ABC confiscates homebrew equipment from Birmingham Hopcity!

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by slatetupelo, Sep 21, 2012.

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  1. Blazer06

    Blazer06 Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2008 Florida

    So they should still be able to sell the ingredients unless there is more written in the law.
     
  2. xnicknj

    xnicknj Initiate (0) May 25, 2009 Pennsylvania

    comical - it's like a shoddily-written episode of Boardwalk Empire. i'm sure there aren't any other more pressing issues that the government could be dealing with in Alabama.
     
  3. woosterbill

    woosterbill Pooh-Bah (2,733) Apr 6, 2009 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    If you want to laugh and cry at the same time, listen to these audio excerpts highlights from last year's AL legislature debate over legalizing homebrewing.
     
  4. robinsmv

    robinsmv Initiate (0) Jun 24, 2010 Florida

    How were they able to confiscate the books? They are not an apparatus used for making alcohol and are covered by the first ammendment. i dont live in alabama, but i bet you can fins books on alcohol production in the library.
     
    beerFool28607 likes this.
  5. 5thOhio

    5thOhio Initiate (0) May 13, 2007 South Carolina

    There is a larger issue of which this is just a small example. Government bureaucrats all over the 50 states have become quite overbearing in their desire to show the citizens just who is boss. These stories seem to pop up almost daily:
    kids' lemonade stands being shut down;
    the Gibson guitar company's stock confiscated;
    a hardware store told they can't give free donuts and coffee;
    food kitchens not allowed to supply free food to hungry people;
    Governing officials have lost the concept that they serve us and increasingly act as if it's the other way around: that we exist to show obedience to them.
     
  6. kmello69

    kmello69 Initiate (0) Nov 27, 2011 Texas

    Good question. Are you sure they have libraries? :stuck_out_tongue:
     
    afrokaze and robinsmv like this.
  7. klaybie

    klaybie Initiate (0) Nov 15, 2009 Illinois

    This is probably just the Criminal Justice major in me speaking, but the agents were just doing their jobs as mentioned above. While I think everyone should challenge laws vocally (or in writing, or both) people should NOT violate laws they feel are unjust just for the sake of protest, they will be charged. On that note, I cannot believe Alabama does not allow homebrewing, its 2012.

    On the issue of the ingredients, I would guess that while the "apparatus" to make beer is illegal the ingredients must fall under that. Even if they don't and an ABCB agent told me to get rid of them, I would. Better safe than sorry, challenge it in court later.
     
    JimKal likes this.
  8. robinsmv

    robinsmv Initiate (0) Jun 24, 2010 Florida

    Where else would they go to eat paste? :grinning:
     
    klaybie likes this.
  9. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    The American Homebrewers Association has been working to get homebrewing legal in Alabama and Mississippi. They have gotten closer but still not there.

    http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/government-affairs
     
  10. cruzmissile72

    cruzmissile72 Initiate (0) Jul 26, 2012 Connecticut

    Idiocracy thy name is Alabama...
     
    klaybie likes this.
  11. klaybie

    klaybie Initiate (0) Nov 15, 2009 Illinois

    I really enjoyed the quote in the video
    here
    that says "All a kid would have to do is find an adult to brew it for them and they have an unlimited amount of alcohol for free" Or something along those lines... yes, because homebrewing supplies are free to any adult and one "youngsters" are always willing to delay their drinking for 4-6 weeks while it ferments.....................
     
    Beerandraiderfan likes this.
  12. kmello69

    kmello69 Initiate (0) Nov 27, 2011 Texas

    If you have an adult who would brew alcohol for you, wouldnt that same adult be willing to just go to the store and buy it for you too? The logic escapes me......
     
  13. Hanzo

    Hanzo Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2012 Virginia

    No, since brewing beer is so much easier and cheaper than going and grabbing a 12pk of Natty Ice.

    Won't someone think of the children!
     
  14. Steeeve

    Steeeve Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2010 Pennsylvania

    By the strictest definition of the word in that shoddily written law, I don't think they have any grounds for confiscating homebrewing books. Ingredients and equipment, yes, but not the books. I don't agree with the law obviously but this guy clearly didn't do his homework before attempting to open his store.

    Serious question, though... why do people live in Alabama?
     
    kmatlack, nanobrew and FosterJM like this.
  15. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    Selective enforcement of the laws is commonplace. Just like the time you were one of many cars speeding down the interstate and you were the only car stopped and ticketed. Or, the owner may have pissed off someone at the ABC board and gotten himself targeted. Either way, the statute does prohibit possession of any equipment used to make any kind of alcoholic beverage. Is this discrimination? Perhaps. There aren't enough facts here to make that determination.
     
  16. robinsmv

    robinsmv Initiate (0) Jun 24, 2010 Florida

    ftfy
     
  17. Hanzo

    Hanzo Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2012 Virginia

    This is one of the few times I don't think tax revenue is the motive. I mean let's face it, when it comes to beer sales they are getting 99% of the tax money from BMC drinkers...and BMC drinkers aren't likely to be the ones trying to brew their own beer. This is about controlling people and stopping them from making their own alcohol because alcohol is the devil.
     
  18. TrappistJohnMD

    TrappistJohnMD Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2011 Mississippi

    If this pisses you off, like it does me, donate a little money or buy a t-shirt from Alabama's Free The Hops and Mississippi's Raise Your Pints lobbying groups. These groups are trying to move our states out of the dark ages.
     
    skivtjerry, jivex5k and SatlyMalty like this.
  19. waddsworth

    waddsworth Initiate (0) Oct 17, 2006 Pennsylvania

    I guess they should start raiding kitchen supply shops then. After all, large stock pots fall under the category of "apparatus for manufacturing alcohol". Buckets, too. Oh yeah, get rid of all tubing as well.

    Don't quite understand about the hops though, as they don't produce any alcohol.
     
  20. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    Although there are, of course, varying degrees of injustice (I certainly don't equate this situation to apartheid), your statement is fundamentally incorrect. Violating unjust laws despite the possibility of being charged, imprisoned, or worse, is many times the most effective way to end the injustice. History has proven this countless times.
     
    Beerandraiderfan likes this.
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