Will Alabama alcohol regulators be the next ‘Big Brother’?
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC Board) is poised to adopt a new rule that feels eerily like Big Brother — wanting to know exactly who is buying beer and taking it home to drink. More specifically, the ABC board is requiring breweries and brewpubs across the Yellowhammer State to collect the name, address, age, phone number, and date of birth from anyone who purchases beer at a brewery for off-premise consumption. The ABC board discussed the proposed Orwellian rule at a work session earlier this month and could vote on it at its meeting Sept. 28. The proposed rule follows a law that took effect this summer allowing the state’s craft breweries to sell six packs, growlers, and large bottles of beer directly to consumers. Prior to the bill’s passage, Alabama was the only state that banned such sales. Already, the law limits the to-consumer sales to 288 ounces (the equivalent of a standard case of 24 bottles of 12 ounce beers) per person per day. Which is where collecting consumer information comes in. In order to enforce the single-case restrictions, breweries and brew pubs would be required record the names, addresses, phone numbers and birth dates of customers, which they would have to report back to the ABC board each month. Industry groups are strongly opposed to the proposed regulation, which they say is an invasion of privacy, as well as a logistical nightmare to collect the information. Members of Free the Hops — a grassroots organization created in support of specialty, craft beer in Alabama — have spoken out, saying the new rule could infringe on consumer privacy. “As nonsensical as it might seem, this rule would essentially empower the ABC Board to come to an individual’s house to confirm his or her purchase of a six pack of beer,” Nick Hudson, president of Free the Hops said in a statement back in August. The Alabama Brewers Guild, composed of the state’s roughly two dozen breweries and brewpubs, said collecting the information would be an administrative nightmare and could pose concerns not just over privacy, but also about potential data breaches and governmental use of the information. “I’m honestly not sure they thought it out very well,” said Guild Executive Director Dan Roberts. While Alabama and other states require identification to prove the age of someone purchasing alcohol, Roberts said he knows of no other state that collects information about consumers.
Lawmakers to recommend new measures on distribution, sale of alcoholic beverages
The Alabama Alcohol Beverage Study Commission met Tuesday to approve three recommended measures that will be forwarded to the Alabama House and Senate for discussion. The commission was established to examine Alabama’s laws on the “manufacture, distribution and sale of alcohol beverages” and to study whether or not those laws were “competitive and consistent” with related laws across the country, according to a news release. The following three measures, which address different types of alcohol, were approved by the commission: 1.) Beer Licensed brewers and brew pubs producing less than 60,000 barrels of beer annually will be allowed to directly sell up to 228 ounces, comparable to a case of beer, per consumer each day for off-premise consumption. The law would apply to both draft and package beer. Brewers and brew pubs would be permitted to deliver two kegs of beer for donation to charitable or nonprofit events. The requirement that brew pubs be stationed in historic areas would be abolished. 2.)Wine Alabama wineries would be allowed to establish one ABC-approved, off-site location to sell their product. 3.)Spirits Spirit manufacturers would be allowed to sell up to 750 ml, the equivalent of a “fifth,” per consumer annually for off-premise consumption. Rep. Alan Harper (R-Northport) and Sen. Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville) co-chair the commission and noted that input from the public was used in deciding which recommendations should be presented to the legislature. “We received a tremendous amount of feedback from citizens, industry leaders, and businesses across the state during our public hearings, and we believe these recommendations are the best first step towards improving our alcoholic beverage laws in Alabama,” Harper was quoted as saying in the news release. “We are grateful to everyone who participated in the process.” Further, brewers and industry groups are also celebrating the work of the commission, whose recommendations must still be taken up by the Legislature. Bob Parker, owner of Montgomery’s only brew pub, Railyard Brewing Co., was thrilled with the possibilities. “This gets my beer into your house,” Parker said. “That’s a big deal for me.” Parker noted that the revenue that such a move would generate pales in comparison to the “experience” of being able to go down to your local pub and buy a “growler.” The Alabama Brewers Guild and the Alabama Beer Wholesalers Association are also celebrating the news, noting that such moves will put Alabama on an even keel to compete with surrounding states in the “burgeoning industry of craft beer.”
