Free The Hops

Things got a bit political at the J. Clyde bar in Birmingham, Ala., this past winter, and the icy attitude towards the current beer laws doesn’t look like it’s going to be letting up anytime soon.. Free The Hops (www.freethehops.com) is an Alabama organization seeking to change laws concerning the specialty beers allowed for sale in the state. A big supporter of the movement, Jerry Hartley, owner of the J. Clyde in the city of Birmingham, invited the local media to come down for an on premise gathering of those who want the state to allow beers higher than 6percent ABV to be sold. “Updating the beer laws will benefit businesses, consumers and the state,” says Stuart Carter, president of Free the Hops. “Distributors, retailers and microbreweries will be able to expand their product lines and generate new business, and the state will tap a source of tax revenue currently lost to other states that lack restrictions.” A 5-minute segment aired that night on the 10 p.m. news on channel ABC 33/40, which gave the bar and the cause great publicity in Birmingham and beyond.