Higher alcohol beer bill headed to Mississippi governor
A bill that would raise the alcohol-by-weight limit in beer from 5% to 8% is headed to the desk of Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.
Senate Bill 2878, which passed the state Senate on March 12, was approved by the House on Tuesday with no debate.
The bill has been pushed by grassroots group Raise Your Pints as well as Anheuser-Busch and its independent distributors in Mississippi.
It now awaits the signature of Gov. Bryant, who said in January he isn’t “necessarily opposed” to signing the legislation, the Mississippi Business Journal reported.
Bryant spokesman Mick Bullock just emailed a short statement. It said, “Gov. Bryant will review the measure after it has been transmitted to him by the Legislature.” [source]
The timing of its passage Tuesday took the Raise Your Pints folks by surprise.
Well, we were not expecting it to happen this quick, but…..
— Raise Your Pints (@RaiseYourPints) March 27, 2012
#CraftBeer bill SB 2878 has PASSED the House!!! Next stop the Governor’s desk! hops.me/jtm #msleg
— Raise Your Pints (@RaiseYourPints) March 27, 2012
Mississippi is the only state that limits ABW for beer to just 5 percent, which in turns prohibits sales of about a third of the world’s beer styles. Raise Your Pints is also seeking to make homebrewing legal in the state, though homebrewing bills have not advanced in the legislature this session.
We’ll keep you updated on any more developments.
