Restrictions

The world's finest and most expensive beers are prohibited in Alabama as result of the state's current alcohol by volume (ABV) and container size limits for beer. Beverages defined as beer under Alabama law can contain no more than 6% alcohol by volume (ABV) and can be sold in containers no larger than 16 ounces.

Meanwhile beverages defined as wine can contain up to 24% ABV and have no container size restrictions. (Note: Under Alabama law, wine is further divided into "table wine" which has a limit of 14.9% ABV and "fortified wine" which has a limit of 24% ABV.) Likewise, liquor can contain up to 100% ABV and can be sold in any size container under Alabama law.

The ABV Restriction (our first priority)

The Current ABV Law
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 Gourmet Beer Bill
FTH first introduced the Gourmet Beer Bill to the Alabama Legislature in 2006 and then again in 2007. For the 2008 Legistative Session, FTH has proposed the following Gourmet Beer Bill which would change the limit on beer to just below that of table wine.

"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 thirteen and nine-tenths percent by volume, by whatever name the same may be called."

This minor change is all it takes.

The Container Size Restriction

The container size 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."

Alabama is the only state in the country with this peculiar restriction. FTH supports the removal of this regulation, but has not introduced any legislation to change it and has no immediate plans to do so.

Additional Restrictions

Home brewing, commercial brewing, and beer sales in Alabama are further restricted in other ways. For example, home brewers are prohibited from holding home brew competitions. Brewpubs in Alabama must meet the stringent requirements of being located in a historical building. They must also be located in a county in which beer was brewed for public consumption prior to the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919. Bottling breweries face similar antiquated restrictions. All of these restrictions stifle the beer industry in Alabama.

FTH supports the removal of these and other arbitrary restrictions on beer brewing and sales.

Current bills

Follow the progress of our 2008 bills for increasing the permissable ABV to 13.9% and reforming homebrew.