The Alabama House Travel and Tourism Committee unanimously passed the bill to change the definition of beer to include beer with 14.9 percent alcohol. Presently, it is defined as having no more than 6 percent.

Now, the bill moves to the floor of the House.

You can read more at the following:

Huntsville Times

Birmingham News

A Bama Blog

The actual bill in question can be read here:

Alabama House Bill: HB195

The Alabama House of Representative bill has been put on the calendar for a floor vote this Tuesday, April 3rd.

We need the phone calls and emails from supporters of HB195. The following link will help you identify who your Representative is:
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/house_zipsearch.html

– Brian Allen

Well, I made to the release of XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout at Bristol Brewery. I arrived at Bristol at 9 PM, which is closing time, but Russell Noel indicated they were still pouring.

I had Russell poured me up one of the XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout. They pour you 4 oz glass, which is good given it is 18.4 ABV. Wow! It tastes great. The flavors remind me of port wine or brady.

I decided to purchase a six pack to take back to my dad's house so that he could try, too.

They only made about 40 case according to what I believe I was told.

You may have read in my previous post about the fundraiser held by Free The Hops at the The Flying Monkey Art Center.

Well, I bought a few raffle tickets at the event and won two of the prizes. Given Free The Hops is an organization formed to change the Alabama laws, you can guess that all the prize where beer in some form.

My father and I decided to have tasting at his house with our friend Bradley Smith. Bradley Smith established Custom Camper Covers in Huntsville, Alabama.

We started with Duvel, which is Belgian Golden Ale. It was an okay start, but it had off flavors for what some of us wanted.

We moved on to tasting Terrapin's 2007 Monster Beer Tour. We started Big Hoppy Monster, which everyone enjoyed to my surprise. I was guessing the beer would be too hopped, but it was enjoyed.

We keep the train moving on our tour of Terrapin beers with our next stop being All-American Imperial Pilsner. This was a good beer to follow the Big Hoppy Monster.

At this point, we decided to shift gear and go aluminum. As in aluminum cans, which brings us to Oskar Blues Brewery's canned ales. We started with Dales Pale Ale, which was good. The flavor caught me off guard from what I expect, but I adapted.

The Old Chub Scottish Style Ale was next and enjoyed by all.

At this point, we switched back to our last Terrapin, which was the “Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Stout“. We knew this beer was off Bradley's scale. And, he agreed saying, “I think I will try another one.” The rich coffee taste drives the flavors in this beer. The body is not that heave, but it is not light either.

We went on, but the write will stop now.

Il Vicino has removing all of its brewing equipment from its Colorado Springs location. The brewing has been out sourced to Bristol Brewing Company, which is located only 16 block away on the same street.

This situation is good and bad. Il Vicino's brewer is now selling real-estate, which is a bummer. But, Bristol knows how to handling contract brewing and they make a consistent product.

I have always enjoyed Il Vicino's beers. The variety has declined over the years. At one time, I had heard that Il Vicino only had part-time brewer until this recent one.

A new era for Il Vicino.

Karen and I headed over to the release of this year's Winter Warlock from Bristol Brewing Company.

Winter Warlock is an oatmeal stout that tastes great.  It is only available during the winter months so you should stock up, now.

Karen and I had a blast at the release.  The tap room was packed, but we had seats at the bar.  Russell Noel was working the taps and keeping everyone happy.  A good spread of food was for the taking.