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Albertastorm

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Does anyone know.....is it legal to setup brewing equipment at my house and let my friends brew with it?
 
Can you elaborate a bit? Would the beer ferment at your house too? All together do you imagine brewing more than 200 gallons (assuming you a spouse)?
 
Can you elaborate a bit? Would the beer ferment at your house too? All together do you imagine brewing more than 200 gallons (assuming you a spouse)?

Yes it would brew at my house..yes friends would want to brew their 200 gallons too.
And one step further could I rent out my brew system and my space?
 
So if I have 10 friends we can brew 2000 gallons?

If you end up brewing say 500 gallons and don't throw up any red flags for anyone to look at what you are doing the govt isn't going to care, but I doubt 2000 gallons will go unnoticed and when you get to doing that much and start charging a "rental fee" you may be running into some issues
 
If you end up brewing say 500 gallons and don't throw up any red flags for anyone to look at what you are doing the govt isn't going to care, but I doubt 2000 gallons will go unnoticed and when you get to doing that much and start charging a "rental fee" you may be running into some issues

Maybe they would just make a donation to help out with costs?
 
Not trying to get rich here...just trying to share equipment costs...and buy ingredients in bulk to save money for all.
And have some fun!
But spending some time in the slammer is not an option for me...I'm very attractive:)
 
I cant see why sharing equipment would be illegal. But I'm not sure if the 200 gallon limit is per person or per household. Honestly if you are starting out then reaching the limit even with friends would be a lot of time at your house brewing so I doubt you even need to worry about it now.
 
Albertastorm said:
Not trying to get rich here...just trying to share equipment costs...and buy ingredients in bulk to save money for all.
And have some fun!
But spending some time in the slammer is not an option for me...I'm very attractive:)

Even if it is illegal, how on earth would anyone find out? Surely the authorities have bigger fish to fry?
 
Ignoring the "how would they find out" issue. If you are renting out a food preparation space, be prepared to meet FDA guidelines. Good luck with that. As for a "donation" vs. a fee, check out any of the posts here where people try to get around selling homebrew. The argument that it's a donation, not a payment, will not hold up under scrutiny and you could find yourself in trouble. If you are honestly just sharing equipment you are better off just sharing the cost of the equipment with your buds up front.
 
If you're doing it for fun, why have them rent out equipment/space? Help them, teach them on your equipment and in your space, and if they feel inclined, they can give you a 6 pack of craft brew or something. Even then, MAYBE, TECHNICALLY the law could have something to say, but I really doubt it.

If they're willing to rent out space/equipment, they should just buy their own equipment. It really isn't much.
 
You're allowed to brew 100 gallons per household/ per individual with a max limit of 200 gallons per year if you have a spouse/roommate. So, if 10 adults live in your house, you're still only allowed to brew 200 gallons max per year in your house. If you live alone, then you're only allowed 100 gallons. If you want to lend out your equipment to people to use in their own houses that doesn't count towards your limit, and it's perfectly legal.
 
If you buy a 55lb bag of grain, I don't see why you couldn't sell your friend 10lb of it. As far as the limit goes, they could put the wort in a bucket/carboy and take it home and THEN pitch the yeast.
 
I cant see why sharing equipment would be illegal. But I'm not sure if the 200 gallon limit is per person or per household. Honestly if you are starting out then reaching the limit even with friends would be a lot of time at your house brewing so I doubt you even need to worry about it now.

55 Gallon Brew Pots.....5- 40 gallon batches.
 
It does sound like a brew on premise sort of venture.
If you aren't looking to go pro then sharing equipment should be fine as long as they take the wort with them and pitch at their home.
 
55 Gallon Brew Pots.....5- 40 gallon batches.

Good luck then! That is a whole lot to make at once at your house, but if you are determined then I'm sure it can be done. How many people do you have chipping in?
 
If you buy a 55lb bag of grain, I don't see why you couldn't sell your friend 10lb of it. As far as the limit goes, they could put the wort in a bucket/carboy and take it home and THEN pitch the yeast.

So if they take the bucket of wort off premise and add the yeast it wouldn't count toward the 200 gallon limit? This seems to make sense but I'm not sure what they mean by "brewing beer". Technically beer isn't brewed until it's been fermented.
 
So if they take the bucket of wort off premise and add the yeast it wouldn't count toward the 200 gallon limit? This seems to make sense but I'm not sure what they mean by "brewing beer". Technically beer isn't brewed until it's been fermented.

I have 42 gallon conical...would be nice to ferment in one batch.
 
I have 42 gallon conical...would be nice to ferment in one batch.

Probably would have helped if you had mentioned that in the original post. You are probably a nanobrewery and potentially need to get some permits if you plan to use that more than 4 times.
 
I highly doubt any police or FDA IRS types will show up at your place and bust you. Unless you have big signs out front and an ad in the paper or something you should be fine. No one has any way of knowing how many gallons you've brewed. I couldn't care less for the yearly limit on making beer at home. I've surpassed it each of the past two years.
 
Probably would have helped if you had mentioned that in the original post. You are probably a nanobrewery and potentially need to get some permits if you plan to use that more than 4 times.

In Texas and Alberta this is a small batch:)
 
I highly doubt any police or FDA IRS types will show up at your place and bust you. Unless you have big signs out front and an ad in the paper or something you should be fine. No one has any way of knowing how many gallons you've brewed. I couldn't care less for the yearly limit on making beer at home. I've surpassed it each of the past two years.

That's the way sport!
 
I highly doubt any police or FDA IRS types will show up at your place and bust you. Unless you have big signs out front and an ad in the paper or something you should be fine. No one has any way of knowing how many gallons you've brewed. I couldn't care less for the yearly limit on making beer at home. I've surpassed it each of the past two years.

I'm sure the fine will be very reasonable.
 
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