Craft Conquering Mississippi and the World

There was news out of Mississippi yesterday. You may recall an earlier discussion here focused on the nonsense of Mississippi's beer laws, which limit ABV to 5 percent. Mississippi was giving the Middle East a run for its money in the area of antiquated beer laws

Well, the Raise Your Pints movement finally succeeded in getting a bill through the Mississippi Leg increasing beer alcohol level to 8 percent. Congrats to them for that, because this wasn't a slam dunk by any means. They've got idiots all over the place down there, bent on keeping the state "safe" from good beer.

Enter Sen. Joey Fillingane (R-Hicksville). This fine gent has voted against increasing the beer alcohol limit for the entirety of his 13-odd years in the state senate. No surprise that he was one of 14 senators who opposed the recently passed bill. Impeachment must be tough down there.

Fortunately, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant didn't see things Fillingane's way. The Gov. signed the bill into law. Don't get too excited yet, though, because the new law won't go into effect until July 1. Once it does, Mississippians will be able to enjoy craft beers that haven't previously been available in the state. The new law will also enable brewers in state to make something other than light beer. Good times.

World Domination
In a related (under the category of craft beer gains) story, The Brewers Association just announced that exports of American craft beer set a record (for the ninth straight year), reaching 110,000 barrels in 2011...worth an estimated $23.4 million. This represents an 86 percent increase by volume and a 97 percent increase in dollars over 2010.

Look, $23.4 million is pocket change next to the overall volume of US foreign trade. It wouldn't take that many cars from Japan or Germany to eat up what craft beer is bringing back to the US. So don't count on international sales of craft beer to reverse the trade deficit.

Nonetheless, craft beer exports are growing rapidly. The world is starting to figure out where it can get good beer! We actually are good at making something. Just not TVs or cars, apparently. World beer domination can't be far behind. If beer laws in the Middle East could be brought into line with Mississippi, we might have something.

Dragging Mississippi out of the Dark Ages

Given the seemingly endless number of beer choices we have in Oregon and most other states, you may be surprised to learn that Mississippi is giving Saudi Arabia a run for its money when it comes to antiquated beer laws. We're talking dark ages.

Under current state law, the alcohol content of beer produced or sold in Mississippi cannot be greater than 5 percent. That effectively means craft breweries can't brew. It also means Bubba can't buy craft beer at the Piggy Wiggly. Nor can he brew his own beer in his mobile home. It's a sad situation.

All kidding about Bubba and the Piggy Wiggly aside, the situation is Mississippi is a joke. If you want to fully understand the problem, take a gander at the map showing wet and dry counties in the state. Half the damned state is dry! Once you see that, you begin to understand why beer laws are comparable to those in Saudi Arabia.

Fortunately, there is a move afoot to fix this mess. A grassroots organization known as Raise Your Pints is working to raise the alcohol limit to 8 percent. Thanks largely to that work, there are currently bills in the state House and Senate that would change the law.

It isn't all hunky dory. House Bill 1422 was passed on March 1, but has since stalled on a motion to reconsider. If it clears that hurdle, the bill moves on to the Senate for approval. Senate Bill 2878 is a backup. It was passed out of committee a week or so ago and is awaiting action in the full Senate. Whichever bill is approved by both houses would go to the gov's desk for signature, veto or tabling. If the latter, the bill would automatically become law after the deadline for approval passes.

Raise Your Pints is also working to make home brewing legal in Mississippi. You read that right: home brewing ain't legal in Mississippi today. And maybe not anytime soon. House and Senate bills that would make home brewing legal have failed to make it out of committee. Go figure.

What's going to happen? It seems likely the beer law will change. Eventually. That well-known stalwart of great beer, Anheuser-Busch, has thrown its support behind the effort to modernize Mississippi. Don't bother questioning why a company whose primary market is light beer would support changing this law. Just be glad they're supporting the change. They have deep pockets.

Much of what's driving the willingness to change these medieval laws is that the state is losing money. People are going outside Mississippi to purchase craft beer and the craft brewing industry is having a tough time due to the alcohol limit. Calmer, wiser heads in government realize the need to change. It hasn't been particularly easy because these laws are entrenched.

For most of the folks who read this blog, just be glad you live where you do. Changes to beer laws in Oregon, Washington and California made the brewpub concept possible long ago. An entire industry was established and flourishes largely as a result of those changes. A small group of people pushed for those laws and we owe them a big thanks.

Honestly, Raise Your Pints is merely trying to drag Mississippi into the 20th century. The 21st century will have to wait.