if i lived alone, i'd have to stop brewing now legally!

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tkone

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i just hit over 100 gallons of home made beer this year, and only 10 gallons of which were either infected or dumpers.

feeling pretty good since it's been just over a year that i've been brewing!
 
You get to subtract the dumpers from your legal limit. It's ain't beer if you can't drink it.
 
Excellent point! Luckily even though my pregnant wife isn't drinking, I can still brew her 100 gallons before December 31st!
 
last year I just about hit the 200G limit. With a large pipeline built up (and being too tied up in my other hobbies), I've only brewed 7 batches so far this year. I expect to brew a couple more by year end.
 
I just tallied up my total for the year the other day. 73 gallons. I know I'd have hit a hundred had i not stopped brewing to pack my stuff up and move. good job though!
 
Wow, that i a lot in a year. I hope to one day get up to 20+ batches a year. Congrads on that much with only 2 dumpers. Keep it up, 25 days left to go.
 
I just took a look at my brew log. Not counting cider or mead, I brewed 75 Gallons last year, and 70 this year.
I will be brewing one more time before the end of the year.
I will have brewed the same amount two years in a row.
 
If you don't count the one batch I had to dump, it looks like last night's brew session puts me right at 200. About a third of my brew days I split the 10g batch with whomever helps me brew, so I'm sure the actual number is lower.
 
Just wondering, but does anyone seriously worry about the legal brew limits? And if you post about going over the limits, would anyone be worried about being tracked down by ATF (or being kicked off the forum)?
 
I don't worry about going over the legal limit myself, but I'm doing 5-8 gallon batches only, and started back in July. Just hit 85 gallons....

I wouldn't post about it online even if I did go over the legal limit, I have seen way too many things wind up on the internet that came back to haunt somebody.
 
If the ATF cared THAT much they would have to prove that you were over the 100 gallons/person brewed in that year. You could always make the argument that some was brewed last year and is conditioning. It is there burden to prove that wrong not yours to prove it right. Plus on top of that if you drink some where I their proof that beer ever existed? And if you buy grains you can claim you gave some away as gifts etc


The feds really don't care
 
Just wondering, but does anyone seriously worry about the legal brew limits? And if you post about going over the limits, would anyone be worried about being tracked down by ATF (or being kicked off the forum)?

I don't worry about going over the legal limit myself, but I'm doing 5-8 gallon batches only, and started back in July. Just hit 85 gallons....

I wouldn't post about it online even if I did go over the legal limit, I have seen way too many things wind up on the internet that came back to haunt somebody.

Exactly, whether I brew under or over my limit, I sure as heck don't discuss my volumes (or anything else of a questionable nature) about this hobby on what is pretty assuredly the largest hobby alcohol producing forum in the world.

bigbrother_copy.jpg


Though more than likely it would just be bots looking for certain key words. (And it's the TTB now, not the atf.)
 
I started brewing in January and am at 170 gallons brewed to date. Took 2 months off during the summer.
 
It's not about how much is brewed any given year. It's a bout how much final product you have on hand at any given time.

If the ATF raided your home and found 250 gallons of beer then they would have legal recourse but, chances are, they aren't there cause someone said you had more than 200 gallons of beer on premise.

You could brew 1000 gallons of beer in a year. Just so long as you don't have more than 100 per person or 200 in a two person household packaged and stored. at least that is how it was explained to me by the regulators in Oklahoma.
 
It's not about how much is brewed any given year. It's a bout how much final product you have on hand at any given time.

If the ATF raided your home and found 250 gallons of beer then they would have legal recourse but, chances are, they aren't there cause someone said you had more than 200 gallons of beer on premise.

You could brew 1000 gallons of beer in a year. Just so long as you don't have more than 100 per person or 200 in a two person household packaged and stored. at least that is how it was explained to me by the regulators in Oklahoma.


You're honor,
I present Exhibit A:

beerguthuge.jpg


:D
 
i just hit over 100 gallons of home made beer this year . .

I've been brewing seriously since Jan and so far have done about 180 gallons. (Batch averages 6 gallons; mostly 5's, some 10's.) I'd be worried my next big brewday will put me over the limit, but if it's _drinkable_ beer I'm still OK - I get about 4.3 gallons of a 5 gallon batch into bottles, and of that about 95% is drinkable.
 
With the pictures of beer guts I feel like I need to add this, it is not quite a beer gut, but a gastrointestinal beer related issue:

nejm.jpg


Image taken from the New England Journal of Medicine

Anyways.....is 100 gallons the federal limit? I am just curious because I don't believe that my state has a volume limit, just an alcohol percentage limit.
 
For those of you who would dare homebrew past the government imposed limit, I have some advice.

On second thought I think its sage advice for everyone...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Anyways.....is 100 gallons the federal limit? I am just curious because I don't believe that my state has a volume limit, just an alcohol percentage limit.

I am probably going to be moving to NC in the next 2 years and am curious as to what you mean by the alcohol percentaget limit??
 
It's not about how much is brewed any given year. It's a bout how much final product you have on hand at any given time.

If the ATF raided your home and found 250 gallons of beer then they would have legal recourse but, chances are, they aren't there cause someone said you had more than 200 gallons of beer on premise.

You could brew 1000 gallons of beer in a year. Just so long as you don't have more than 100 per person or 200 in a two person household packaged and stored. at least that is how it was explained to me by the regulators in Oklahoma.

No matter if you brewed that beer that year or not they'd still stick it to you and say you brewed all of it in that one year and are breaking the law. Federal agencies don't really care too much about the truth in my experience.
 
No matter if you brewed that beer that year or not they'd still stick it to you and say you brewed all of it in that one year and are breaking the law. Federal agencies don't really care too much about the truth in my experience.

Yes but, unless you keep a log book, they have no proof as to what was brewed and when. This is why I say it is based on what volume is on hand at any given time.
 
I am probably going to be moving to NC in the next 2 years and am curious as to what you mean by the alcohol percentaget limit??

From how I understand the state law a "malt beverage" a.k.a. beer is between 0.5% and 15% alcohol by volume (abv). Anything over a 15% abv likely falls into a different category and will be illegal to make on your own in North Carolina.
 
Yes but, unless you keep a log book, they have no proof as to what was brewed and when. This is why I say it is based on what volume is on hand at any given time.

I meant to add that in the comment, yes they'll see what is on hand and nail you on that, I agree. On the other hand... if you don't advertise it all over the place, you shouldn't worry.
 
No one should concern themselves with these "laws". Seriously... unless you are selling.
 
No one should concern themselves with these "laws". Seriously... unless you are selling.

Trouble is, those who should be least concerned regarding these "laws" don't know the difference between brewing or distilling. and when the complaint goes out that there is a still, people check.
 
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