E-Malt.com News article: US, AL: Free the Hops group and local brewers calling for a boycott of Alabama's largest beer distributors

Free the Hops is calling for a boycott of Alabama's largest beer distributors. The group, which supports specialty beers, claims Anheuser-Busch is trying to block legislation that would help local breweries grow, waaytv.com reports.

The Free the Hops group and local brewers are trying to pass the Beer Modernization Act. If passed, it would allow breweries to serve and distribute beer, and boost the local economy.

For years, Dan Perry has dreamed of opening his own brewery. He says, “It’s the full flavor and the different hop characters in the beers that really appeal to me personally."

Now he's achieved that dream with Huntsville’s Straight to Ale Brewery, but says Alabama's strict regulations make it tough to stay afloat.

Perry explains, “For us, if we could have a tap room, have it open a couple nights a week, that would be an additional source of revenue, and we could hire some employees. If we could do samples and tours, that's one of the main things, I get four to five emails a week from people that want to come and take a tour of the brewery and try our different beers. But that's something we can't do right now."

Local brewers and craft beer advocates are trying to change that with the Beer Modernization Act.

Cliff Kerry is a local attorney and beer aficionado who’s looking to open his own brewpub. He says the passage of the bill would make that possible: "If we get this thing passed, within two to three months of it passing, I expect to hire upwards of 80 people in Madison County and start the first brewpub in North Alabama in over 100 years."

Kerry feels the Beer Modernization Act would give a major boost to Huntsville's beer industry. The Rocket City is already home to three of the state's five breweries.

Kerry explains, “Right now, you have people going to Nashville to get their beer fix up there. And I think with all the new breweries here in town locally, Huntsville is soon to become a Mecca for beer in the South."

Free the Hops Vice President Dan Roberts acknowledges their challenges, but feels the bill's benefits speak for themselves.

Roberts explains, “It’s a jobs-creating, economic development bill, and it's a bill that will grow an Alabama-based industry. Now if that's enough, I don't know, but I hope it is."

The Beer Modernization Act has already passed the Senate and will be voted on in the House Committee of Economic Development and Tourism on Wednesday, April 27th.


27 April, 2011