I’m seeing/hearing lots of questions and a little misinformation already floating around. Hopefully I can answer all the questions in one place.
“Won’t Governor Riley veto our bill since he vetoes all alcohol bills?”
Governor Riley does not veto all alcohol bills. The most relevant example is a wine bill that recently passed which is very similar to our beer bill. It raises the amount of alcohol allowed in wine sold in grocery stores from 14.9% to 16.5%. That’s a direct parallel to what our bill does for beer. Governor Riley signed the wine bill this week. I believe the Governor is a reasonable man, and it would be extremely difficult for a reasonable person to justify vetoing our bill while signing another bill based on identical principles.
“How long does he have to sign it before it is ‘pocket vetoed’?”
The Governor has six days to sign it, excluding Sundays. Today counts as Day One. So he has until midnight Thursday to sign it. If it doesn’t get his signature before that time, it will not become law.
“How will we know when he signs it?”
There is no state website that updates you on the status of bills awaiting signature as there is for bills being debated in the legislature. The Free The Hops officers will know very soon after he signs it, and we’ll get the word out through this blog, through email, Twittter, Facebook, etc. If you’re connected to the internet, you’ll know within a very short time of his signature.
“Will new >6% beers be at the Magic City Brewfest?”
Absolutely. You’re gonna want to get your tickets ASAP. If you thought you saw a sell out last year, you haven’t seen anything yet. Better get to MagicCityBrewfest.com.
“When will we see the new beers at retailers?”
This a complicated one. But to the best of my knowledge you should expect to see a few products appearing at retailers no more than two or three days after the Governor’s signature is in place. At least one beer distributor (in Birmingham) went out on a limb and stocked their warehouse with quite a few >6% beers in anticipation of our bill passing and they have all the paperwork lined up. There will be a brief approval process from the ABC and then the beer goes on their trucks.
They may be the only distributor in that position, though. Every other distributor in the state is going to have to start getting their paperwork together, and then placing orders from suppliers for products they’ve never ordered before, and that may take several weeks.
In short, I know Birmingham will start seeing a few things almost immediately. But most products will have a lead time of several weeks.
“When will Oskar Blues/Dogfish Head/Stone/Lagunitas/[my favorite brewery] come to Alabama?”
I don’t know when your favorite brewery will sign a distribution agreement in Alabama. Some of them may do it within the next couple months. Some may still not be here two years from now. There are a lot of factors that affect whether or not a brewery expands distribution into a particular state. Although our 6% law was keeping lots of breweries out, it was not the only roadblock for some breweries. I do know that Dale of Oskar Blues (maker of Dale’s Pale Ale) is an Alabama native who has been eager to bring his beer to his home state for a long time, and I would expect him to be among the first out of state brewers to sign a contract and get beer here in the wake of our bill becoming law.
Free The Hops will help keep you updated on what new beers are hitting shelves. Stay tuned.
Just make sure you call Governor Riley’s office so we get his signature and all this becomes reality! See the post below for details on that.
25 Comments
Great update Danner. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to this. It’s been an interesting and educational process.
I haven’t seen it addressed anywhere but did this legislation pass with the amendment prohibiting sale in stores that have the convenience store type of permit?
great work everyone, i called the governors office this morning and they did not take my name and stated that they are getting overwhelming numbers of calls in support of this bill!
Yes, it has the amendment but that’s a small price to pay to get this bill passed.
When I lived in Pennsylvania, you could only buy beer at a beer distibuter and wine and liqour at a state store. No grocery stores. no convience stores.
I’m new to the fight but really appreciate the work you guys have done. Just called & the switchboard girl said they were going to give the Gov. a tally shortly. Now would be the time to call!
Great work, Danner. I’m all tingly with anticipation now.
Not to jump the gun here or anything but if/when he signs the bill and we’ve Freed them lil ol’ Hops what will this organization do?
I imagine there is still plenty more work that can be done after this bill.
- getting it into convinience stores
- 22oz bottles
Free the Hops has done a great job to date. And I am hoping they will be around to help us fight for even more great beer choices in the time to come
I imagine they’ll try to do something about the law regarding container size. Right now we’re limited to 16oz containers.
And possibly legalizing homebrewing in AL? *crosses fingers*
I just found out from a friend that Utah of all places recently legalized homebrewing. Maybe there’s hope for Alabama.
Earlier this week the governor did sign our local bill in Marshall County to amend the “local option” law to allow draft beer in wet cities in Marshall County (Guntersville, Albertville & Arab) Maybe he’s in a hops-friendly mood.
Amen to the Marshall Co folks, I just wanted to thank (without jumping the gun) Danner, Stuart, Dan, M Sullivan, and anyone else who has been busting their hump to get this “truck” on the road. Thanks again.
MW (aka Matt S.)
I am thirsty, sign the bill.
The Governor’s secretary told me that they’ve only received one dissenting opinion out of hundreds today, and that they had 225 messages in favor on voicemail from overnight. Excellent work!
I read the amended version of the bill, but of course it’s not in plain English. Does anyone know if the “no convenience stores” prohibition would also apply to grocery stores and such?
Are we sure the 6 days is right? The alabama constitution reads:
If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within six days, Sunday excepted, after it shall have been presented, the same shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature, by its adjournment, prevent the return, in which case it shall not be a law; but when return is prevented by recess, such bill must be returned to the house in which it originated within two days after the reassembling, otherwise it shall become a law, but bills presented to the governor within five days before the final adjournment of the legislature may be approved by the governor at any time within ten days after such adjournment, and if approved and deposited with the secretary of state within that time shall become law.
That’s why I originally said May 27. But then everyone was saying it’s 6 days. I dunno. I doubt we’ll have to wait that long anyway.
Allow me to join in the “GREAT JOB” chorus. Thank you so much for your dedication and hard work!
I just called The Guv’s office and voiced my support of the bill. I’m ashamed to say that this has been the extent of my assistance, other than attending a couple FTH events and making a small donation. I feel that this pales in comparison to the hundreds of hours all of you have sacrificed in the name of gourmet beer (and to help drag Alabama into the 21st century). When I enjoy my first locally-purchased high-grav brew, I will raise my glass/bottle in your honor.
Prost!!!
Greetings, one and all.
I, too, called and urged the Governor to sign our beloved bill… and I can attest to the assurance regarding the tally/count being overwhelmingly in favor of passing this bill. I’ve sent a nice forwardable txtmsg out to all who might sympathize, and I urge others to do the same! I’ll give him any kind of support he wants if he concedes better beer and increased personal liberty to good’ol Alabanjo! Cheers.
I am very proud of the hard work thus far! We’ve gotten so much further then ever before. I was told today (from a son of a lobbyist) that the governor did indeed veto this bill this afternoon. Does anyone have any truth to this? This came from a big lobbying firm that is in support of the bill…
I really hope he heard wrong…
you heard from the neighbour of a mate of someone who was in the bathroom at the time about which team is going to win the superbowl …. yeah, and this rumour is about as believable.
If Governor Riley vetoes the bill, since today was the last day for legislative sessions, it will not have a chance to go back to the senate to override will it?
Relax. He won’t veto it as long as he gets about 7,000 more phone calls and emails.
I live in NC and can appreciate the ups and downs, the fullfilment and the frustration that you’re all going through. I travel to AL relatively often and have been following this for a while. I was involve in the ‘Pop the Cap’ movement in NC and we encountered basically what you’ve experienced thus far.
As far as beer availability, getting the beers is the next semi-hurdle. Some breweries that already distribute in AL will simply add to their stock. We had 90 Minute IPA hours after the bill was signed. Breweries that don’t distribute in AL will want to evaluate the potential for sales in the state. It took us 5 years to get Stone beers here. But they will trickle in and you’ll be in heaven. I still marvel at seeing a bottle of Duvel right there on my grocery’s shelf…