UPDATE: 5.14.2009 – This afternoon, the Alabama State Senate passed HB 373 – The Free the Hops bill. Click here for more info.
The following piece was written and submitted by current Free the Hops president Stuart Carter. Both bills mentioned in the piece are scheduled to go before the state House tomorrow.
Free the Hops, for those of you who have never heard of us, is a grassroots pressure group trying to reform the beer law in Alabama.
We have two bills in front of the Alabama House and Senate (HB196 and SB116) which will change the definition of “beer” to allow up to 13.9% ABV beers instead of the current maximum of 6% ABV. This will allow a huge number of previously unknown beers into the state, but will not change any of those currently sold here – so don’t worry about your favorites! We also have a bill in front of the Senate to reform home brewing (SB355).
“Why does the beer law need to be reformed? Surely there are enough beers already?”
This is a very common question. Let me phrase the question this way: “Why do you want a Toyota? Surely there are enough Fords for sale?”
To add to the absurdity of the position regarding beer sales in Alabama, you can buy a 169 oz. Heineken mini-keg in a grocery store, and you can buy pure grain alcohol at 95% ABV in a store owned and operated by the state of Alabama – but you can’t buy any beer made by Trappist monks, nor can you buy Sweetwater IPA.
“Wait a minute!” you cry. “I used to drink Sweetwater IPA! It just hasn’t been on the shelves for a while!” That is because the state of Alabama discovered that Sweetwater had changed the recipe so that it now has an ABV of 6.5%, making it illegal to even possess a bottle of this beer in Alabama.
The gourmet beer bills and misinformation
The Gourmet Beer Bills are one of the key steps towards freeing the hops. By allowing higher alcohol levels, these bills open up a world of flavors and business opportunities. The kind of person who is interested in these gourmet beers is the kind of person who would gravitate to the downtown Birmingham business and entertainment district – exactly the kind of person the city wants in to the downtown area! A conservative estimate would put the current losses to the metropolitan Birmingham area at in excess of $250,000 a year in sales alone.
47 states currently allow these higher alcohol beers to be sold. There is no link between higher alcohol beers and higher rates of either drunk-driving or underage drinking. In fact, according to Mothers Against Drink Driving (MADD), Alabama is in the worst half of the drunk-driving rates, along with Mississippi and West Virginia, who are the other two states with these restrictions!
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Free the Hops and the Gourmet Beer Bills
UPDATE: 5.14.2009 – This afternoon, the Alabama State Senate passed HB 373 – The Free the Hops bill. Click here for more info.
The following piece was written and submitted by current Free the Hops president Stuart Carter. Both bills mentioned in the piece are scheduled to go before the state House tomorrow.
Free the Hops, for those of you who have never heard of us, is a grassroots pressure group trying to reform the beer law in Alabama.
We have two bills in front of the Alabama House and Senate (HB196 and SB116) which will change the definition of “beer” to allow up to 13.9% ABV beers instead of the current maximum of 6% ABV. This will allow a huge number of previously unknown beers into the state, but will not change any of those currently sold here – so don’t worry about your favorites! We also have a bill in front of the Senate to reform home brewing (SB355).
“Why does the beer law need to be reformed? Surely there are enough beers already?”
This is a very common question. Let me phrase the question this way: “Why do you want a Toyota? Surely there are enough Fords for sale?”
To add to the absurdity of the position regarding beer sales in Alabama, you can buy a 169 oz. Heineken mini-keg in a grocery store, and you can buy pure grain alcohol at 95% ABV in a store owned and operated by the state of Alabama – but you can’t buy any beer made by Trappist monks, nor can you buy Sweetwater IPA.
“Wait a minute!” you cry. “I used to drink Sweetwater IPA! It just hasn’t been on the shelves for a while!” That is because the state of Alabama discovered that Sweetwater had changed the recipe so that it now has an ABV of 6.5%, making it illegal to even possess a bottle of this beer in Alabama.
The gourmet beer bills and misinformation
The Gourmet Beer Bills are one of the key steps towards freeing the hops. By allowing higher alcohol levels, these bills open up a world of flavors and business opportunities. The kind of person who is interested in these gourmet beers is the kind of person who would gravitate to the downtown Birmingham business and entertainment district – exactly the kind of person the city wants in to the downtown area! A conservative estimate would put the current losses to the metropolitan Birmingham area at in excess of $250,000 a year in sales alone.
47 states currently allow these higher alcohol beers to be sold. There is no link between higher alcohol beers and higher rates of either drunk-driving or underage drinking. In fact, according to Mothers Against Drink Driving (MADD), Alabama is in the worst half of the drunk-driving rates, along with Mississippi and West Virginia, who are the other two states with these restrictions!
Continue reading →
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Posted in Alabama, Birmingham, Commentary
Tagged AL, Alabama, argument for bill passage, Birmingham, Free the Hops, Gourmet Beer bill, statewide