Jimmy Carter has gone down in history for many things, but the thing most relevant to this post is that, in 1979, Carter legalized hombrewing in the United States.  Sort of.

Carter, a well-known beer lover and brother of Billy Beer namesake Billy Carter, eased federal hombrewing regulations enough that people like you or I could pick up the hobby and make enough beer to experiment and enjoy the process.  But he ultimately let states decide how they wanted to handle homebrewing within their own borders.  That meant in some places — Alabama in this instance — homebrewing remained illegal, and remains so to this day.

But this week, the Alabama Senate voted 13-6 to legalize brewing for personal use.  The bill will now move on to the state House and, hopefully, the Governor’s office, where homebrewing will finally become a legal hobby for beer lovers across the state.

Congratulations to those from Alabama who have wanted to start homebrewing or those who have been doing so as rebels.  And a tip for anyone living there: there’s about to be a huge demand for homebrewing supplies, and homebrew supply stores are probably very rewarding investments.