The United States Treasury Department released a report on February 9, 2022, titled "Competition in the Markets for Beer, Wine, and Spirits" (the full text may be seen HERE).  This report has the potential to be very impactful for craft breweries, distilleries and wineries as it publicly addresses many of the issues at both the federal and state level that we have been talking about for a very long time. Bob Pease and the Brewers Association did their usual fantastic [...]

In May the ABC posted its intended actions regarding proposed changes to chapters five and six of Title 20.  Chapter five proposed changes may be viewed HERE, and chapter six proposed changes may be viewed HERE. One interesting change is found in new section 20-x-5-.20.  This section allows for extension of manufacturer licensed premises.  This is potentially a positive change, but seems to be highly restrictive.  We have proposed language that will: Allow finished product to be distributed from the manufacturer [...]

Dan Roberts, our crack Government Affairs Manager, reports the following major progress today! House Bill 539 by Representative Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) just received its final concurrence vote and is headed to the Governor. If signed by the Governor, most of its provisions will go into effect on August 1, 2021. This legislation began as a relatively straightforward measure to increase the off-premise limits for breweries and distilleries. Earlier this week, after discussions with lawmakers and other stakeholders, we had the [...]

The Alabama Brewers Guild supports home delivery of alcoholic beverages. In the early weeks of the COVID-19 shutdown, the Guild openly called for an emergency rule to allow home delivery for all licensees to provide relief to the struggling hospitality industry. We closely followed the progress of SB126 this year to codify home delivery into law. This legislation would benefit thousands of small businesses in Alabama from package stores to restaurants to our local breweries. Home delivery would also benefit Birmingham-based Shipt, [...]