Contact:

Stephen Gordon
(256) 874-2985
chair@al.lp.org

Alabama Libertarians Oppose Antiquated State Law

(Birmingham, AL) - In some areas, Alabama may lead the nation, but with respect to laws pertaining to certain gourmet adult beverages, Alabama has the dubious distinction of being associated with the only two other states that restrict the brewing or sale of approximately one-third of the styles of upper-scale beers in the world. Because there are movements in Mississippi and West Virginia to modernize their respective state laws, Alabama now risks the serious embarrassment of being the only state in the country enforcing such an antiquated legal code.

In order to broaden the coalition wishing to enhance the lifestyle of Alabama beer enthusiasts, as well as making Alabama law more accommodating to the type of visitors and businesses we hope to attract to our fair state; the Libertarian Party of Alabama is announcing their support of the changes to state laws proposed by Free the Hops.

Under the current law, beers containing more than six percent of alcohol by volume or sold in bottles of over one pint can't be produced or sold in Alabama. The general categories of excluded beers include German Bocks, Russian Stouts, American and English-style Barleywine, some Scottish Ales, many seasonal brews, various Belgian brews, Rogue Ales, many craft brews, as well as many Weissbeers and Hefeweizens.

Free the Hops proposes to change only two Alabama laws. The first recommendation is to update the alcohol volume allowed from six to fourteen and nine-tenths percent; the second is to allow gourmet beers to be sold in bottles which contain more than one pint in volume. Considering that most of Europe uses the Metric System and it is unlikely that they would change their entire manufacturing system to accommodate one to three southern states, it makes sense that Alabama legislators codify this bit of real-world judgment.

"Adults in Alabama who choose to drink responsibly should be able to select products in addition to those manufactured by Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Miller and Pabst," said Libertarian Party of Alabama Chairman Stephen Gordon Monday night at a local libertarian beer-tasting event. "To change these two simple but antiquated state laws harms no one -- and it will have a positive impact on travel and tourism, business development, home brewers, beer enthusiasts as well as restaurants and other small businesses. This proposal is simply common sense and there is absolutely no reason why it can't pass through committee in less than five minutes and then receive a simple up-or-down floor vote during the next legislative cycle – unless some special interest group has a vested financial reason to oppose the bill, which might indeed prove interesting."

In addition to reducing government interference in people's personal lives, the Libertarian Party of Alabama is committed to reducing taxes and government spending, and decreasing the size of government.