Beer and Friends....

Phunhog · 07-05-2011, 11:20 PM

Now I know some of you have this problem too. I have been brewing for a few years now and it is a huge passion for me. A lot of my friends have tasted my beer and some have asked me to brew up kegs for special events. I am flattered by the request and love doing it. They want to "pay" me since they realize that while the beer is "free", the grains, hops, propane, etc... do cost me money. I was thinking about just saying each keg is 50 bucks IF they want to pay me. Does that sound fair? I guess they could also just give me some money in advance so I could go buy the supplies. I enjoy seeing others drinking my beer but I just don't want to be broke providing free beer.

dlaramie08 · 07-05-2011, 11:29 PM

No matter how you word it or time it, if you accept money in any way you are the same as a moonshiner in the eyes of the government. I would recommend not accepting any kind of money whatsoever. Find another way for your friends to return the favor.

BryceL · 07-05-2011, 11:32 PM

Legally speaking you would probably need to have them just pay for the supplies you are using. Personally, I have declined such offers just because I don't have much space and I don't want to baby a brew for a month and a half which I will not be able to enjoy. I've only got 2 carboys and 2 kegs which I need to keep my own pipeline supplied.

BryceL · 07-05-2011, 11:34 PM

...and please don't quote me on the legal part of that, I'm just speculating. Try to read up on that.

lestershy · 07-05-2011, 11:39 PM

Why not have them buy you a gift certificate to the LHBS to pay for the ingredients, brew it, then keep half for yourself? There's nothing illegal about freinds giving each other gifts right?

firebird400 · 07-05-2011, 11:43 PM

One of my buddies brings my grain bags, various types of hops and just this evening a freshly charges CO2 bottle with gauges on it.

I am more than happy to hand him a keg or two

Phunhog · 07-05-2011, 11:43 PM

Gift certificate idea is a good one!! That might work.

WhiskeyR · 07-05-2011, 11:47 PM

You're completely unlikely to get into any trouble if a friend slides you $50 for doing something nice. Geez these responses are so predictable. I hope you own the kegs, instead of Miller or something, or there's likely to be a lynching around here...

bigbeergeek · 07-05-2011, 11:50 PM

Oh, you bunch of namby-pambys! Quit talking like ATF is gonna track down "Phunhog" and drag him off in shackles. $50 for a 5 gallon keg is what I'd "theoretically" charge a casual friend/acquaintance. Real friends would be more like $40 a keg, again in "theory," whatever it takes to keep the anonymous voices on this thread calm. I suppose what you charge would also depend on what you're paying in ingredient costs, what kind of beer they want, etc. I see no harm or danger AT ALL in charging friends for some unlicensed brew. Hell, your friends have no qualms about drinking your beer for free all day and all night, so why should we get squeamish about charging them for it if it's going to be truly "theirs?" At the end of the day, you're doing them a huge favor, considering most every batch is going to total some 10 hrs of your time from milling the grain to bottling/kegging the batch, plus occupy space in your pipeline. What's 10 hours of physical labor worth to you? $20 profit? Hardly. It's a FAVOR for you to sell it to them at such a low price... so I say go for it. Might have to not talk about it on here though -- some touchy folks in our ranks apparently.

bigbeergeek · 07-05-2011, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiskeyR

You're completely unlikely to get into any trouble if a friend slides you $50 for doing something nice. Geez these responses are so predictable. I hope you own the kegs, instead of Miller or something, or there's likely to be a lynching around here...

here here!