Posted on 09/22/2012 9:41:12 AM PDT by Altariel
Do you need any proof that Alabama legislature is a backwards thinking? Read on.
My good friend Kraig Torres founded Hop City a few years ago in Atlanta, Georgia. The store sells 1,800+ beers, wine, and homebrewing supplies. Not to mention a 60+ growler station. Hop City is ranked among the best beer stores on planet earth on RateBeer.com Building upon his great success, Kraig decided to open a second location in Birmingham, Alabama. Recent law changes make Birmingham a great place for a second Hop City.
Kraig has received all the necessary permits to open except for one – the liquor license from the Alabama Beverage Commission. Kraig applied for this license, and with it, provided a floor plan. In the floor plan, he included an area for home brewing supplies. Home brewing is illegal in Alabama, but selling the ingredients is not. Kraig and his lawyer have done extensive diligence on the matter.
Yesterday (Thursday), ARMED ABC agents raided Hop City Birmingham, and confiscated books on home brewing, grain, wort chillers, and more. The agents threatened to arrest his store manager because he harbored materials used to make beer. The ABC Agents loaded up a van with $7,000 of Kraig’s inventory, stating they would be back the next day for the rest. Every single grain, hop, and carboy has to be out of the Hop City Birmingham location before a license will be granted.
Kraig tells me that his opening will now be delayed, until his license can be granted. ”I’m being held hostage by the ABC board.”
Sound off. What are your thoughts on armed men confiscating books on brewing? Bagging hops and grain like it’s cocaine?
UPDATE 9/22/12. 9 AM: The agents were armed. Whether the guns were drawn, or pointed at employees is up for contention.
Ed. Note: Pic above is one BSJ took at the Atlanta Hop City location.
This is why the rest of America sees the South as full of idiots, Bible-thumping killjoys, and hayseeds.
The key thing here...is that home brewing is simply illegal in Alabama (I grew up there and know the general rule). Anyone who admits they do it...simply takes a risk of some law enforcement guy with free time on his hands....walking up to the frontdoor and making a nuisance out of themselves.
The state has been this way for decades and decades...and is not about to shift around. It’s best to just not admit you brew or even drink...in public. I know it’s sad to admit this....but its the plain simple truth.
/johnny
This is so repulsively stupid that it could have happened here in Ohio...
ping
I would say Roll Tide but...........
I’m glad that’s the only reason
The victim here was not *brewing* but selling the brewing supplies—selling the supplies is legal in Alabama.
“This is why the rest of America sees the South as full of idiots, Bible-thumping killjoys, and hayseeds.”
Megabump. Since the state government wants to waste taxpayer time and money regulating this issue, the rest of us will take OUR time and money elsewhere.
What we think of it is obvious...and irrelevant.
Basic fact: police do not enforce the law, because they are not lawyers. They enforce what they THINK is the law, and sensible (if misguided) interpretations thereof. Insofar as they may not know the actual law (written and case), if they think there is sufficient grounds for sufficiently offensive offenses, they bag the evidence and the perpetrator and let a judge adjudicate the details.
Home brewing is illegal in AL. If you’re selling all the stuff needed to engage in a long and well established as illegal activity, and all that stuff has no other practical purpose given the obvious context, police are within their job description to seize & arrest accordingly. “Constructive possession” is a standard principle in law.
I don’t agree with this, I’m just explaining how this bit of the world works.
“This is why the rest of America sees the South as full of idiots, Bible-thumping killjoys, and hayseeds.”
I see, and what do Mayor Bloomberg’s authoritarian antics bring to mind?
Wait, i have an idea. We brew bootleg brew in the woods, and deliver it to customers in cars. And these cars need to be extra fast to elude the cops. We could even have contests to see who the best bootleg driver is.
Dude,,this is gonna be BIG. I can just feel it.
At least they weren’t selling 64oz. Big Gulp sodas.
/johnny
He should look for another state to open his business.
Fighting city hall is senseless in this case.
You don't want to know exactly what we think of low IQ, low-life POS's like you.
Crawl back into your hole you stinking pig!!
It is illegal to brew your own in Alabama?
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