Alabama beer geeks are closer to a moment that is long overdue: The option to purchase beer in bottles or cans larger than 16 ounces.
Alabama’s state house just recently approved a bill that would legalize beer packaging/sales in bottles up to but not including 26 ounces (750 ml, or 25.4 oz. to be exact). This is well above the present one- pint bottle or can limit and it will open up a whole new door for the craft beer market. Specialty craft beers are often sold in 22 ounce bomber bottles and nothing else. This means that Alabama residents have not been permitted to purchase these products due to the state’s legal limitations.
Why the state of Alabama ever placed such a bizarre law on the books is uncertain, but opponents of the measure have provided some insight, however irrational it may be. Apparently, some are concerned that larger bottles means more drinking and more intoxication. What these naïve individuals fail to stop and consider is that people who purchase beer in bomber bottles usually only purchase one or two. They don’t ponder between a six pack of 12 oz. cans and six 22 oz. bottles. For one thing, larger bottles usually house the more expensive craft beer so it wouldn’t make sense from a cost perspective. Also, people who drink from larger bottle usually stop at one or two, as opposed to those who buy a six pack and down the entire contents.
Alabama is the only state in the nation with a law like this and with a little more effort on behalf of state law makers, it will be the last. More craft beer options await Alabama beer snobs if the law passes and the prospects at this time appear good. Keep your bomber bottles crossed and hope for the best for our beer- loving Alabama brethren.
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