very nice. now we just need to get one of those to upper Mississippi.
Changing the messed up laws here wouldn't hurt, either.
Save your confederate money, boys!!!
Yeah, I don't see a law change in the near future. They just tried earlier this year and was denied immediately. Guess we'll just have to brew our own beer over 6% ... in hidding, of course, cause home brewing is illegal, too.
Ugh
Well here's the upshot men! There is a movement afoot to change the beer laws. It has a name, MEBA = Mississippians for Economic and Beverage Advancement. Not very catchy... but hey they're trying. You can get all the information you need about MEBA at
www.msbrew.com. Right now you won't find much info as there's not much happening because the legislature is out of session. Yes a bill was introduced last year, but it was put into the finance committee, a bad move because the chairperson (chairperson controls the agenda in every committee at both state and local governments) wouldn't bring it up for a vote in committee. The proper term is, "it died in committee." The chairman was/is a knucklehead from Brandon MS, a Pseudo Dry County.
The beer distributors in the state as well as the beer industry (read beer industry as Bud, Miller, & Coors) have ONE lobbyist. Officially he's said they will not oppose a bill to change the 6% abv. But we know that's been said in other states, AL, and the facts were quite different. The thing boils down to one thing. Our voice has to be loud and it has to be heard. MEBA is the vehicle for this. In every state that has recently lifted the 6% abv law recently and those that are currently undertaking the modern repeal of prohibition it has taken 3-5 years to achieve the goal. That's just the way our flawed government works.
There's a really good video linked at the top of the
www.msbrew.com page following Alabama's campaign to lift their 6% abv cap. Their campaign is called "Free the Hops". In Bama the bill passed the house and had the votes to pass the senate, but there was a philibuster (sp?) in the Senate that wasted the last month of the senate session and kept MANY bills from ever reaching the floor. So they're back to square one having to get a vote in the house and the bill moves on to the senate next year. I think a realistic goal for MS this year is to have have the bill get out of committee and simply brought to a vote.
Follow MEBA on msbrew.com or their myspace page which I don't have a link too. Lend a voice, that's the least any of us can do.
Once the 6% cap is lifted, the homebrewer laws will follow. That is the secondary purpose of MEBA.
Chin up men,
Phillip
Ps My great grandfather and grandfather made homebrew during the depression and beyond in rural Clarke (Dry to this day) county MS. Hey if I brew I'm just keeping up a family tradition! Brew free or die!