The Alabama Brewers Guild has introduced a local bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Patterson that would allow breweries and brewpubs to sell to-go beer in Madison County.



House Bill 514 was filed Tuesday with support from Reps. Howard Sanderford, Anthony Daniels, Ritchie Whorton and Mac McCutcheon. The legislation, which is modeled after ABG's statewide Senate Bill 214, would give local breweries and brewpubs the option to sell products for on- and off-premise consumption and participate in entertainment districts.



It would also allow manufacturer licensees to operate a restaurant on their licensed property and sell beer at the brewery and restaurant. Click here to read the bill.

ABG Executive Director Dan Roberts, who helped develop HB514 as a back-up plan if the group's statewide bill did not pass, said the chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism committee has "stated unequivocally that no alcohol bills are happening this year."

"We are pursuing HB514 unless we have assurance that the statewide bill will pass," he said. "HB514 is a local bill. It's easier to pass. We just need the Madison County legislators to give the green light."



Straight to Ale co-founder Dan Perry told AL.com last week the Huntsville brewery's plans to quadruple in size, triple its capacity and more than double its workforce at the Stone Middle School property may come to a halt if lawmakers do not pass legislation for off-premise brewery sales in Alabama.



Roberts, who said most states allow some form of take home direct sales, said ABG decided to target Madison County first to keep the Stone Middle project from crumbling.



"(This) is a revitalization project for the western gateway to downtown," he said.



Roberts said ABG met with the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and wholesale lobbyists Wednesday to discuss the local bill. Roberts, who would not disclose his discussions with the wholesalers or their lobbyists, said the wholesalers had concerns about the bill's entertainment district designation and more.



The Birmingham group says it will consider the problems before taking the bill back to the Madison County delegation next week. Roberts said ABG's attorney is working with the ABC board to resolve any potential issues.



"We'll talk with the ABC to make sure we understand what the problems are," he said. "If that means we need to amend the bill, then we will amend the bill."

The Stone Middle project, first announced in August 2014, also includes an 8,000-square-foot brewery, bier garten and tasting room for Yellowhammer in Huntsville. Earth and Stone Wood Fired Pizza, an Albertville-based food truck, will operate a restaurant inside the facility.

Wish You Were Beer, north Alabama's first craft-only beer store on U.S. 72, plans to open a full-service, 800-square-foot home brew supply shop called Sweet Liberty in the Straight to Ale expansion area. Perry has said Sweet Liberty and other small businesses they were working with may have to look for alternative plans if Straight to Ale doesn't open at the new location.

Patterson said Huntsville/Madison County is a "hotbed" for craft brewing right now. Although the Birmingham area produces more craft beer, Madison County has more per-capita beer enterprises than any other part of the state.



"If we can get the old Stone Middle School out there redone, it's going to be something to help Huntsville revitalize that part of town," Patterson said. "They're talking about hiring 50 people out there. That's employment for people."

Two large craft beer makers - Stone Brewing Company of San Diego and Cigar City Brewing of Tampa, Fla. - passed over Alabama last year partly because of legislative restrictions. Cigar City founder Joey Redner told Brewbound.com in mid-October his company "kind of purposefully skipped over Alabama and Georgia because ... they really don't have the friendliest legislation" when it comes to craft beer.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said "it's now up to the Legislature."

"We support the bill because it helps give them an identification and give them a name," he said. "It's a tough thing to get through the Legislature ... but we support it. We have done what we can to help them out."

Speaking of the statewide direct sales legislation, Alabama Wholesale Beer Association Executive Director Donna Alexander has said it would "provide one group of businesses an unfair market advantage over other equally sized competitors by creating a special loophole in the law." Click here to read her full statement.

Roberts said they are still pushing SB214 in Montgomery.

"We don't want a local bill," he said. "We want a statewide bill, but if the State House is determined to put politics before jobs, then we'll explore the options that are available to us to enable the Stone Middle project in Huntsville. We can go county by county if we have to."