First of all, yesterday was Beer Day (that day in 1933 an amendment to the Volstead Act took effect legalizing “light (small) beer” of 3.2% or about 4% by volume a full 8 months before the 21st Amendment kicked in) and I was too busy celebrating (aka watching the NCAA Championship) to post. Here’s a roundup, half of which note that this is pretty much the only time it is acceptable for freedom-loving folks to praise FDR. In fact FDR famously said: “I think this would be a good time for a beer” upon signing the amendment into law in March of ‘33. I couldn’t agree more. Oh yeah, about that roundup: Freedom & S–t, Jacob, LA Times and NPR–ok, so a small roundup:)

Secondly, the Gourmet Beer Bill (HB 196) has passed the Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee (I’m a bit late to the party on this one, but my readers out of state will want to know), which means it can now go before the whole Senate for a vote. Alabamians, who love freedom and/or beer, now is the time to contact your state senator and urge him or her to pass this bill!

Ok, now it’s time to resolve the tax question raised several posts back. Thanks once again to super-sleuth Shaun (why haven’t you subscribed to his blog yet?) the answer is that at 14 percent (by volume) or thereabouts, alcoholic beverages in Bama make the jump from the beer tax bracket to the wine tax bracket, which is evidently higher. So, beer distributors don’t want to have to keep track of two different tax regimes for their products. I’d hate to see how Utopias would be taxed. Alabama does not, however, have the highest tax on beer per 12 ounce increments.

What is the economic impact of beer distribution and brewing industry in your state?

And last, but certainly not least, thanks very much to my Mom for recently gifting me with The American Brewery: From Colonial Evolution to Microbrew Revolution. So far I’ve read about Puritan Minister Richard Mather, who referred to “wholesome beere”* and George Washington’s repeated requests for strong beer, common beer and rum for his troops–he truly was a great leader. More interesting highlights to come.

*It’s a commonly-held myth that the Puritans were teetotalers. Far from it, they started the kids on beer at around age three.