A bill that would allow brewers to sell beer directly to customers passed the state Senate Tuesday.

The so called "Growler bill" passed the state House earlier this month. Gov. Robert Bentley still needs to sign it before it becomes law.

"We get a lot of folks headed down from the north to the south, they'll hop on Google and they'll come with the expectation of picking up some beer to-go for their destination, and now, we have to turn down all those people," said Jason Malone, a co-founder of Good People Brewing Co. "If you're from out of town coming through, you're not necessarily getting educated on your way down as far as who can sell what, so a lot of people have the impression that direct sales are handled the same way as their hometown."

If passed, the law would:

Allow breweries that make less than 60,000 barrels per year to directly sell up to 288 ounces of its beer per customer per day for off-premises consumption.

Allow breweries to deliver up to two donated kegs of its beer to a licensed charity event.

No longer require brewpubs to open only in historic buildings, historic districts or economically distressed areas.

The bill was introduced to lawmakers last month and mirrored recommendations presented by the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Study Commission in January.

Dan Roberts, Executive Director of the Alabama Brewers Guild, said he hopes to see many more brewpubs once the bill becomes law. He said he's worked with people before who have had brewpub concepts, but the restrictions prevented them from opening.

"I really think that could be a really big boon for the industry," Roberts said. "I think brewpubs have a really unique ability to get people into craft beer. They're really good for the industry."

Taylor DeBoer, who's getting ready to launch Ghost Train Brewing Co.'s tasting room in Lakeview, said direct sales will help the brewery get on its feet.

"It's going to be good for the customers too - they're going to be able to take home really fresh beer," DeBoer said.