Beer ingredients on an airplane?

I'm planning a trip to the UK next month to visit some family and am planning to bring back several beer kits in my check-in luggage and wondering if anyone has ever tried this? Kits are the coopers extract malt kits with hops and yeast included, am thinking to bring 2 or 3 of them to Turkey but no idea what customs will say.

Yes I have. Several beers from Belgium.

Put them in your suitcase and don't give it another thought and no need to elaborate with words to customs. It is just beer. A few items of low cost are not significant.

I suggest you try to brew on the plane.

Mile high lager.

Other than hop bags appearing to be bags of marijuana...should be fine!

I'm not a Turkish customs agent, nor a Turkish lawyer, but a quick web search reveals no reason why there would be a problem with importing these kits into Turkey.

Essentially, you are flying canned goods. No safety issues. If the end use in legal in Turkey, you should be good to go.

(Whew. I made it through posting about airplanes, potential customs violations, and Turkey without making an "Airplane!" Turkish prison reference...that was a close one!)

Jayhem said:

Other than hop bags appearing to be bags of marijuana...should be fine!

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Ya know......They smell just like pot too. Would a drug dog know the difference?

cheezydemon3 said:

Ya know......They smell just like pot too. Would a drug dog know the difference?

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As I recall, there is a story about TSA officers not knowing what to make of a bag of hops in "Brewing Up a Business"

cheezydemon3 said:

Ya know......They smell just like pot too. Would a drug dog know the difference?

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Not only do hops smell pretty different from weed, they look VERY different. And a dog is about a thousand times better than a human, so I doubt it would sniff twice.

freisste said:

Not only do hops smell pretty different from weed, they look VERY different. And a dog is about a thousand times better than a human, so I doubt it would sniff twice.

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Ever had some fruity funk? It smells just like hops. I do agree that a dog would probably know the difference.

Definitely smell and look different. This guy I know has both on hand and his dog seems to know the difference. I'm sure a trained dog may get curious, and perhaps even thirsty for a cold one, but would quickly move on to another person's luggage. Those dogs are hard workers and deserve a happy hour after work just like the rest of us... uh oh... the Dusseldorfer has worked its magic and I am ranting...whoops!

-Cheers

Brewing on a plane is an awesome way to test your prowess. Can you imagine trying to get a good boil at that altitude?

Komocabo said:

Definitely smell and look different. This guy I know has both on hand and his dog seems to know the difference. I'm sure a trained dog may get curious, and perhaps even thirsty for a cold one, but would quickly move on to another person's luggage. Those dogs are hard workers and deserve a happy hour after work just like the rest of us... uh oh... the Dusseldorfer has worked its magic and I am ranting...whoops!

-Cheers

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Just curious, how did he know his dog knew the difference?

Anyway I will be flying in a month so will let know if I have any problems, maybe just print off some wikipedia pages in Turkish though as Turkish people wont have a clue what hops or malt is, dont want them insisting to open it up or something...

I've got it!

No I don't.

I was thinking that you need to design a fully automated brew rig that would fit in your luggage, but it would be mistaken for as bomb.

The dog's name is smokey... need I say.more?

I'm living in Turkey and have brought back about 4 kits so far on various trips to the US and had no problem bringing anything through. I've always just kept the kits in my checked baggage (since the malt is technically a liquid) and in case there were any questions. I've even had my bags scanned and searched and the customs agents have ignored these as grocery items even when unpacked and placed into baggies.

The only thing they're really looking for is iPads anyway so you've got nothing to worry about. They did once threaten to take one of the many bottles of IPA I've brought through - they asked what it was and i just shrugged and said "beer" and they laughed and let me go.