Free The Hops
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Free The Hops is an incorporated nonprofit grassroots organization in the state of Alabama working to reform the state's beer laws.
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[edit] Goals
The first law targeted by the group is the 6% alcohol by volume (ABV) limit on beer brewed or sold in the state. The 6% limit appears once in The Code of Alabama, in §28-3-1(3), addressing the regulation of alcoholic beverages. That section contains the following definition:
BEER, or MALT OR BREWED BEVERAGES. Any beer, lager beer, ale, porter, malt or brewed beverage, or similar fermented malt liquor containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume and not in excess of five percent alcohol by weight and six percent by volume, by whatever name the same may be called.
The group also intends to raise the 16 oz container limit imposed upon beer sold in the state. The container limit appears once in The Code of Alabama, in §28-3A-23(g), addressing the regulation of licenses for selling alcohol. That section contains the following rule controlling retailers licensed by the state to sell alcohol:
All beer, except draft or keg beer, sold by retailers must be sold or dispensed in bottles, cans or other containers not to exceed one pint or 16 ounces.
[edit] Significance
Combined, the limits on alcohol content and container size make thousands of beers illegal that are available in most other states in the U.S. The only other states with a 6% limit on ABV are Mississippi, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Free The Hops is working to bring the beer laws of Alabama up to date with the rest of the country.
[edit] History
In 2006 the group succeeded in introducing bills in the state House and Senate, intending to raise the limit to 14.9% ABV. Neither bill made it to the floor for a vote. In 2007 the group is again introducing the same bills.
The movement to raise the ABV limit on beer in Alabama follows similar movements in Georgia (Georgians for World Class Beer) and North Carolina (Pop The Cap). Both states also had 6% ABV limits on beer until recently. Georgia's limit was raised to 14% in 2004. North Carolina's limit was raised to 15% in 2005.
[edit] Popular culture
- The President of Free The Hops, Danner Kline, was interviewed by Dan Bakkedahl on The Daily Show. The segment focused on the efforts of Free The Hops and contrasted them with a "Dry Oktoberfest" held in Cullman, AL. It aired October 18th, 2005.
[edit] References
- (August 25, 2005). Freedom to Drink Tasty Brews Black & White.
- (January 18, 2007). Hoppy New Year The Huntsville Times.
- (March 11, 2007). Beer bill backers can taste victory The Huntsville Times.
