Bootleggers and Baptists

Watch This: FSU Student's Film Shows Craziness of Craft Beer Laws in 'A Story So True, It's Stupid'

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Beer
Kuba Bozanowski / Wikimedia Commons

In Florida, beer jug sizes are strictly and nonsensically regulated. You can carry beer in a 32 oz. jug, or a 128 oz. jug—but nothing in between. The 64 oz. growler—an ideal container to bring to a brewery, fill up, and take home—is illegal in just Florida, Mississippi, and Utah.

Florida's law, which was put in place by a vindictive legislature more than half a century ago and maintained by monopolistic beer distributors, is the subject of short documentary film by Florida State University student Hunter J. Truman. Truman told the Herald-Tribune that he set out to make a more objective film, but it was just impossible:

He said started the project after wondering why 40-ounce beer bottles weren't available in Florida. He said he "went down the rabbit hole of insane factors" about Florida beer regulations.

The craft beer industry "just seems it has everything right going for it," Truman said. He was surprised to find that the brewers are being opposed politically, especially from conservatives who say they support small businesses, he said.

Truman must not have heard of bootleggers and Baptists.

Watch Truman's film here.