3 city council members seek draft beer sales

FLORENCE -- Three city council members are sponsoring a resolution that would ask the state Legislature to pass a bill allowing the sale of draft beer in Florence.

The bill would allow the on-premises sale of draft beer at any establishment that holds a license to sell beer.

It would also allow the sale of draft beer for off-premises consumption, provided it is sold in its original container. That means individuals could purchase a keg of beer, but draft beer could not be dispensed into containers and sold.

"All that has to be done is a legislative act allowing it," said Gene Schrieber, district supervisor of the Florence Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board office.

The bill is being sponsored by city council members Hermon Graham, Sam Pendleton and Angie Pickens.

"I'm doing this on behalf of the people coming up and asking me, 'Why can't we have draft beer?' " Pickens said.

Those people, she said, includes individuals and representatives of motels and restaurants.

She said Chili's Restaurant and Legends Steakhouse are already set up to sell draft beer.

Pickens said the issue was brought up in 2006 and the council learned that the Legislature had to approve a bill to sell draft beer.

There are 23 Alabama counties allowed to sell draft beer -- Baldwin, Barber, Bullock, Calhoun, Choctaw, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Escambia, Etowah, Greene, Jefferson, Lee, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Mobile, Montgomery, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Tallapoosa and Tuscaloosa.

Cotton Johnson is the general manager and co-owner of Shoals Distributing Inc., an Anheuser-Busch beer distributor in Muscle Shoals.

"We're not opposed to draft beer," Johnson said. "It's a little bit more costly for us."

Since draft beer kegs must be kept refrigerated, local distributors would have to build large walk-in coolers to store the new product.

Johnson said it would take up to three months to get set up to distribute draft beer locally, if the act is approved by the Legislature.

He said draft beer is taxed by the ounce, like bottle or canned beer.

"The tax dollars would be the same," Johnson said.

He said there likely would not be an increase in the amount of beer sold. Instead, draft beer sales would take the place of bottles and cans.

Schrieber said restaurants interested in the area that have inquired about liquor licenses have also asked about draft beer.

State Rep. Tammy Irons, who represents Florence, said if the resolution is approved, she will discuss it with state Sen. Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals, who also represents the city.

City Attorney Bill Musgrove has drafted a bill, just in case.

If approved by the Legislature, the act would go into effect upon signature by Gov. Bob Riley.

The upcoming legislative session begins March 6.

Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738 or russ.corey@timesdaily.com.