Wanting to start a business in brewing.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bmxbrewer

New Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
I am curious, but what kind of licensing do you need in order to sell or distribute a homebrew? Is it illegal to sell or advertise?
 
Selling home brew is illegal...period.

If you want to go pro you need to check the regulations for your state and get the proper licenses.
 
I also suggest the OP check his state's laws regarding homebrewing lest he run afoul of the law. Ignorance is no excuse.
 
Selling home brew is illegal...period.
to expand on that: in order to sell beer commercially, it needs to be produced in a commercial space (commercial zoning, commercial license, commercial bonds & insurance, etc). so you can't sell homebrew, since by definition homebrew is produced in a home, i.e. a non-commercial space.

starting a brewery, no matter what the size, is a HUGE pain in the a$$. you need licenses, and permits, and inspection certificates... hell, even you labels have to be approved before you can sell. here's a good blog post that lists some of this rigamarole: http://bayinghoundales.com/starting-up-a-brewery/

summary: you'd better be serious about selling beer, because once you start it's going to be a long & expensive time before you are allowed to actually sell. you need a serious business plan to pull this off, because this isn't something you can do for just a few barrels a year (unless you're independently wealthy, of course... but then why bother selling the beer).
 
The standard fine for most brewing infractions is $10,000 and there are plenty of rules to abide by. Selling home brew from home is illegal so if you did it they would treat you like a moonshiner because you would not be paying all of the taxes you should be.

If you gave a restaurant a free t-shirt for serving your beer you would get hit with a $10,000 fine, If you advertise a restaurant on a social network site that is serving your beer it is a $10,000 fine (unless you list all of them).
 
Thanks guys. I realized it would be a lot of work and my journey is going to start soon. I want to start a brewery. My next step is going to be a lot of research, and getting more money and experience.
 
If you advertise a restaurant on a social network site that is serving your beer it is a $10,000 fine (unless you list all of them).

So does that mean that when Red Hare (a local brewery here) says that "Taco Mac now has HippityHoppity (I'm positive thats not a name of one of their beers) on Tap" they're hit with a fine?
 
Back
Top