Beer is big business! But in Alabama the beverage is limited to under six-percent alcohol.

Supporters of House Bill 363 say that limits quality. Free The Hops spokesman Stuart Carter says anyone who has had a good cup of coffee can better understand his quest.

"Imagine if the only coffee you'd ever had was Folgers and then someone gives you a town espresso. That's the flavor differences we're talking about! And these expensive beverages, only people with a more mature pallet can appreciate."

Carter says bringing a higher class of beer to Alabama requires that the beverages be allowed to contain more alcohol. But he adds more alcohol has nothing to do with getting drunk.

"Gourmet beers are produced with higher quality ingredients with more ingredients. By having more ingredients they have more alcohol, but the purpose isn't to produce more alcohol, the purpose is to produce the flavor."

And Carter believes increasing the flavor would allow local breweries to compete on a national level.

"If you want to get national attention you need to be brewing the big beers with the strong flavors that people in 47 other states can legally enjoy."

But as HB 373 moves from the house to the senate, not everyone is thrilled about actually putting more alcohol in beer. In fact, Representative Allen Treadaway voted against it.

Treadaway makes his living as a police officer. And as an officer he says he can't support legislation that could contribute to more traffic deaths.

Others like UAB Graduate Student Supriya Reddy fear similar consequences. "I'm Against it because it might increase the rate of binge drinking and at the same time it might increase the negative consequences associated with drinking."