne said.

McCutcheon said the home brewers he has met aren't interested in downing copious amounts of alcohol.
"It's about an art," McCutcheon said.

Home brewing enthusiasts have been trying for years without success to get the bill through the Alabama Legislature. The bill, a few years ago, won the House's "Shroud Award" for the deadest bill of the legislative session.

McCutcheon narrowly fought off, with a 40-36 vote, an attempt to amend the bill and require home brewers to register with their local sheriff.

The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.

 

[day_trippr]

"Home brewing enthusiasts have been trying for years without success to get the bill through the Alabama Legislature. The bill, a few years ago, won the House's "Shroud Award" for the deadest bill of the legislative session."

Awesome!

Cheers!

 

[dawgmatic]

My favorite part was when he had to explain the noncommercial uses outside the home that didn't include drinking it. He even mentioned that we do competitions, but the rep didn't understand until he likened it to a bbq cookoff

 

[isleofman]

He even mentioned that we do competitions, but the rep didn't understand until he likened it to a bbq cookoff

I thought that was a great off the cuff example to cite.

 

[CGVT]

It is a rainy dreary day in Lower Alabama, but I am still glowing from the victory in the House yesterday.

I just wanted to thank Huff and all of the folks up north that pushed so hard to get us this far.

Let's get on the phone and start e-mailing the Senate.

It's not over yet, but the end is in sight!

 

[BamaProud]

Well congratulations to my home state of Alabama. I have some Tennessee brewed beer that I will bring down to celebrate next time in town!

 

[homebrewdad]

Whew, had no idea the stupid sheriff amendment would be that close.

Not only would that have been a pain, but it would have been a potentially expensive administrative nightmare that could have killed the bill.

Bullet dodged.


So, what's the status with the senate? Any idea when this might make it into the floor there?

 

[Huff360]

No plan in the Senate right now.

We are "Strategerygizing" as Bush Jr. would have said. Give me a few days and we will have an action plan. I'll pass along here.

Thanks to everyone who wrote, called, faxed, and e-mailed House members. We will need an effort just as strong in the Senate. Holtzclaw has not had 3 years of defending this bill like Mac has, so we are going to have to do our part to take some of the pressure off of him.

 

[Accidic]

Is there a place where we can see who voted which way? I've been using the ALISON site trying to find it but my connection is god awful when it comes to speed. If anyone has a link or can tell me how to get there that'd be great.

 

[CGVT]

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=htt...=239&BODY=1755&INST=HB9&SESS=1061&h=4AQFwoqIg

 

[CGVT]

Member
Vote
Member
Vote
* House District 11, Vacant P * House District 97, Vacant P
Baker Y Ball Y
Bandy P Barton Y
Baughn N Beckman N
Beech Y Black Y
Boman Y Boothe Y
Boyd Y Bracy Y
Bridges N Brown Y
Burdine Y Buskey P
Butler N Buttram N
Carns N Chesteen N
Clouse Y Coleman-Evans N
Collins Y Colston Y
Davis N DeMarco Y
Drake Y England Y
Farley N Faust Y
Fincher Y Ford Y
Forte N Gaston N
Givan Y Greer Y
Greeson N Grimsley Y
Hall Y Hammon Y
Harper Y Henry Y
Hill Y Holmes Y
Howard N Hubbard (J) Y
Hubbard (M) Y Hurst N
Ison Y Jackson P
Johnson (K) N Johnson (R) Y
Johnson (W) Y Jones N
Knight Y Laird N
Lee N Lindsey Y
Long Y Love N
Mask Y McAdory N
McCampbell P McClammy Y
McClendon N McClurkin P
McCutcheon Y McMillan P
Melton Y Merrill N
Millican N Mitchell P
Moore (B) Y Moore (M) A
Morrow N Newton (C) Y
Newton (D) P Nordgren Y
Patterson Y Payne N
Poole Y Rich N
Roberts Y Robinson (J) P
Robinson (O) Y Rogers Y
Sanderford Y Scott Y
Sessions N Shiver Y
Standridge N Todd P
Treadaway N Tuggle N
Vance Y Wallace N
Warren Y Weaver Y
Williams (D) Y Williams (J) P
Williams (P) Y Wood N
Wren Y
Total Yea: 58 Legislative Day: 16
Total Nay: 33 Legislative Date: 04/02/2013
Total Abs: 1 Vote ID: 239

Y = Yea, N = Nay, A = Abstain, P = Pass (Not Voting or Not Present)

* Not an official report from the State of Alabama Legislative offices *

 

[Huff360]

http://www.alahomebrewing.org/history/2013-hb9-votes

Here ya go.

 

[CGVT]

BTW, I see that my Rep (Randy Davis) voted no this year. Last year he passed. He has voted no or passed on every alcohol related vote that he has made.

Time to vote no on him

 

[Echoloc8]

Was pleased to see that Rep. Hill, mine, voted yes. He's been spotty on alcohol bills, with a few abstentions and a no or two, but he came through this time.

Glad I was able to get through and email him; his info on the Free the Hops site was out of date.

-Rich

 

[Accidic]

Thanks guys.

Good to know that Paul Beckman will not be receiving my vote in the next election nor (most likely) another 13 votes from voting age family members that also live in his district. On the plus side, 2 of the other House members in my Zip (not mine though) voted Yay so it's not all bad.

Who would have thought Alvin Holmes would be a Yay vote this year. Must be the 13 in the year. Only explanation.

 

[Huff360]

Who would have thought Alvin Holmes would be a Yay vote this year. Must be the 13 in the year. Only explanation.

He did request "2 bottles of White Wine" in exchange.

There is plenty of audio here -
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_wGs2gDxYwRWW50aVp0U1lSeEU&usp=sharing

 

[Accidic]

I'm game. Sweet or Dry?

 

[wailingguitar]

He did request "2 bottles of White Wine" in exchange.

There is plenty of audio here -
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_wGs2gDxYwRWW50aVp0U1lSeEU&usp=sharing

I will gift him with a beer or two if this happens! I think I am smiling just as big that he decided to support the bill as I am that it passed the house.

My Rep is Greg Burdine, he voted yes as I expected him to, so I am happy there.

 

[homebrewdad]

Merrill voted no again, as he has vowed to do on every single alcohol related bill. He did graciouly state that he would not oppose a referendum bill... knowing full well that this would NEVER be a referendum bill.

Vote no for John Merrill.

 

[Huff360]

Guys - take 5 minutes and send a handwritten note to your Rep.

You can find their address here: http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/representatives/houseroster_alpha.html Use the Statehouse address.

If they voted yes, thank them.

If they voted no, thank them anyway. There is no better way to prove we aren't all horrible people. "Rep. XX, Thank you for taking the time to participate in the debate on HB9. Although our viewpoints on the bill differed, I would like to Thank You for your service in the Legislature.

Sincerely,

Joe
Homebrewer
Somewhere, AL"

or whatever short polite note you want to send. There is no need to say "I'm never voting for you again" or anything else negative as that gives them ammo for the 'bad-people' argument.

No need to send one to everybody, no need to e-mail or call. Take a sheet of printer paper, write a quick note, drop it in the mail. It will have an impact. These guys talk to Senators...

 

[Toga]

Congrats fellas. You may be able to brew and not worry about who knows about your hobby or may find out. Hopefully everything is smooth sailing from here.

 

[CGVT]

I think it may be important for the point be made that most home brewers brew 5 gallon batches and 5 gallons of beer is only a little more than two cases.

I'm sure that 15 gallons sounds likes a lot of beer to these guys. It might be a bit more acceptable for them to think of it in cases.

 

[wailingguitar]

I think it may be important for the point be made that most home brewers brew 5 gallon batches and 5 gallons of beer is only a little more than two cases.

I'm sure that 15 gallons sounds likes a lot of beer to these guys. It might be a bit more acceptable for them to think of it in cases.

That's a great point. We may be able to use that in future to push the limit up higher. After all, when you think of it in terms of 12oz servings, the federal limit of 100 gallons/year is roughly equivalent to 3 bottles per day or a bit over 2 pints (if I did the math right LOL)

 

[Orthobrewsky]

I was very pleased to see that my representative, K.L. Brown, switched to a yes vote after voting 'no' last year and 'no' the previous year on a more generous homebrew bill which he had also sponsored. I've rescinded the order I gave my wife last year to not allow my dead body ever to pass through his funeral home. His is the only place to take the dead in this town, so it would have been somewhat inconvenient for the family. Now I can depart in peace, but I may just stick around for a while anyway.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

I think it may be important for the point be made that most home brewers brew 5 gallon batches and 5 gallons of beer is only a little more than two cases.

I'm sure that 15 gallons sounds likes a lot of beer to these guys. It might be a bit more acceptable for them to think of it in cases.

This raises the question as to why they don't seem to have a concern about limiting the amount of commercial beer stored at a residence. My neighbor has at least 15.5 gallons every time he gets a new keg. Presumably, even we homebrewers could have 15 gallons of homebrew plus 20 more gallons of commercial beer and 30 gallons of Chivas Royale. Why is commercial alcohol so sacred, but homebrew so dangerous? Hmmm...I guess it does tend to be much more tasty than "Budweiser...Coors...what are some of the names of them other beers? They drank purty good."

 

[CGVT]

If it were up to a lot of these guys, there would be no alcohol allowed at all. I don't think that is the way to approach it at all. If you say "Well, you can have all of the Bud you want, why should we limit this? " you are only playing into their neo-prohibitionist fears.

I think that the point should be that 15 gallons is not much. Speaking in cases rather than gallons may be something that these guy may understand.

If you say that most home brewers make 5 gallon batches that take 3 to 6 weeks and even longer to make and stress that it is only a little over two cases in six weeks, the issue may be more palatable to the fence sitters.

I don't think that message gets across very well. Most of these guys think that you brew it up in your bathtub and drink it tonight.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

Yes, I think you are right about the way they hear the word "gallon" and the thought of us brewing up a bathtub full in the afternoon and drinking it all at once. Hypothetically, a guy like me could have been running close to 30 gallons around the house since last fall, but maybe I've had a RIS just conditioning since August and doing a bunch of lagers which I condition for months, so that what is actually ready to drink is, on the average, the 10 gallons in my 4 keg keezer (assuming the average keg in there is half empty).

Hypothetically, of course.

 

[Accidic]

Most people don't even drink the whole thing anyway so technically a few less than you bottle anyway.

 

[CGVT]

No plan in the Senate right now.

We are "Strategerygizing" as Bush Jr. would have said. Give me a few days and we will have an action plan. I'll pass along here.

Thanks to everyone who wrote, called, faxed, and e-mailed House members. We will need an effort just as strong in the Senate. Holtzclaw has not had 3 years of defending this bill like Mac has, so we are going to have to do our part to take some of the pressure off of him.

We can only hope that the Senate doesn't pick up on the "register with the Sheriff movement" or add any other amendments, for that matter.

Hopefully it will get through and to the Governor as is...

 

[CGVT]

The biggest issue and the most pressure seemed to be the "Who is going to regulate it?" question that Mac had trouble with in the interview. Common sense says if the law is broken, law enforcement officials will get involved the same as any other law, but that is a hard sell to the prohibitionists and it seems to strike a chord with those that are on the fence or ambivalent about the issue. It was pretty obvious in the close vote on the register with the Sheriff amendment. Saying, "I voted for it, but made sure that they have to register" is good politics even though we know that it is unnecessary and really only a feel good move.

They have to come up with a better way to answer that question when it gets to the Senate floor or we may see that amendment added and then it will have to go back to the house. It could actually have this thing shot down because of added costs to regulate... **sigh**