This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the 'Alabama Brewpub Act.'

(a) The words and phrases used in this chapter shall have the meanings ascribed to them in Section 28-3-1, and any acts amendatory thereof, supplementary thereto or substituted therefor.

(b) The following words or phrases, whenever they appear in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this subsection:

(1) BREWPUB. Any premises upon which beer is manufactured or brewed, subject to the barrel production limitation prescribed in this chapter, for consumption exclusively on the premises.

(2) PREMISES. Any building, structure or portion thereof designated as a historic building and site as defined in Section 40-8-1, in which is located the operations of a brewpub.

(a) In addition to the licenses authorized to be issued and renewed by the board pursuant to the Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Code codified as Chapter 3A, Title 28, the board, upon applicant's compliance with the provisions of this chapter and with Chapter 3A, Title 28, and the regulations made thereunder, is authorized to issue to a qualified applicant a brewpub license which shall authorize the licensee to manufacture or brew beer in a quantity not to exceed 10,000 barrels in any one year and to sell such beer in unpackaged form at retail for on-premises consumption only, and to purchase beer in original unopened containers from licensed wholesalers and to sell such beer at retail for on-premises consumption only, in a room or rooms or place on the licensed premises at all times accessible to the use and accommodation of the general public, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The brewpub premises must be located in an historic building or site as defined in Section 40-8-1, in a wet county or wet municipality, in which county beer was brewed for public consumption prior to the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919.

(2) The proposed location of the premises shall not, at the time of the original application, be prohibited by a valid zoning ordinance or other ordinance in the valid exercise of police power by the governing body of the municipality or county in which the brewpub is located.

(3) Beer brewed by the brewpub licensee shall not be possessed, sold or dispensed except on the premises where brewed, and shall not be packaged or contained in other than barrels from which the beer is to be dispensed on the premises for consumption on the premises.

(4) The brewpub must contain and operate a restaurant with a seating capacity of not less than 80.

(b) The annual license fee levied and prescribed for a license as a brewpub issued or renewed by the board pursuant to the authority of this chapter is $1,000.

(c) Except as provided in this subsection, the provisions of Title 28 shall be applicable. The provisions of Section 28-3-4 and subsection (b) of Section 28-3A-6, shall not be applicable with regard to beer brewed by the brewpub and sold and dispensed on the brewpub premises. In all other respects, Section 28-3-4 and Section 28-3A-6(b) shall be applicable.

(a) In addition to the licenses provided for by this chapter and any county or municipal license, there is levied on the brewpub the privilege or excise taxes imposed by Sections 28-3-184 and 28-3-190. Every brewpub licensee shall file the tax returns, pay the taxes and perform all obligations imposed on wholesalers at the times and places set forth therein. It shall be unlawful for any brewpub licensee who is required to pay the taxes so imposed in the first instance to fail or refuse to add to the sales price and collect from the purchaser the required amount of tax, it being the intent and purpose of this provision that each of the taxes levied is in fact a tax on the consumer, with the brewpub licensee who pays the tax in the first instance acting merely as an agent of the state for the collection and payment of the tax levied by Section 28-3-184 and as an agent of the county or municipality for the collection and payment of the tax levied by Section 28-3-190.

(b) The brewpub shall be required to keep and maintain all of the records otherwise required to be kept and maintained by manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer licensees.

(c) The brewpub shall appoint a licensed wholesaler designee in order to preserve Section 28-9-1. In addition, the brewpub shall be exempt from Sections 28-9-3 through 28-9-11.

A violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute an unlawful act. A finding by the board that the brewpub licensee is guilty of violating any provision of this chapter shall effect an automatic revocation of the license.

The Legislature finds that it is in the best interest of the public welfare of the State of Alabama to preserve and redevelop the original 'downtown' municipal areas of this state and to further promote the preservation and redevelopment of historic buildings and sites. The Legislature finds that an effective way of facilitating the urban redevelopment program and the preservation of historic buildings and sites is by creating a single exception to the existing alcoholic beverage laws to authorize and permit the establishment of brewpubs located in historic buildings and sites in urban redevelopment areas of those municipalities located within counties where the brewing of beer for consumption by the public had historically been located. The policy and intent of the Legislature in the enactment of this chapter is to promote the public welfare by further regulating and controlling alcoholic beverage transactions in Alabama under the control and supervision of the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to accomplish this legislative purpose set forth herein.