homebrewing and beers over 6 % in Huntsville? (Madison, Prichard: real estate, house, buy)

[Burbankhotty]

This going to be a hard sell...I'm trying to talk my husband into moving from Burbank CA to Huntsville....I was making progress, but I just read a post on here about homebrewing and beers over 6% being illegal. That won't fly.
I there away around it? How do they know you are home brewing? What's the closest city to get some good strong beer? What about brewery restaurants? THose are so popular now, surely you must have those. What about wine, are there restrictions? Can you receive beer in the mail?
Thanks for any help!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Burbankhotty

I'm trying to talk my husband into moving from Burbank CA to Huntsville....

Why do you want to move to Huntsville?

I used to make home brew, back when I lived in Moorpark, just up the 5/118 from you. Used to go to the place at Ventura and Fallbrook (Maltose Falcons) for supplies.

Anyway, not sure about the beer making.

You might want to check this out:

Alabama Alcohol Laws (http://www.alabamaduipenalty.org/alabamaalcohollaws.html - broken link)

[Burbankhotty]

Originally Posted by Charles

Why do you want to move to Huntsville?

I used to make home brew, back when I lived in Moorpark, just up the 5/118 from you. Used to go to the place at Ventura and Fallbrook (Maltose Falcons) for supplies.

Anyway, not sure about the beer making.

You might want to check this out:

Alabama Alcohol Laws (http://www.alabamaduipenalty.org/alabamaalcohollaws.html - broken link)

that didn't really address my concerns, but thanks anyway.

[mm42]

If beer is a large part of your life, Alabama may not be the right place.

OTOH, Tennessee is close by, and doesn't have the same 6% ABV restriction. I have not have beer shopping in Ardmore, so I don't know what the selection is like there.

http://www.oldetownebeer.com/images/hefeweizen6.jpg (broken link)

Olde Towne Brewing Company (http://www.oldetownebeer.com/otbc.html - broken link)

Free The Hops | Alabamians For Specialty Beer

[Burbankhotty]

Originally Posted by mm42

If beer is a large part of your life, Alabama may not be the right place.

OTOH, Tennessee is close by, and doesn't have the same 6% ABV restriction. I have not have beer shopping in Ardmore, so I don't know what the selection is like there.



Olde Towne Brewing Company (http://www.oldetownebeer.com/otbc.html - broken link)

Free The Hops | Alabamians For Specialty Beer

thank you ,very informative and just the info I was seeking.

[deesonic]

Pull up a chair, Burbankhotty and I will tell you a tale of Alabama's struggling beer culture. Beer is near and dear to my heart. I am a Huntsville native who actually lived in the San Fernando Valley for some time before moving to a handful of other places and returning to my hometown in 2006.

Yes, 6% ABV is our limit here for beer. And yes, the law is every bit as stupid as I'm sure you and your husband think it is. Believe me, we know. But fear not, there is a very strong grassroots movement to change our archaic laws and we have good reason to believe that this is the year that will change. Check out the aforementioned Free The Hops | Alabamians For Specialty Beer website for more info. I am a very active member.

As for home brewing...yes, it's technically illegal. But it's basically illegal like driving 56 in 55 MPH zone is. Know what I mean? There is a very active home brewing culture in Huntsville. We have two home brew clubs and two home brew supply stores in town. There are also grassroots efforts to change the home brew laws here.

Sadly, we do not have a brewpub in Huntsville. We have a nice beer bar, The Nook, and a local microbrewery, Olde Towne. Laws are quite arbitrary and very restrictive for brewpubs in Alabama. In a nutshell, one can open a brewpub in Alabama IF IF IF it's located in a county that had a brewery prior to prohibition AND it's located in a building that is on the national historic register. Madison County fits the bill for a brewpub under these laws. But the historic building restriction severely cuts down on the available real estate for such a venture.

Again, rest assured there is a very strong movement to change things here. Within the last 5-6 years similar laws have been overturned in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. So we're quite confident we'll pull it off very soon. Our ABV bill passed the State House last year, but never came up for vote in the Senate. We did not "fail" as many claim. It simply never came up. Our Senate wasted away 14 days of legislative time debating bingo bill that only affected one county. But you can read more about that at FTH's site.

So don't let our archaic beer laws dissuade you from moving here. There are plenty of people here that are as passionate about beer as your husband and we're working hard to change things. If it's any consolation, Fayetteville, Tennessee is only 30 minutes north and there are a couple of really nice beer stores up there as their beer laws are a little more 21st Century apparently. Feel free to PM me for more info.

Oh, and no there are not the same restrictions on wine here. AND you can buy extreme high alcohol liquor like Everclear (190 proof) and Bacardi 151 here. Does that make sense? No, of course not. Beer is subject to completely unfair restrictons.

Finally, here's a little article that was featured in your local LA Times last year regarding the home brewing groups in the Huntsville area. - Los Angeles Times

I love beer and love talking about it. So feel free to ask me anything about beer.

[Reactionary]

Burbankhotty - since deesonic covered the beer issue, I'll add that this area also has a few (illegal) home distilleries. Also Jack Daniels and Prichard Distilleries (best US made Rum) are less than an hour away.

I'll also add that Redstone Arsenal isn't subject to the restrictive beer laws and that Olde Towne is opening a brew pub (at the Firehouse) on base this Spring or Summer, which will offer specialty brews (>6%).

Free the Hops tracks legislator's probable votes and estimates that the Gourmet Beer Bill has about 60% bi-partisan support. Last year, Budweiser was hesitant / lukewarm in support of the Bill, but is now fully on-board (helpful $$$).

deesonic - see you tonight at the Free the Hops meeting?

[FCEddie]

I drive up to Nashville to get my required Belgian Beer fix. Duvel, Chimay, Delirium, and Lambic Kriek and Framboise.

Nearly time for another run.

[deesonic]

You can get those lambics in Huntsville at The Nook (Lindeman's Framboise, Kriek, Pomme, Cassis, Geueze). So I assume you could find those retail somewhere in town as well. You can get all those other Belgians in Fayetteville at the Liquor Locker on 231. But I do like to run up to Frugal McDougal from time to time as well. BTW, I recommend the Chouffe products from Belgium (LaChouffe, McChouffe, N'Ice Chouffe, etc). They are fantastic! They're in Fayetteville too.

PS Reactionary... I work Wednesday nights now, so I can't make it. Y'all should stop by The Nook afterwards and fill me in.

[Reactionary]

Fayetteville has some good beers (Chimay, Great Divide, &c) at Strong Brothers or Liquor Locker (across the street from each other on US231 / North Memorial Parkway).

FCEddie - name names! Where do you shop?