HBC Age requirements?

I have a potential member interested in joining our home brew club but he is under 21 yrs old, is it legal to have members under 21? I've tried searching for the legality of this and have found nothing on the topic.

That would be crazy. You are begging for trouble.

I am fairly sure there are no laws that regulate how old someone has to be to be in a homebrew club. To brew beer? Maybe depending on your state.

But, I agree with passedpawn, there is no reason for you to do this. Just let the lurk on HBT like everyone else.

I can't imagine any laws in any state that you'd be foul of.

However, if you're at a homebrew club meeting and someone serves him a taste of homebrew, technically you've broken some laws. And given that so many homebrew club events include the imbibing of alcohol, I can't understand why he'd want to be a member if he can't take advantage of any of those events. Of course, he likely only wants to become a member because he actually brews and drinks.

Granted, I'm a student of the "it's only illegal if you get caught" school of law. But if you do get caught, having him as an official member of the club implicates the club in the actions in a far stronger way than if he's not a real member.

Letting underage members join the club is asking for trouble for the club in general and everyone in it. As mentioned, if you serve beers at club meetings, in some states you can be arrested for supplying alcohol to a minor, which is not a minor offense. Better to keep the club protected by requiring all members to be 21 and over.

jlogue3454 said:

I have a potential member interested in joining our home brew club but he is under 21 yrs old, is it legal to have members under 21? I've tried searching for the legality of this and have found nothing on the topic.

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Your LHBS may be legally allowed to sell them all the ingredients they need to make beer, but no way should you allow someone under 21 to come to your meetings. You're opening up everyone who brings beer, your officers, the person hosting you, etc. up to liability.