[thirsty]

If all the Alabama homebrewers were millionaires, and could donate large sums of money to every politician in the Alabama Legislature, the law would be changed right away.

[colinhayes]

you know, sometimes you just have to ignore laws.

[narvin]

Alabama
You got the rest of the union
to help you along
What's going wrong?

[tschmidlin]

Tom, are you sure that citation is correct?  I wanted to read it and can't find it anywhere.
Lovett v. State, 1943

I tried caselaw.findlaw.com and findacase.com

It might be that they don't have the right databases, do you know where I can find it?

[Beer Monger]

you know, sometimes you just have to ignore laws.

Exactly.  There are even a few homebrew supply shops in Alabama.  I haven't read a single story ever about a homebrew supply shop being raided & closed down 'cuase homebrewing is technically illegal in the state. 

[tschmidlin]

you know, sometimes you just have to ignore laws.

Exactly.  There are even a few homebrew supply shops in Alabama.  I haven't read a single story ever about a homebrew supply shop being raided & closed down 'cuase homebrewing is technically illegal in the state. 

What the shops are doing - selling grains, sugars, hops, yeast, etc - isn't illegal as far as I know.

[Beer Monger]

you know, sometimes you just have to ignore laws.

Exactly.  There are even a few homebrew supply shops in Alabama.  I haven't read a single story ever about a homebrew supply shop being raided & closed down 'cuase homebrewing is technically illegal in the state. 

What the shops are doing - selling grains, sugars, hops, yeast, etc - isn't illegal as far as I know.

True, but they're dumb enough to keep homebrewing illegal there, so I wouldn't put it past them to harrass the shops.  lol

[maxieboy]

If all the Alabama homebrewers were millionaires, and could donate large sums of money to every politician in the Alabama Legislature, the law would be changed right away.

Bingo.

[Beer Monger]

They say we should be thinking of our chillrens and ought not to be exposing them to 100 gallons of beer in our home and throwing underage parties.

1. I have no kids.  I'm sure there are lots of homebrewers (or wanna be homebrewers) in AL that don't have kids either.
2. Throw underage parties?  Good lord why?  That's MY homebrew!    (This is an extremely lame excuse - can they point to this being an issue in ANY state where homebrewing is currently legal?  I doubt it.)

They say without a license who is going to make sure we don't make people sick.

I'm surprised they allow you guys in AL to cook at home!  I mean, what if your cooking/food handling skills are poor and you make someone sick!?  The horror!  lol

They say we are a low class of people.

So making beer at home that's 10X better than the Bud light crap they buy at the store & drink is 'low class'?  Morons.  First class morons. 

They say where I come from we call that boot legging.

Boot-legging is 'smuggling' liquor (the term doesn't cover beer to my knowledge, but I could be wrong).  What, exactly, is being 'sumggled' when we homebrew? 

I'll have to visit AL someday, but I know I could never live there.  The basic level of stupidity and ignorance, just from the local politicians in this example, would make me want to kill myself.  lol




[/quote]

[tschmidlin]

As far as I can tell, if there is no law specifically prohibiting it in Alabama then it is not technically illegal to homebrew, because it is legal federally.  However it is illegal to possess homebrewing equipment because of this (my emphasis):

Section 28-1-1
Possession of still, etc., or illegally manufactured, transported or imported alcoholic beverages.

In all counties of the state it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to have in his or its possession any still or apparatus to be used for the manufacture of any alcoholic beverage of any kind or any alcoholic beverage of any kind illegally manufactured or transported within the state or imported into the state from any other place without authority of the alcoholic control board of the state, and any person, firm or corporation violating this provision or who transports any illegally manufactured alcoholic beverages or who manufactures illegally any alcoholic beverages shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided by law.

And Tom, I'm pretty sure that case you mention doesn't apply.  In 1943 when it was decided it would have been correct, but back then homebrewing was illegal federally and states didn't need a law prohibiting it.  When Carter legalized it in 1979 it should have automatically become legal in every state that did not have a law against it.  The law against possessing equipment to make beer without a license should cover them for busting most people, but I think if you had a homebrew in your hand there would be nothing they could do because making homebrew itself is not illlegal so you are not in possession of an illegally made alcoholic beverage.  Tenuous perhaps, but one could make the argument.

I'm not suggesting anyone test my ideas   I'm not a lawyer, I'm not familiar with all Alabama laws, and I'm assuming there is no law that specifically prohibits homebrewing.  Just thinking about the subject.

[udubdawg]

As far as I can tell, if there is no law specifically prohibiting it in Alabama then it is not technically illegal to homebrew, because it is legal federally.  However it is illegal to possess homebrewing equipment because of this (my emphasis):

Section 28-1-1
Possession of still, etc., or illegally manufactured, transported or imported alcoholic beverages.

In all counties of the state it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to have in his or its possession any still or apparatus to be used for the manufacture of any alcoholic beverage of any kind or any alcoholic beverage of any kind illegally manufactured or transported within the state or imported into the state from any other place without authority of the alcoholic control board of the state, and any person, firm or corporation violating this provision or who transports any illegally manufactured alcoholic beverages or who manufactures illegally any alcoholic beverages shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided by law.

And Tom, I'm pretty sure that case you mention doesn't apply.  In 1943 when it was decided it would have been correct, but back then homebrewing was illegal federally and states didn't need a law prohibiting it.  When Carter legalized it in 1979 it should have automatically become legal in every state that did not have a law against it.  The law against possessing equipment to make beer without a license should cover them for busting most people, but I think if you had a homebrew in your hand there would be nothing they could do because making homebrew itself is not illlegal so you are not in possession of an illegally made alcoholic beverage.  Tenuous perhaps, but one could make the argument.

I'm not suggesting anyone test my ideas   I'm not a lawyer, I'm not familiar with all Alabama laws, and I'm assuming there is no law that specifically prohibits homebrewing.  Just thinking about the subject.

while the parts you emphasized prohibit the equipment, it seems like the part in between the two you bolded prohibits the product...

[tschmidlin]

while the parts you emphasized prohibit the equipment, it seems like the part in between the two you bolded prohibits the product...

It doesn't seem that way to me, because it references illegally manufactured alcohol.  If there is no state law prohibiting homebrewing and it is legal by federal law, then homebrew would be legally manufactured alcohol.

[weithman5]

It doesn't seem that way to me, because it references illegally manufactured alcohol.  If there is no state law prohibiting homebrewing and it is legal by federal law, then homebrew would be legally manufactured alcohol.

i agree. not that that matters

[tschmidlin]

It doesn't seem that way to me, because it references illegally manufactured alcohol.  If there is no state law prohibiting homebrewing and it is legal by federal law, then homebrew would be legally manufactured alcohol.

i agree. not that that matters

No, it doesn't matter.   And I wouldn't want to have to argue that in court either.  But given enough money and a good enough lawyer you'd probably win.

[jeffy]

It doesn't seem that way to me, because it references illegally manufactured alcohol.  If there is no state law prohibiting homebrewing and it is legal by federal law, then homebrew would be legally manufactured alcohol.

i agree. not that that matters

No, it doesn't matter.   And I wouldn't want to have to argue that in court either.  But given enough money and a good enough lawyer you'd probably win.

Unless the trial is in Alabama.