HB196, the Gourmet Beer Bill, is up for vote in the Alabama Senate this week, most likely on Tuesday May 6, according to the Free the Hops organization, which is lobbying to get changes made to state law that will allow the sale of higher-alcohol "craft" beers.

Here's the message from Stuart Carter, president of Free the Hops: "Now is the time to call your state senator and let him or her know that you want HB196 to pass! Because the Gourmet Beer Bill has already passed the State House of Representatives, this is the final step before sending this bill to the Governor. It's very close, so please contact your senator to express your support ... When this bill was debated in the House, many legislators spoke of the dozens of phone calls they received from their constituents. Your phone calls and e-mails really do make a difference."

Here's a good article on the topc from Black & White: www.bwcitypaper.com/Articles-i-2008-03-20-215511.112112_A_Change_Is_Brewing.html

And a piece on The Terminal explaining the bill, plus another one related to homebrewing:
http://bhamterminal.com/mybirmingham/2008/03/03/free-the-hops-and-the-gourmet-beer-bills/ 

And for the view from the outside, here's a piece in the LA Times from March:
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-beer10mar10,1,785594.story?page=1&ctrack=4&cset=true