Breweries in Alabama produce a wide range of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

s in different styles that are marketed locally and regionally. In 2012 Alabama's then 17 breweries, importers, brewpubs, and company-owned packagers and wholesalers employed 60 people directly, and another 12,300 in related jobs such as wholesaling and retailing. Including people directly employed in brewing, as well as those who supply Alabama's breweries with everything from ingredients to machinery, the total business and personal tax revenue generated by Alabama's breweries and related industries was more than $259 million. Consumer purchases of Alabama's brewery products generated another $205 million in tax revenue. In 2012, according to the

Brewers Association The Brewers Association (BA) is an American trade group of over 5,400 brewers, breweries in planning, suppliers, distributors, craft beer retailers, and individuals particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and homebrewing. Two of ...

, Alabama ranked 49th in per capita craft breweries with 10. For context, at the end of 2013 there were 2,822 breweries in the United States, including 2,768 craft breweries. In that same year, according to the

Beer Institute Beer Institute is a national trade association, headquartered in Washington, D.C. representing companies which produce and import beer sold in the United States. Beer Institute was organized in 1986 from the United States Brewers' Association The ...

, the brewing industry employed around 43,000 Americans in brewing and distribution and had a combined economic impact of more than $246 billion. By 2017, there were over 27 breweries in Alabama (27 in the Alabama Brewer's Guild and at least 1 not) Beer brewing was thriving in Alabama prior to 1909, when Prohibition laws banned the industry. As a result, for much of the 20th century, and until the law was changed in 2009, beer with an alcohol content greater than 6% (

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

) was unlawful in the state. The Brewery Modernization Act was signed into law in 2011, reforming many former restrictions on breweries' ability to provide a tap room and restrictive regulations regarding

brewpubs Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

. The Legal

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

limit of beer in Alabama is currently 13.9%. According to

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

when discussing beer production, "from 2011 to 2012, annual production grew faster in the South than just about anywhere else, with the fastest-growing producers including Alabama (first out of all fifty states)..."

Breweries

* Avondale Brewing Company –

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

* Back Forty Beer Company – Gadsden * Big Beach Brewing Company –

Gulf Shores Gulf Shores is a resort city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 9,741. Geography Gulf Shores is located on the Gulf of Mexico at 30°16'4.069" North, 87°42'5.285" West (30.267797, −87.70 ...

* Birmingham District Brewing Company –

* Black Warrior Brewing Company –

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

* Bowler Hat Brewing Co. –

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

* Braided River Brewing Co. –

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

* Cahaba Brewing Company –

* Chandlers Ford Brewing –

* Chattahoochee Brewing Company –

Phenix City Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 38,817. Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee ...

* Common Bond Brewers – Montgomery * Cross-eyed Owl Brewing Company - Decatur * Druid City Brewing Company –

* Fairhope Brewing Company –

Fairhope Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2020 Census lists the population of the city as 22,477. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolita ...

* Ferus Artisan Ales – Trussville, AL * Folklore Brewing and Meadery –

Dothan Dothan is a place-name from the Hebrew Bible, identified with Tel Dothan. It may refer to: * Dothan, Alabama, a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties in the U.S. state of Alabama * Dani Dothan, lyricist and vocalist for the Israeli rock and ne ...

* Fractal Brewing Project -

* Ghost Train Brewing –

* Goat Island Brewing - Cullman * Good People Brewing Company –

* Green Bus Brewing –

* Haint Blue Brewing Company -

* InnerSpace Brewing Co. -

* Interstellar Ginger Beer and Exploration Co. -

Alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

* Iron Hand Brewing -

* Low Brim Brewing - Foley * Mad Malts (formerly "The Brew Stooges") –

* Main Channel Brewing –

Guntersville Guntersville (previously known as Gunter's Ferry and later Gunter's Landing) is a city and the county seat of Marshall County, Alabama, Marshall County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the ...

* Old Black Bear Brewing Company –

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

* Oversoul Brewing - Helena * The Railyard Brewing Company – Montgomery * Red Clay Brewing Company –

Opelika Opelika (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Opelika is ...

* Resting Pulse Brewing Company -

* Rocket Republic Brewing Company –

* Salty Nut Brewery –

* Serda Brewing Co. -

* Siluria Brewing Co. -

* Singin' River Brewing -

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

* Slag Heap Brewing Co. -

Trussville Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair counties in the State of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population at the 2020 census was 26,123. Geography Trussvi ...

* Straight to Ale Brewing –

* Tallulah Brewing Company –

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

* Trim Tab Brewing Company –

* True Story Brewing Co. -

* Twisted Barley Brewing -

* Yellowhammer Brewing –

Closed breweries

* Alabama Brewing Company{{cite web , url= http://www.poortastemag.com/the-united-states-of-beer-alabama/ , title= The United States of Beer: Alabama , work= Poor Taste Magazine , date= March 6, 2011{{cite web , url= http://www.alabev.com/history_of_brewing_in_alabama.htm , title= The History of Brewing in Alabama , publisher= alabev.com , access-date= January 24, 2014 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131201234444/http://www.alabev.com/history_of_brewing_in_alabama.htm , archive-date= December 1, 2013 , url-status= dead – operated by Isadore Newman, Arthur Isnard and A. Cammack from 1897 to 1908 (and manufacturing ice until 1917) in

* Band of Brothers Brewing Company – operating from 2015-2018 in

* Barrett's Brewpub – 1990's in

* Beer Engineers contract brewed at Back Forty Brewing 2012-2014 and was to open facilities in

* Below the Radar{{cite web , url= http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/alabama_beer_trail_experts_sha.html , title= 'Alabama Beer Trail' experts share the best of what's brewing throughout the state , work= Alabama Media Group , date= April 15, 2013{{cite web , url= http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/01/happy_brew_year_huntsville-are.html , title= Happy brew year: 8 Huntsville-area beer-makers talk recent and early 2014 releases , work= Alabama Media Group , date= January 8, 2014 Closed in 2021 –

* Birmingham Brewery / Philipp Schillinger Brewing Company – operated in

by Philipp Schillinger and his sons from 1884 to 1908 * Birmingham Brewing Company (1889–1893) – operated by W. I. Rushton from 1889 to 1893 * Birmingham Brewing Company (1992–1998) – operating from 1992 to 1998; its brands, Vulcan and Red Mountain, continued to be contract-brewed until 2001 * Blue Moose Cafe & Brewpub – in Cullman * Blue Pants Brewery – operating from 2010 to 2019 in

* Bluewater Brewing from 2016 to ?? in

* Breckenridge Brewery – 1990s in

* Cheaha Brewing Company operating from 2013 to 2019 in Anniston * Dothan Brewing Company – operating in 2006 in

* The Huntsville Brewery – operating 2013-2014 in

* Hurricane Brewing Company – operating 2006-2009 in

* Magic City Brewery – brew pub operating from 1995 to 2000 in

* Mr. Jim's Cannon Brewpub – operating from 2004-2006 in

* Montgomery Brewing Company – operated from 1995-2010 in Montgomery * Olde Auburn Ale House – was in operation from February 2000 until 2009 in

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, when its brewery was contracted out to a company in Atlanta; from that point, the

microbrew Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

s sold at the Ale House were produced in Atlanta * Olde Towne Brewing Company – operating from 2004-2011 in

* Poplar Head Mule Company – operating from 1995-2002 in

* Port City Brewery{{cite web , url= http://blog.al.com/whats-brewing/2011/01/a_sad_day_for_beer_in_mobile_b.html , title= A sad day for beer in Mobile; brewpub equipment is on its way north , work= Press-Register , publisher= Alabama Media Group , date= January 24, 2011 – first brewpub in Alabama, 1990s in

* Red Hills Brewery – operated from 2016-2019 in Homewood * Southside Cellar Brewing Company – operating in the mid-late 1990s in

* Vulcan Breweries Company – operating in the late 1990s in

Beer regulation

The Code of Alabama defines beer as being fermented malt liquor containing between 0.5%

(ABV) and 13.9% ABV. Before 2009, beer in Alabama was limited to 6% ABV or less. The only other states with similarly low limits were Mississippi and West Virginia. Beer, except draft or keg beer, sold by retailers must be sold or dispensed in bottles, cans or other containers not to exceed 25.4 ounces (750 ml). Prior to the passage of legislation in 2012, container size was limited to 16 ounces.

Brewpubs

Brewpubs in Alabama must be located in an historic building or site, in a wet county or wet municipality, in which county beer was brewed for public consumption prior to the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919. By law, beer brewed by a brewpub cannot be possessed, sold or dispensed except on the premises where it is brewed. Brewpub beer also cannot be packaged or contained in other than barrels from which the beer is to be dispensed. The brewpub must contain and operate a restaurant with a seating capacity of not less than 80.{{cite web , author= Dan Murphy , url= http://blog.al.com/whats-brewing/2011/06/brewery_modernization_act_chan.html , title= Brewery Modernization Act changes the rules for Alabama's breweries and brewpubs , publisher= Alabama Media Group , date= June 21, 2011

"Free The Hops" movement

In 2006 and 2007 a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

lobbying organization called "Free The Hops" introduced bills in the state House and Senate, intending to raise the limit on beer to 13.9% ABV. The bill was passed and signed into law in May 2009. The movement to raise the ABV limit on beer in Alabama followed similar movements in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Those states also had 5% and 6% ABV limits on beer until recently: Georgia raised its ABV limit to 14% in 2004, North Carolina raised to 15% in 2005, and South Carolina raised to 17.5% in 2007. In May 2011, the Brewery Modernization Act was signed into Law, which allowed breweries to sell on-premises like a brewpub, or to wholesalers, or to both, and removed the crippling restrictions which prevented new breweries and brewpubs from opening. In May 2012, the Alabama house passed Senate Bill 294, allowing the sale of beer containers up to 25.4 ounces (750 milliliters), effective August 1, 2012, into law. Governor Robert Bentley signed the bill on May 16, 2012. In May 2013, Free the Hops supported the Alabama Homebrewers Association's home brew bill which was signed into law ending Alabama's status as the last state in the nation that banned the making of beer and wine at home. In March 2016, Free the Hops supported the Alabama Brewers Guild's Growler Bill which was signed into law; allowing breweries to sell a small amount of product directly to the public "to go", removing some unusual location restrictions on where breweries could locate, and allowing for charitable donations to be made directly to a non-profit event. The law went into effect 1 June 2016.

Homebrewing

On May 9, 2013 Alabama governor Bentley signed HB9 into law, allowing Alabama residents to legally homebrew beer. Alabama became the 49th state to legalize homebrewing. Mississippi's legislature passed a law to legalize homebrewing, however it took effect months after Alabama's law did. Alabama residents are limited to 15 gallons of production per quarter and no more than 15 gallon on premises at one time. However, residents of dry counties, dry municipalities, minors and convicted felons are still prohibited from producing homebrewed beer.

Brewers Association

Formed in 2009, the Alabama Brewers Guild exists to promote the common interests of its members and the craft brewing industry in Alabama. The core membership of the guild consists of licensed Alabama breweries and brewpubs actively engaged in the brewing of craft beer at a facility located in the state of Alabama.{{Cite web, url=https://alabamabrewers.org/about/, title=About

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Free the Hops - Brewery Modernization Act signed by Governor

Free the Hops - amended Brewery Modernization Act

Brewers Guild of Alabama
* Birmingham Beverage Company.

. - accessed April 26, 2010
{{Lists of United States breweries {{DEFAULTSORT:Breweries in Alabama Beer in Alabama

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Breweries

Breweries

Closed breweries

Beer regulation

Brewpubs

"Free The Hops" movement

Homebrewing

Brewers Association

See also

References

External links